Editorial 3: Choosing quality kitchen cabinets
The third of five editorial articles builds on your thoughts from editorial 1 and editorial 2 and concentrates on exploring how to make the best decision about the component that will most determine the quality and durability of your kitchen, the kitchen cabinets. When you're done with this you'll be ready to make a purchase. The next editorial covers installation.
The quality of your kitchen cabinets determines how long your kitchen will last, whether it will continue to look good, whether you'll get value for money over the life of the kitchen, and whether you'll enjoy your kitchen or find it a constant frustration. The kitchen cabinets available from myKitchen.UK.com are manufactured and assembled to your requirements using high quality "glued and dowelled" joints for extra durability. They arrive pre-assembled, saving you the time and effort of assembling flat pack cabinets.
So what's the difference between a good cabinet and a cheap one? Put all your prospective kitchens through this three step assessment and see how they perform.
1 - Check the kitchen cabinet interior
Start by opening a cabinet door. The first thing to notice is whether the interior material matches the colour of the rest of the kitchen. On a quality kitchen, they match, on budget kitchens everyone gets the same white interior.
Look at the shelves. Are they as thick as the side panels? Cheaper units have shelves that are inadequate for their use, meaning they'll break under continued use. Our cabinet sides and shelves are 19mm thick and have solid metal shelf support
How is the back panel fixed to the sides of the cabinet? If it's well fitted it strengthens the cabinet and makes it more rigid, ensuring it doesn't twist and the doors still fit after years of use. Our back panels are 8mm MDF, fitted in the factory, and are an integral part of the cabinet.
2 - Pull out a drawer
Does the drawer run smoothly? Quality runners support the drawer from underneath rather than the sides. Tap the base of the drawer. Does it feel solid? How much weight do you think it will stand? Our titanium drawer boxes are capable of taking up to 30Kg in weight and you can pull them all the way out so you can reach items right at the back.
Do the drawers appear solid and secure? Self assembled drawer boxes are prone to deterioration, for instance, weak bases may start to bend and front panels can loosen. All our drawer bases are factory constructed from 16mm metallic effect MFC and rigorously tested to the highest of standards.
3 - Flatpack or rigid cabinets
Look underneath the wall unit. A flatpack cabinet covers its tracks using plastic caps to cover metal fittings. Rigid cabinets such as the ones from www.myKitchen.UK.com are factory-assembled and squared under pressure using traditional 'Dowel & Glue' joints. It is superior to flatpack but not necessarily more expensive as assembling flatpack kitchen cabinets on site can be time-consuming and costly.
More questions?
If you have more questions about our cabinet quality, take a look at our general specification which provides a textual description of features and two diagrams to illustrate the features of wall and floor cabinets. If you still have questions, please do get in touch at support@myKitchen.UK.com.
You've never been more ready
If you've read through to this part you've never been more ready to invest in a new kitchen. Our site helps you choose the kitchen cabinets you want in the style and colours you decide. Once you're happy, we build them to your specification and deliver them pre-assembled to your door. All you have to do is put them in place, install your appliances, and put the worktop on. The next article is all about that, but you can come back and read that later. Now's the time to get started on choosing your new kitchen. You can do that here.
