Kitchen Carcase Options and Accessories
kitchen carcase construction is an area of intense rivalry in the kitchen industry, and is a lot simpler than it appears. There is an abundance of good kitchen manufacturers who use good kitchen components and acceptable melamine 18mm boards. they also use edge-banding technology to put vinyl 1mm edging to all front edges for durability. I have detailed a good kitchen carcase construction in my specification below for what I would expect, and shown the difference for North Europe. A good kitchen carcase is not worth compromising on, and this is unnecessary if you are careful when and where you look.
What is a good solid standard kitchen carcase ?
If you are checking the quality of the kitchen carcase system you are buying then this is a good specification for British buyers, or anywhere else for that matter.
1. 18mm melamine faced high density chipboard or mdf (mdf is better if available )
2. Rigid construction on delivery (glued aswell as fixings if available).
3. 18mm melamine chipboard backs.
4. 18mm top, not often seen but useful for granite projects
5. Vinyl 1mm edge-banded front edges in matching finish to carcase and shelves
6. Adjustable shelves.
7. Adjustable 100mm or 150 mm plastic legs.
8. Blum hinges ( not cheap copies ).
9. Blum soft close drawer boxes in silver metal.
10. Pipe recess to rear of at least 35mm.
11. Available in standard and special sizes.
12. Colours and wood finishes should be available to match the door.
Budget carcases are false economy
Budget kitchen carcases are often 16mm and low quality melamine faced chipboard unless from good northern european kitchen companies. Also the hinges and drawers are inferior systems to blum. Other problems include, thin iron on edging that chips and peels, and thin 6mm-8mm backs. Also they are quite often flat-pack that has been assembled before delivery rather than rigid. It is easy for most retailers to buy good quality carcases cheaply from local kitchen manufacturers to my recommended specification, or more reliably from larger specialist carcase manufacturers, so there is no excuse to compromise, whether being supplied flatpack or rigid kitchen carcases.
North Europe carcases (Germany mainly)
Germany, the birth place of most of the built in kitchen ideas originally coming to this country, have used a high density 16mm carcase construction with glued rigid sides rather than cams . I have found this to be as good as our 18mm carcasing, and for some ranges much more superior, such as Alno, Poggenpohl etc. German systems quite often use blum hinges and drawers for quality, and always use solid well made interior pullout systems. The main draw back has been the use of white carcases with matching front edging to door colour, but this is improving. This means that undersides of wall units are white if you are sitting down in your kitchen and looking up( not a pretty sight with wood kitchens).
Other draw options
There are other kitchen drawer options readily available to most kitchen suppliers such as : solid beech sided and veneered base type drawers, in soft contoured sides or flat sides with soft close drawer rails. Also some manufacturers supply dovetailed solid wood drawers with soft close hidden systems ( blum mechanism ).
Bespoke options
The carcase construction for most kitchen companies, behind the front frame, is usually 18mm melamine chipboard unless the client asks for an upgrade. I have normally specified melamine on mdf because it is more solid for fixings. I have used veneered 18mm mdf when using hardwood doors because it looks better, but it is not so durable, when varnished, for heavy use and wet conditions. kitchen drawer construction is quite often dovetailed hardwood with soft close, or metallic metal finish with modern doors. Bespoke kitchen carcases always have 18mm backs and quite often 18mm tops with granite worktops for extra rigidity.
Veneered 18mm mdf
Can be purchased ready varnished as 8' x 4' sheets from some suppliers ,but costs up to 4 times as much as laminate. This is still acceptable if you have say 30 sheets in a kitchen, which will mean an extra £1200. The look of solid oak doors, oak veneered interiors and dovetailed oak drawers is worth the compromise ( I am a designer remember !).
Plywood
I have constructed kitchen carcases out of 18mm birch ply. This is a very rigid and durable material and acceptable if your clients do not like mdf or chipboard. It will still have to be varnished, is also quite light coloured so is less practical than laminate.
Solid wood
Often asked for in the bespoke kitchen market, but very rare for practical reasons. The first bespoke kitchen range I sold, had a solid pine carcase that was impressive at the time to look at, but in reality moved in the damp conditions of some of the old houses we fitted in . It was seldom a big problem, unless it was an outside end, but it did make me quickly move to melamine on mdf. Solid hardwood interiors will move more in damp conditions after new construction work (wet plaster and blockwork etc) or in old stone houses, and even in a framed and panelled construction would be impractical and very expensive.
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