Particleboard vs. Wooden Cabinets

by vtm@nkbcadmin | Aug 31, 2020 | Uncategorized

Those looking to build a new home or remodel their existing one are often unsure about which products will provide the best value. When it’s time to design or upgrade their kitchens, they are likely to have questions about the merits of wooden cabinets versus a particleboard alternative. You can help ease their anxiety and guide them to make the right decision by educating them about their options.

Plywood is constructed by gluing sheets of log-cut wood together in a cross-grain pattern. The cross-grain method helps to make plywood more durable than a solid cut of wood. After the wood sheets are pressed into a composite, they are covered with a veneer.

Particleboard is a composite made by binding together wood chips and wood particles with glue or resin. Next, the composite product is made into a wood sheet by using either pressure or a mold. The sheet is then “finished” by using wood veneers, a laminate, or by painting.

Is Wooden Cabinetry Better than Particleboard? Both Offer Advantages As Well As Drawbacks

Construction

Plywood will hold both mechanical and glued joints better than particleboard. Glued joints are actually preferable to mechanical fasteners like nails and screws, and that’s why higher-end cabinetry uses glued construction.

Durability

Particleboard can be durable if it’s constructed properly. However, it does scratch and dent more easily than plywood, so will not hold up as long as wooden cabinets.

Strength

Once again, proper manufacturing can improve particleboard’s strength, but plywood can hold more weight due to the way the individual sheets of wood are interwoven. Wooden cabinetry is also lighter than particleboard, and if you plan to hang large upper cabinets from a soffit, your installation crew will have an easier time moving and maneuvering a plywood box.

Moisture-Resistance

Resistance to moisture is especially important in a room where water plays a big role. In the kitchen, water is used frequently – either to cook or wash dishes – and there’s always a risk the sink could leak. But steam from boiling water or even high humidity can also affect the materials used for cabinets. Compared to particleboard, plywood is much more water-resistant, and even though water use could eventually impact wooden cabinets over time, plywood’s structural integrity will remain sound for a longer period than a cabinet made from particleboard. Particleboard is susceptible to swelling or warping in high-moisture environments.

Quality Variation

Particleboard is a product sold based on industry-set quality-control standards. Particle size and density are graded so you always know what you’re getting. There’s no such standardization in plywood construction, and you may run into trouble when the boards are delivered. 

Voids or holes in the plywood can make mechanical joint construction using nails or screws a difficult or near-impossible task. If you were to find holes or voids in the plywood you purchased, you’d need to return it. You’ll also need to return plywood where the grain is running in the wrong direction. If you need to return faulty plywood and wait for a new delivery, that means lost time, and lost time on a construction project equals lost money.

Finishing

It’s easier to apply finishes to particleboard due to its flat and slick surface, which never needs to be sanded. Plywood has a rougher surface because of grain patterns, so it will be more time-consuming to properly finish wooden cabinets.

Cost

The materials used to make particleboard are considered to be waste, so they’re cheaper than using solid sheets of wood. Additionally, the manufacturing process for particleboard is more streamlined, which also brings down the cost.

Plywood is more expensive than particleboard, and usually for good reason. But your customers may be limited by their budgets. It will come down to a conversation between you and your clients to determine whether particleboard or wooden cabinets will provide the most value for their projects.

Overall Assessment

Your client’s budget may well determine which option they lean toward, but with better construction, greater strength, and superior water-resistance, wooden cabinetry will offer superior value.

Quality Wholesale Cabinetry and Economical Pricing

National K&B Cabinetry is the #1 cabinet wholesaler in Austin, Texas. We manufacture high-quality wooden cabinets at our facility, and because we eliminate the middleman, we can offer outstanding prices to dealers, builders, contractors, investors, designers, and realtors. Contact us at (737) 777-0555. You can’t beat our inventory or our value!

Easiest Ways to Maximize Storage in Any Bathroom Space

by vtm@nkbcadmin | Aug 6, 2020 | Uncategorized

Your bathroom can easily feel like the most cramped room in the house. Between the sink, bathtub, toilet, and cabinetry, it might seem like you’ve completely run out of space in your bathroom before you’ve even started stocking it with all your necessary toiletries. But thankfully, this isn’t the case. With just a few clever tricks, you can maximize the storage space available in any bathroom, no matter how large or small it may be. 

Make clever use of shelving, choose the right cabinets, and optimize every potential storage space available.

Use Smart Shelving

When you think of shelving, you might imagine huge, hulking bookshelves that take up a lot of space. But in reality, that isn’t always the case. Rather, smart usage of shelving can be an efficient way to save space and maximize your storage capacity. Shelving can help you use areas of your bathroom that might be useless otherwise. 

Think about the space over your toilet; typically, this is completely empty space that doesn’t get put to much use. But if you put a specially-designed shelf over your toilet, you can turn that space into a useful storage area without detracting from the utility of the rest of the room.

Make the Most of a Medicine Cabinet

A mirror above your sink might not seem to be especially useful. You can see your reflection in it, but when it comes to practical uses, it might not seem especially versatile. But if your mirror has a medicine cabinet, you can leverage that to increase your overall storage space in your bathroom. Medicine cabinets are an excellent place to store your miscellaneous toiletries and personal items in your bathroom. 

And even if your mirror doesn’t currently have one, medicine cabinets aren’t difficult or expensive to install. And at any rate, medicine cabinets are worth the investment for the sheer amount of convenience and storage space they offer.

Hang Up Towel Racks

Towels can take up a lot of space if you simply fold them up and stack them in your bathroom. Thankfully, there are a few easy techniques to make them occupy less valuable real estate. 

Consider purchasing a towel rack for your bathroom; not only is it small, tall, and cheap, but it can help you store your towels efficiently. And towel racks are better for drying out your towels effectively than simply folding them up, which can make them susceptible to mold and mildew.

Mount Wall Baskets and Shower Caddies

Wall baskets are an efficient way to store some of your additional toiletries, washcloths, and other small personal items. They’re easy to set up as well; most of them only require a nail or two in your wall for it to hang on. On the same note, shower caddies around your shower faucet can also work wonders. 

Much like wall baskets, they’re an effective place to store little items, especially those that you might use in the shower such as soaps, shampoos, body washes, and conditioners. They’re even easier to install, since all you need to do with these is hook them over your faucet.

Choose the Right Solid Wood Cabinetry

You can save yourself plenty of bathroom storage headaches by choosing the right cabinet size for your needs. A bathroom cabinet is a natural place to store your personal items, and if you choose a size that’s large enough to fit most, if not all of your belongings, you will be able to keep your bathroom constantly clean and organized. 

You’ll want to make sure that you choose a high-quality cabinet made from the best materials so your cabinet can withstand the test of time and keep its contents safe.

Choose the Best Cabinet Choice For Your Clients From National K&B Cabinetry

If you’re a builder, contractor, or any other individual connected to the cabinet industry, you need to provide the best bathroom cabinetry solutions for your customers. Your clients require options that allow for maximum utility, storage, and attractiveness, and with National K&B Cabinetry, that is exactly what you’ll get. Our wholesale cabinets in Austin are made exclusively from solid maple wood, and we never resort to particleboard or compressed woods. 

We take pride in producing exactly what contractors and homeowners want: dependable cabinets that meet all your storage and style requirements. If you’re interested in learning more about our products, please contact us today at 737-218-6372.