How Do You Know if Your Cabinets Are Melamine or Plywood

Whether you are building a new home or remodeling your electric current kitchen, buying new cabinets can be a major and costly decision. With apartment panel doors and Euro-style cabinets  becoming more popular, there are some interesting options out at that place for homeowners who are looking to salve some money on a remodel.

Rather than replacing their kitchen cabinets outright, many people are looking to options where they can cover their existing cabinets and doors with an artificial surface . Thermofoil, Laminate, and Melamine are all materials that can be affixed to the surface of wood or MDF doors  to give them new life.

The prices on all of these options vary, but interestingly enough, y'all don't seem to salve that much more than you would by simply buying new cabinets with these affordable surfacing options.

Thermofoil

Thermofoil is the most affordable of the three options. To apply the surfacing, cabinet pieces made of forest or MDF are placed into a large apartment tray. The tray is fed into a large machine where a thin malleable layer of foil-like material is heated and then vacuum sealed onto the surface. This process is very pop because it provides then many options for colors and patterns. You can go with a false wood grain or a solid colour or merely about annihilation. Unfortunately, Thermofoil does have a few downsides. With Thermofoil, you lot volition e'er exist able only to cover 5 of the 6 sides of an object. It generally ways that the backside of the chiffonier doors will be some neutral colored laminate that will non match the rest of the door.

Thermofoil is also more susceptible to peeling away from the wood. It should besides exist noted that although virtually thermofoil cabinet doors are simple Euro style apartment panel  doors, it is certainly possible to use thermofoil on slightly more complex designs like shaker door or simple arches.

Laminate

The laminate surfacing can be very different depending on the quality of Laminate used. Laminate is basically a surface material that is made from paper and resin existence pressed together nether heat. The high-force per unit area Laminate (HPL), which is manufactured under 1400psi, volition give you a better product that volition flake and fissure less than a low-pressure laminate. Withal, depression-pressure level laminates cost less. Then information technology is a requite and takes the situation. Many quality RTA cabinets use Laminate covered plywood for the body of the cabinets. A quality Laminate will hold to the woods without peeling. A cabinet door with laminate surfacing will last longer than a cabinet door that is surfaced with thermofoil.

Melamine

Melamine is a plastic coating material as well used as a surface for plywood and fiberboard. Although different plenty to exist considered a separate pick, Melamine is technically a laminate product. But like Laminate, Melamine is made using paper and resin, only the Melamine costs less to produce. As well just like Laminate, the melamine surfaces have lower quality and college quality products. The depression-quality melamine will not concluding as long as most laminate surfacing. Notwithstanding, the thicker textured thermal-fused Melamine has the same kind of life expectancy of high-pressure level Laminate. Textured Melamine opens up a lot of bully options for your cabinets by giving a three-dimensional texture to your doors. Various fake woods grains, bamboo, or other textures are bachelor.

One minor matter to consider when making your decision well-nigh your cabinets is how they volition expect next to your countertop. If you take a countertop made of some natural stone or quartz, and so it will expect great adjacent to any pick. Tile and stainless steel countertops would as well not be a problem. Many kitchen countertops are made from Formica , which is actually a high-pressure laminate product topped with a layer of Melamine. This may not exist a problem outright, but if you lot have Formica countertops, you might desire to check to be sure that it does not disharmonism with the look and texture of your chosen chiffonier surface.

All these options are worth because for your kitchen. Natural wood cabinets are peachy, merely MDF doors with quality artificial surfacing can await fantastic and salve you some money.

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Commodity reposted with permission from the fine folks at My Ideal Habitation

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Source: https://www.bestonlinecabinets.com/blog/thermofoil-laminate-melamine/

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