[xtlldy]

While putting these cabinet boxes together, I found that the supposed birch effect melamine foil around the holes (where you'd screw something in) would flake off as the screw was tightened. Now I'm finding that something similar is happening to the shelves for my upper cabinets where they might get bumped while putting something away (if they are not lined).

What is going on? The melamine foil on the bottoms of the drawers and pull-outs is very durable but my birch-effect shelves and cabinet boxes are not. It's disappointing, should I have gotten white cabinet boxes instead if I wanted better durability?

[kelly]

Hi- not sure what to say...it doesn't surprise me that the screw holes have flaking- after all one is disturbing the surface the foil is adhered to. Sorry to hear that the shelves don't seem to be holding up to bumps as you'd expect.

I have not heard anything about the white shelves being more or less durable than the birch effect.

[xtlldy]

I didn't look at the white melamine cabinet interiors but the melamine on my drawer bottoms and pull-outs is actually thicker than the melamine on the birch effect cabinet boxes. I'm definitely going to look at the white cabinet interiors next time I'm at Ikea.

[NBeth]

I know our white shelves/interiors/exteriors have been very durable. We did chip it in a few places but those have not grown nor have any been added by our usage. Is it just the shelves that are flaking/chipping in new places or are the boxes also breaking down beyond the initial chipping? I wonder if you got some bad shelves...

[DulcineaK]

i could see where the durability would be a bit stronger with the white--it's melamine rather than the foil. that said, i've owned both and i have no problems using birch in future kitchens... and i'm pretty tough on my kitchens (of course i do drawers as often as possible)

[xtlldy]

I have as many drawers as I could accommodate, only the sink and corners are cabinets, in addition to my uppers.

I looked more closely at the shelves and cab boxes: The edges on the sides of the boxes have a thicker plastic strip on them, it's the bottom piece of the uppers and the shelves in the uppers that have the issue. The front of those pieces are not faced with the thicker plastic. This is odd to me b/c those are the places I would expect to get more wear, not the sides where they are protected by the cabinet doors.

Anyway, I think as long as I line my shelves w/protective plastic they should be acceptable. I was just surprised at how easily they damaged and how the product is not similar to the melamine in the drawer bottoms (which I also lined). This is not an issue I've seen discussed, most everyone talks about how durable the melamine interiors are. I want people to be aware that, for the birch-effect at least, that has not been my experience.