Base Cabinetry
This information reflects our best understanding of product composition in 2016.
While cabinets can be made from solid wood, they are also commonly made from a combination of solid wood and composite woods with high pressure laminate facings to mimic a wood grain. This CP describes a typical base cabinet – a cabinet installed...
While cabinets can be made from solid wood, they are also commonly made from a combination of solid wood and composite woods with high pressure laminate facings to mimic a wood grain. This CP describes a typical base cabinet – a cabinet installed on the floor of a kitchen, bathroom or other area where storage is desired. A countertop would then be installed on top of the cabinet to provide a work surface. Because cabinets are highly customizable, this CP assumes a cabinet of a defined set of measurements, with two solid wood doors, two solid wood drawer fronts, and an internal composite wood shelf running the full width of the cabinet. Face fronts are solid wood, and drawers themselves are constructed out of plywood. Laminate is used on the exterior of the sides of the cabinet, and interior of sides, bottom, and both sides of the shelf. Plastic braces, drawer hardware, door knobs, and any countertop surfacing are excluded from this summary. Where a laminate material is applied to a composite wood substrate to simulate hardwood, a rubber-based contact adhesive used to bond the two materials together. As is typical with such products, this adhesive is applied to the surfaces of both materials, allowed to set up, and then the two surfaces are pressed together for a permanent bond. Stains and pigments may be applied to the wood prior to the urethane acrylate finish; however, that was not covered in this CP.