Three things are important when buying cabinets, the style, cost and quality. You can make you choice easier by learning more about melamine kitchen cabinets, including pros and cons.
- Con: Weight
- Con: Melamine chips
- Con: More challenging to install
- Con: It’s susceptible to water damages
What’s melamine?
Melamine has a core made from compressed wood particles, which is covered by a paper and resin finish which can be used for manufacturing various colors and styles. It is common for melamine to be used in making cabinets or the bathroom, kitchen or other sections of a home.
Melamine Cabinet Pros:
- Pro: Durability
These cabinets are very durable, being resistant to various common problems that occur in the kitchen, from heat, stains and excessive moisture.
The melamine is able to resist external elements due to the tough outer coating, which is also very easy to clean.
- Pro: Variety
Being a synthetic material, melamine is able to be produced with a very wide range of finishes. It can come in solid colors, or multiple shades of faux wood grains.
The variety available makes it easy to find the perfect finish for your kitchen.
- Pro: Uniformed finish
Melamine can offer consistent finishes, even within the same order because it’s manufactured within a controlled environment. Whereas, solid wood grain can vary in pattern and color, even in the same order.
- Pro: Inexpensive
When comparing melamine to solid wood style cabinets, melamine offers a less expensive option. This leads to savings with your renovations or installations, making your budget seem bigger.
Melamine Cabinet Cons?
- Con: Weight
While cabinet weight may not be the initial concern, it could require having to upgrade your brackets to a more heavy-duty install. Without having the proper brackets for hanging, cabinets may fall, which could result in more expensive damage.
- Con: Melamine chips
While the resin coating on the outside of melamine is durable, it’s still possible to be chipped. In the event chips occur, it exposes the wood particle in the core, which can become rather unattractive. Additionally, if the cabinets chip, refinishing them can become expensive.
- Con: More challenging to install
Due to the way melamine is created, these type of cabinets could become harder to install, as it may not work with screws and nails. When improperly used, the screws or nails could cause splintering in the melamine. It is this reason, having a professional installation is recommended with melamine.
- Con: It’s susceptible to water damages
In the event water makes its way to the wood particle core and becomes saturated, the overall structural integrity of the cabinet can be compromised. Water absorbs into melamine easier and quicker than with solid wood, so you should keep this in mind if installing next to a sink.
Your decision
If you’re going to the hardwood store, or a furniture store to look for a new set of cabinets, you should take these pros and cons into consideration. Melamine kitchen cabinets, like with various other materials, has good and bad points. However, remember to stay within budget, look for quality and your preferences.
Melamine Veneers vs Wood Veneers on Cabinets
Veneers
Usually, veneer is a term used to describe a thin layer covering thicker materials. There are many people that think all veneers are wood veneers, but they can also be created using melamine.
Melamine Veneers
Melamine veneer is a thin plastic layer also known as thermofoil. It’s applied using heat onto the plywood or particleboard, as underlying material could vary.
Wood veneers are then wood pieces shaved and added to other pieces of wood, like particleboard or plywood.
Uses for Wood Veneers with Cabinet Interior
Usually, the cabinet interior will have some type of veneer in it, this could be either real wood or melamine veneer.
Uses for Wood Veneers with Cabinet Door
Cabinet doors which uses a hardwood material, such as oak, cherry or maple, the actual wood grain patterns can be seen in the center panel, and usually don’t match up. Advantages of using the wood veneer for the whole center panel is that a consistent grain pattern is provided.
Additionally, wood veneers on a cabinet door could be done over plywood or hardwood, either way the top layer remains wood veneer. Then, paint or stain is added to the wood veneer to match the other part of the cabinet door.
Wood Veneer Grain Patterns
The inconsistent grain patterns that are viewable will depend on the wood veneer and type of wood used by the manufacture. There are certain wood veneers that get manufactured in thin strips, which are six inches wide. In this case, you would see the wood grain strip prior to the next pattern starting. There are certain maple woods that can be produced by manufacturers to have wider veneer sheets, resulting in a more consistent looking grain pattern.
Drawer Connection Inc
Melamine drawer boxes are a solid alternative to traditional dovetailed & plywood drawer boxes. Our melamine drawers are dowel constructed with a particle board core. These melamine drawer boxes allow customization of thickness, material, and your choices of features additions such as accented top edge, notching, box patters, and even more. Stick to your budget and still receive high quality drawer boxes that will last for years. Custom grade for MDF Core melamine’s. Try our melamine drawer boxes for your next custom bathroom or kitchen project. Give usa call at (877) 917-4887 Melamine Drawer Box colors include almond, black, white, and hard rock maple.
Want to learn more about more about Melamine? Click to read What Are Melamine Cabinets? Shop Cheap Drawer Boxes at DCDrawers.com.
