If you are changing your kitchen the most important hidden element you should look into in great detail is the kitchen cabinet. Even though you cannot see the kitchen cabinet until you open the door it is the part that holds the whole kitchen together. If you buy a substandard kitchen cabinet it may mean that you will have to change your entire kitchen within 10 years. If you choose a top quality kitchen cabinet then you should get between 20 and 30 years use out of it.
Construction of the kitchen cabinet
A kitchen cabinet can be made several ways. The most cost effective way to manufacture a kitchen cabinet is called a cam and dowel method. Put simply this is where holes are drilled into the ends of the carcass material. Wooden dowels are then inserted into these holes and the cabinet is then rigid. This is a very cheap to produce method and serves a purpose but is not the best method of kitchen cabinet construction. The best method is to pocket screw the cabinet pieces and then clamp them together in a right angled vice and screw the pieces together through the pocket holes. This is more expensive and time consuming but it guarantees a 90′ joint every time unlike the cam and dowel method which is renowned to be out of square quite often.
Kitchen cabinet materials
The 2 most popular materials for constructing a kitchen cabinet is solid wood and melamine faced chipboard (MFC). The solid wood method is good up to a point and can bow over time under the weight of a heavy kitchen worktop and is also very expensive. MFC is very strong and is not prone to bowing even under the heaviest worktops.
If you take a look at what is behind the door you will see that it is very important to get a good quality kitchen cabinet to make your kitchen last as long as you want and deserve. This could save you time and money.
