Garage cabinets

[rnt80]

I'm putting in a bid on a pretty sizeable garage job.  The customer wants "nice cabinets" and not junk.  I've never used melamine on any of my jobs but I know that it is standard for this type of job.  The alternative would be a prefinished ply but I'm thinking that the maple melamine I would be using would be much more durable.  Any thoughts?

 

[edanielvijay]

I am builing my garage cabinets using maple melamine particle board and the issue with the melamine - its chipping. Not a lot, but very minor. If your customer is very picky, then he might notice.

 

[nclemmons]

I would go down the maple ply route.  The mwhite elamine cabinets I had in my garage years ago quickly showed dirt while the maple cabinets I have now look great after 14 years. 

If they are used a lot for access by kids, I think e melamine will wear more quickly plus show the dirt more readily.

Neil

 

[rnt80]

No kids and I would be using a maple melamine.  My concern is durability.  The customer is worried about the affect such things as oil or other fluids will have on the surface of whatever material I use.  I was under the impression that the melamine coating would be much more durable than a prefinished ply.  Is that not necessarily the case?

 

[tjbnwi]

Look into Panolam products;

http://www.panolam.com/

I bid a garage cab job with Panolan and have an acquaint that use it exclusively for commercial cabs. Hopefully I get the garage cab job.

Tom

 

[tiralie]

No kids and I would be using a maple melamine.  My concern is durability.  The customer is worried about the affect such things as oil or other fluids will have on the surface of whatever material I use.  I was under the impression that the melamine coating would be much more durable than a prefinished ply.  Is that not necessarily the case?

Russ:
I have built a several melamine cabinets but none for use in garages. Good quality melamine coated mdf or particle board such as Panolam can withstand a lot of punishment. The weakest link in any cabinetry using melamine are the doors/drawers. If you use slab doors made from melamine you are using to make the cab try to use a thicker (1-3mm PVC) edge band which holds up to the abuse a lot better than the thin preglued stuff. Alternatively you can order custom doors (frame and panel) and drawer fronts coated with a melamine finishes that match the sheets you make your cabinet with. Some of the garage cabinets I have seen use big box therofoil, vinyl wrapped or Polyester doors which can look kinda cheap.
Good luck
Tim

 

[honeydoman]

you can use the melimean with a very expensive melamine blade  to good good cuts, but again it does tend to chip a bit as you wear down blade..  also is oil and grease going get all over them?  that is rare to happen at a home garage unless he does mechanic work all the time... but yes dirt and dust dirt can get all over them and with the melamine you can wipe it down