Hi all, Just saw this post by chance and thought I could put my 2 cents in to help people understand more. Timber is a varying natural material which of course the pricing and properties vary hugely. Zenmaster is largely correct for most part but here are the finer details of them and their usage. Particle Board and Chip Boards - Should never be used as permanent solutions for most interior applications. They have very poor water resistance quality and will smell bad once they start to rot. Only use them for commercial retail fixtures that are meant to be used for short term or movie set props etc. MDF Board - Is better than Particle board and should not be used for kitchen applications or wet areas unless is for doors that are meant to be spray painted over properly. The painting process will seal the MDF making it water resistant. Min. 2 pot lacquer process is recommended for a strong enough protective layer over the door panels so that light scratch do not compromise the water resistance quality. If really worried some spray painters actually have the knowledge to use automotive paints when spraying and these offer better protection really at not too much of a cost over regular paints. Just to clear things up. MDF is the no.1 choice to use when you want to spray paint finish. Using Ply will result in poor finish and warping issues. (Unless you go through some ridiculously expensive and time consuming steps to treat the Ply) Expect this to cost more than laminated doors by a significant amount if you want a proper job done. Ply - Not all ply are equal. But as a general rule ply should be the default choice in making your kitchen cabinets. Standard ply used by almost all renovation companies are only average in grade but does the job well enough in relation to the cost I guess. But if you want to achieve high end finish feel with raw ply, (Polished Raw Ply that are done well can look better than laminated panels, In fact they look as good as solid wood.) you will need to be using some real fancy Plywood and these don't come cheap at all. They can cost up to 7 to 8 times the price of normal Ply for the Raw material. Nice Ply examples are Birch faced Ply Panels bonded with marine glue. You get a creamy white marble grained surface and clean edges with no gaps for the Ply example I mention. Water Resistance quality is also way better than the normal ones of course. (Not even sure if you can get them through retail means in Singapore without a special order) Blockboard is really still a form of Ply with solid softwood core made of real softwood strips. It is not core of wood as core of trees are known as heart wood and they are actually the strongest part of a tree. Very expensive for heart wood as they take decades to turn into them. Blockboard is actually a really good choice if you decide to go with ABS trimming (Basically 1 or 2 mm PVC edging) as they usually adhere better then HPL lamination edge tape. Avoid if using laminate edge tape as due to the fact it uses soft wood for core, its water resistance quality is just simply not as good if left exposed. Finally below are some quick notes too: - Man made veneer is also known as reconstituted veneer (recon veneer). It is actually still made from wood fibres and the colours are dyed in through printing method. Still gets a grain feel on them but is general less noticeable which may result in some grain prints looking less natural. (Most people don't notice the difference really) Examples of grain patterns to use recon instead of natural is zebrano or ebony etc. - Laminates used usually technically is known HPL laminate (High pressure laminate). They are usually quite hardy save for some poor brands out there. - Bubbling is something unfortunately that will happen from time to time in Singapore context for various reasons. Workmanship and humility are the main ones. moisture trapped within panels trying to escape is the no.1 reason for these bubbling (known as de-lamination, more common with veneer as veneer tends to show even the slightest bubbles where else HPL laminates are generally sturdy enough to conceal the slight imperfections). Singapore carpenters are not known to use heat press machines to bond finishes to the ply which will eliminate a huge part of the moisture away. Good Tip. If you can try to avoid getting your project done during rainy season, it tends to help a little. But the real perfect solution to this problem is that people have to pay more and carpenters in Singapore should start using heat presses. Or better just a heat pressing service for multiple carpenters to help keep cost lower. Hope the above information makes everyone understand a little more.
