Kitchen Cabinet Boxes

I do not think there is anything wrong with buying the cabinet from Ikea and custom make the doors.

I think OP's point is that he wants plywood, not fiberboard boxes.

Somewhereelse is correct - I was looking for plywood and not MDF (Ikea). However, this was based on my (uninformed) belief that playwood was "better" for kitchen cabinets than MDF. Primer since you are a contractor do you have an opinion on this?

I think it is, given the chance of getting wet, and MDF also being harder to work with in terms of drilling holes, etc. (lots of dust). Also, mdf dents easily.

I do, I have installed both cabinets made of plywood and mdf. I have not heard on bad thing about mdf cabinets. You would be surprised at how many hi end kitchens have been made with Mdf

I think you should ask your carpenter his preference. He might prefer plywood over MDF because of the attachments he likes. If he's an old-timer, my guess is that he hates MDF.

In addition to being messy, MDF is also incredibly heavy compared to plywood, and that extra mass doesn't add any extra strength.

i've had Ikea cabinets and i rather buy chinese sheetrock then use them again. you are correct in wanting plywood. if a little water gets on it, it won't fall apart into little chips that it's made of. just because high-end kitchens are made of MDF, does not mean that it's good. people think that if it's expensive, it's made of great materials. let me sell you those $50 rockports for $250.

Ab,

Anyone else have a bad experience with a little water getting into their mdf cabinets? I have not heard anything bad from any of the ones I installed but if it does happen enough perhaps I will tell my clients not to use them. I did not say that the hi end kitchen places use them so they are good I am just pointing out they do and its not just Ikea. If there is not a budget issue of course you should go with plywood but in this economy many people are looking for inexpensive alternatives

I am also getting new custom kitchen cabinets and the contractor is suggesting MDF for cabinet doors. Any negative experience with water and MDF kitchen cabinet doors? Also are full frame cabinets worth the extra money over frameless full overlay cabinets? Thanks in advance.

Jukim,

We have completed many kitchens using both custom cabinets with plywood and many kitchens using cabinets from Ikea. I have had one callback for an Ikea installation and that was to adjust some doors, thats out of at least 50 kitchens.
I would not hesitate to use their boxes. As far as full frame and the cost that is up to you

jukim: If the door edges get damaged/scratched enough and the mdf is exposed then you can have problems with moisture and the exposed areas could swell up. It's not just water, but think any kind of moisture like steam on cabinet doors above your range, etc. That's enough to cause swelling in mdf. Now the chances of enough paint scraping off on a properly shop sprayed door is probably not that high but this is just not a problem you'll run into with plywood or solid wood.

Thank you both for the replies.