Materials Required To Build Kitchen Cabinets

Materials used in building kitchen cabinets are many and diverse. Plastic laminates, veneered plywood, solid wood, particle board, medium density fiberboard (MDF), and even steel, are the chief materials used alone or in combinations to build the carcass of the cabinets. Wood, glass, tin, copper and plastics are a few of the products used as inserts in the cabinet door frames. The variety of hardware available is mind boggling. The finish is as varied as your imagination.

Cabinet carcasses, the skeleton or frame, are primarily built using plywood veneered with birch, oak, cherry or maple. For upper end and/or custom built cabinets, more domestic and imported exotic veneers are available. While the door frames are generally made of the same wood as the carcass, the woods can be mixed in any combination you like. Door inserts are traditionally the same wood as the other cabinet parts, but can also be made of many materials as mentioned in the above paragraph. Lower end cabinets can also be made of particleboard or MDF, which can be painted, laminated or veneered.

Hardware runs the gamut of handles, knobs, hinges and drawer slides. As with building cabinets, the hardware you choose will depend on the style of cabinets you build. With the choices in cabinet specialty stores, home centers and the internet, the sky is the limit on the variety of hardware available.

Finishing your cabinets is as personal a choice as were your choices of wood, inserts and hardware. Stain colors are many and may also depend on your choice(s) of wood or you may choose to leave the natural color of the wood shine through or simply choose a nice color of paint. The final finish of course, if you did not paint, is the clear coating or paint to protect the wood. Water based and oil based polyurethanes and acrylics are the most common and most desirable. Please use caution, read and follow all directions and warnings when handling any of these products.