High-quality kitchen cabinets need to be visually stunning and provide durable, functional, and easy-to-use storage places for twenty to thirty years. However, many homeowners start complaining about cabinet problems well before this time. They experience sagging, crooked doors, scratched and dented faces, loose hinges, deteriorating drawers, and warping boxes.
All these problems occur due to the lack of craftsmanship and low-quality cabinet materials. Poorly made cabinets not only disrupt the aesthetic appeal and functionality of your kitchen storage area but also result in much higher maintenance and installation costs.
Also Read: Things You Should Know Before Choosing New Cabinets For Your Kitchen
So, to make an informed decision and get your hands on the work of the best kitchen cabinet contractors, try looking for the following characteristics in your cabinets.
Full-Height Back Panels
The construction of the cabinet back impacts the overall durability of the cabinets. Most robust cabinets are easy to install and use full plywood or full back panel (⅜ inch or more). Less expensive cabinet installation and manufacturing methods use metal hang rails, brackets, thin boards, and picture-frame construction. Weak back panels can result in fallen cabinets. Therefore, choosing full plywood cabinet backs will make your kitchen structure more robust, secure, and reliable.
Soft-Close Hinges
It is well-understood that cabinet hinges are the most important component for the seamless functioning of your kitchen cupboards. In fact, without them, you can not open and close the door. Inferior hinges can cause loose, stiff, and uneven doors. They can also result in doors that won’t close.
Quality cabinet hinges have a soft-close mechanism built into the nickel-plated hardened steel hinge. Ideally, the hinges should be six-way adjustable (in-out, up-down, left-right) so they can accommodate the seasonal changes when the cabinet doors expand and contract.
Undermount Soft Steel Mount Glides
High-quality drawer slides (glides) are critical to supporting the smooth and silent movement of the drawers over its hard years of use. The more weight you aim to add to your drawers, the more important it is to have heavy-duty glides. Weak and low-quality glides can lead to sagging, loose, and stuck cabinet drawers.
Undermount, steel, and soft-close slides provide you with complete access to the drawer. The ball bearings and steel guides provide longer wear and smooth operation. Settled beneath the drawer box, the glides should be able to rate the heavy loads, at least 90 pounds.
Face Frames
Kitchen cabinets have two distinctive construction practices. They are either framed structures or frameless cabinets.
For a framed cabinet, a strong solid plywood structure is attached to the front of the cabinet. Hinges, doors, and drawers are attached to the frames.
For frameless cabinets, there is no plywood structure protecting the cabinet form, and doors, hinges, and drawers are directly attached to the cabinet box.
The two construction techniques differ greatly in terms of strength, stability, and appearance. However, installation costs for the frameless cabinets are quite higher as compared to that of the framed cabinets.
Customizability And Modifications
Cabinets with customization options allow a wide range of sizes, shapes, designs, and materials to choose from. Hence, they can tailor to the unique needs and requirements of your kitchen space.
Many buyers find that manufacturers provide little variety in terms of size, colors, shapes, and designs. In comparison, completely customizable cabinets cost a lot. Therefore, most homeowners opt for the middle way, which is semi-customization with selective modifications.
Semi-custom cabinets offer a wide range of styles and shapes. The manufacturers still deal with every kitchen as a unique project, but the process gets very economical. Production time and money is saved by starting directly with the basic cabinet line. The modifications allow you to achieve a high degree of customization and personal touch in the cabinets, while the costs are restricted to individual cabinet structures.
About First Impression Wood Masters
First Impression Wood Masters is a pioneer in manufacturing quality exterior and interior doors for your needs. We offer quality craftsmanship with customization options to design the doors of your choice. We at First Impression Wood Masters take pride in serving our community with premium quality solid wooden doors. If you would like to learn more about us, contact us here.
