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Hi, and thanks for this terrific forum. My dilemma is that I'm renovating a small apartment kitchen and really like the Adel cabinets (medium brown color).The person doing the work does like Ikea, however he prefers American Woodmark for their hardwood cabinets vs. Ikea cabinets, which evidently are pressboard. In the long run, or even the short term, do I need to be concerned about these issue of wood? If not, I would like to go with Ikea. Just need to be comfortable that there won't be surprises in the years ahead. Thanks for your much-needed advice, Marc
Location: Where in the world is the Kitchen Magician?
My IKEA: USA-Atlanta:Midtown
Doorstyle: System 210
Well my opinion is definitely biased, but if I were going to buy cabinets I'd go with IKEA. Not because I work there, or get a discount but because of the time that's gone into planning them. The cabinet walls are made of 3/4" fiberboard which is 1/4" thicker than most of the fiberboard cabinets you get at Home Depot or Lowes. The
Akurum
legs, which is what comes standard with the cabinets, at rated at 275 lbs. per leg which is more than enough for laminate, Corian and even granite or concrete. The frames themselves are incredibly easy to build, with most consisting or two sides, a bottom, a back panel and either two plinths for a base or a solid top for a wall cabinet. Before someone jumps down my throat, the corner cabinets are a bitch to build and the instructions suck but by and large they're not that tough to assemble. The integral hinge is a 6-way adjustable hinge and it is used for every cabinet sold. Doors are attached by using the previously mentioned hinge, with one half screwing into the pre-drilled holes in the cabinet wall, and the other half attaching to the door via a compression joint. The drawersides are solid metal with full extend drawer glides, which are also metal. New drawers are being introduced into the line with self closing glides as well. Wall cabinets are hung using a wall rail so that only the rail is leveled and true, not every cabinet. This is only the planning that's gone into the cabinetry. The interior fittings for the cabinets are myriad from cutlery inserts, to spice jar holders, to drawer dividers for pots/pans/condiments/boxes/etc, to the rail systems used in tandem with the cabinets to complete the kitchen. And of course EVERY cabinet is backed by a ten year warranty which covers any manufactuer's defect in the product. Honestly, I wouldn't go anywhere else. My parent's didn't and they've had an IKEA kitchen since I was in high school.
Akurum definition
Akurum is the North American equivalent of FAKTUM; that is the fitted, frameless, component kitchen cabinet line, which when paired with door and drawer fronts as well as interior accessories makes up the full kitchen cabinet system.
There's a lot of different kinds of "pressboard" (aka particleboard), some of it crap, some of it quite good. The Ikea stuff falls into the latter category. Searching over on the THS forums will find you several discussions of particle board vs. plywood cabinets; the general consensus is that either can be good, and either can be bad.
Consumer Reports (August 04) rated Ikea 4th, American Woodmark 10th (out of 14 brands evaluated), FWTW. The Blum hardware on Ikea cabinets is a significant extra cost on other brands, if it's available at all.
Also, the full-extending drawers are standard for IKEA. You don't have to pay extra. I've seen American WoodMark and
IMHO
, I think very little of them. And I don't have an IKEA kitchen yet. But, I'm working on it. If you haven't already, go to the HOME page and take a look at some of the Finished Kitchens pictures and the Before and Afters. I think you'll like what you see.
Location: Where in the world is the Kitchen Magician?
My IKEA: USA-Atlanta:Midtown
Doorstyle: System 210
vmole wrote:
Quote:
There's a lot of different kinds of "pressboard" (aka particleboard), some of it crap, some of it quite good. The Ikea stuff falls into the latter category. Searching over on the THS forums will find you several discussions of particle board vs. plywood cabinets; the general consensus is that either can be good, and either can be bad.
Consumer Reports (August 04) rated Ikea 4th, American Woodmark 10th (out of 14 brands evaluated), FWTW. The Blum hardware on Ikea cabinets is a significant extra cost on other brands, if it's available at all.
There, feel better?
To be totally honest, that report combined the quality AND cost of cabinetry from several different manufacturers. The report means that IKEA cabinets pretty much get you the most band for your buck. I haven't seen an 05 report yet, though I doubt much has changed about our product. We do display the report at our order desk though. Very helpful when convincing customers to buy our stuff rather than HD or Lowes.
Typically, the CR ratings don't account for price, while their recommendations do (although I couldn't actually find a statement to that effect, so I could be wrong). Now, it is possible to question their whole testing system, and whether they value the right things about any particular item, but that's a whole differrent subject...
Typically, the CR ratings don't account for price, while their recommendations do (although I couldn't actually find a statement to that effect, so I could be wrong). Now, it is possible to question their whole testing system, and whether they value the right things about any particular item, but that's a whole differrent subject...
I have American Woodmark cabinets right now. What I do like about them is that the drawers are made of wood and the joints are dovetailed. What I don't like about them is their traditional appearance. It really really annoys me. For that reason, I'm in the process of replacing them with Ikea cabinets. Consumer Reports gave Ikea cabinets a best buy rating, so I'm confident I've made the right decision.
IKEA cabs are made of MDF, which is the best kind of particle board. An important point to me is that, unlike other ready made cabinets, they are free of formaldehyde and other VOC's (volatile organic chemicals).
IKEA cabinets are not made of MDF (medium density fiberboard). They are a type of particle board. So, what are the pros and cons of this material? Is is very dimensionally stable , but can be damaged by moisture and also has low fastener holding power. IKEA cabinets compensate for this by using thicker material. The drawers are the most probable point of failure on the cabinets because of their frequent use. Dovetail solid wood or 7-ply millwork grade plywood is nice, but it is hard to be more durable and stable than a metal drawer box.
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If you haven't already, go to the HOME page and take a look at some of the Finished Kitchens pictures and the Before and Afters. I think you'll like what you see.
