Clifford Keele wrote:
One of my requirements that I told all the kitchen designers that I
worked with was that I wanted all plywood construction. The
particle board cabinets that I've seen may look ok when installed,
but start looking quite ragged and ugly very soon.

So, we sat down and put together the first design..... Except
that it was all plywood EXCEPT for the shelves. The designer
tried to convince me that the "furniture board" type particle
board was better than plywood. The argument sounded good except
that every particle board shelf that I could find which was over 5
years old was warped, or ratty looking.

I build my own cabinets and my material of choice for cases and
shelves is melamine covered particle board (hardwood face frames and
doors). Why? Well, for one thing, the material is much less
expensive; but, primarily, it provides a prefinished interior surface
(the only one seen) that is durable, easy to clean and which never
needs refinishing.

True, ply is stronger. But if a melamine case is properly constructed
(tongues glued and screwed into dados), it is way more than adequate
and will stay together better than a ply case that has been (usually)
merely butt joined with staples. Additionally, I have seen many
expensive ply cases/shelves that had raw, uncapped edges. Yuch!

Whether or not a shelf will sag depends on the load and span. Both
those factors are small in the normal kitchen. I have 100s of feet of
shelves and pullouts in my kitchen made of melamine board. None are
warped. They are 8 years old now and will look the same in another 8.
Or 28.

In short, it isn't the material, it is how the material is used.

--
dadiOH
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