Thank you ritting28 and Carol. The melamine is over plywood, not MDF or particle board, so that should hold up a little better I assume. It is only in the box not the drawers. They were dove tail maple drawers. Will the melamine over plywood hold up as well as birch? Should I go with the birch? My concern is why birch is being used for the boxes if maple is used for the drawers. I think it is to save money. Am I right? Will the birch boxes hold up? I noticed many knots in the sample of birch cabinets that the contractor showed me. Should that be of concern? These cabinets are supposedly custom.

The knots are part of the wood and expected. The better quality is birch. Maple dovetail drawers can be over 50% higher in costs than birch depending on what finish you use. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose birch. What are the sides? 5/8"? It is common to use a less expensive wood than the door and drawer fronts. We sell mostly European Beech and Baltic birch dovetail drawers. Cabinet makers don't often buy Maple, Oak, Walnut, etc. to match the door and drawer fronts.

Not sure I totally understood your comment. Would you choose birch boxes over the melamine over plywood boxes?

Also, If the fronts of my cabinets and doors are maple, what should the interior of the drawers be? Are you suggesting that quality cabinet makers should not use maple at all? I am having the cabinets painted white, shaker style.

Thanks for your opinion. I appreciate your taking time to clarify my options.

I would choose Baltic birch boxes over melamine if price wasn't a factor. Cabinet companies usually choose less expensive materials for the drawer boxes since they aren't seen. They could and sometimes do choose maple, but most times opt for a less expensive option. Baltic birch drawers will look great with your painted doors and drawer fronts. If price was a factor, the melamine boxes would still be a good choice.

Thanks for the information. The quote for the melamine over plywood boxes were considerably higher than the birch boxes! Is there a difference between Baltic birch and non Baltic birch? I know nothing about birch. If it is not Baltic birch is that still ok? Can birch come from China?

Yes there is a birch drawer side from China. In my experience, they hold up just fine. In fact, if they aren't saying Baltic birch, both are probably from China. The melamine over the plywood is probably higher because melamine is usually over a IPC-industrial pine core. I've never used that before with our dovetail drawers. We make melamine drawer boxes which is a medium density fiberboard core with matching edge band. Industrial pine core (IPC) shows on dovetailed edges. You should ask to see a sample of both drawers, take them home and try them out to see if you like one over the other.

It is not the drawer that has the melamine. It is the sides of the box of the cabinet. The drawers are maple interior on both samples. That's fine with me.

I think you have something mixed up, there is no natural melamine over plywood core. You have veneer over melamine which make your interior or you have laminated plywood with a maple top layer which also gives you a finish inside look... depending on the manufacturer the difference in price can be anywhere from 10% to 20% or > for plywood boxes.

As the doors go, you have solid wood maple doors or you have maple veneer doors...Solid doors are made up from several pieces of wood to prevent warpage and you can see the difference in grain when finish applied (less variation in finish on more expensive doors) When you have a maple (or other wood species) veneer door has an even grain, because the core of the door is laminated... again there is price difference, wood is obviously will be more expensive.

With that said, most kitchens always come with a melamine core boxes and they will last a long time as long as the moisture will not penetrate which will make swelling and delamination of veneer, which is a rare occurrence since most tops today are Granite and everything pretty much sealed, therefore there is no way for moisture to get under it, unless of course something is leaking below.

Plywood box will withstand moisture a bit better and it will not swell as melamine would and also on the exterior, specially the end base cabinets, if there is knick or a scratch it can be easily repaired compare to melamine box.

Good luck

I am quoting exactly from the proposal. It states cabinet interiors to be natural maple melamine over a plywood core. Maybe the contractor is the one who is mixed up! I just feel that a birch interior is a finer quality cabinet than a melamine one. Am I wrong? Melamine reminds me of a cheap cabinet.

It sounds like the wording got mixed up a bit no big deal, just ask if you getting plywood or melamine boxes and if you getting solid wood doors or veneer doors.

I am getting melamine over plywood. Is that ok?

The visible undersides and end panels of cabinets are often melamine or a very thin wood veneer over plywood. That's fine.

Plywood cabinet boxes are good, and should be 1/2 to 3/4" thick. Doors are often solid wood or wood veneer. Drawers will hold up best if they are plywood or solid wood construction, as they are opened and closed often, and must hold weight of contents.

Consider going to a big box store such as Lowes and checking out the construction of various kitchen displays. They should have 2 or 3 levels of quality so you can see what I mean.

Melamine plywod is used quite often in the cabinet industry for boxes because it offers a superior moisture resistance and interior cleanup to a clearcoat. Don't knock what you aren't familiar with. It's a better product for long term.

Seems to be some confusion on the original question, this is not about drawers but the interior surfaces of the wall/base cabinets. You have 2 choices for these interiors:

1) Melamine adhered to plywood (the word natural is misleading...it is made to look "natural") . Melamine is a thin plastic laminate and not natural by any means. It will look fake. I can tell melamine a mile away despite the attempts to make it look real. It is faux...in other words imitation. When the surface is compromised by a chip or tear or gouge, forget it. I have had these in my old home and the surface of some of the more heavily used melamine shelves wore through. You need to cover them up. Habsmom...yes, it looks like a cheap cabinet. The first time I worked with Melamine I was very disappointed. I drilled water holes in the back of the cabinet through the melamine and just found it so cheesy. It was a thin as a piece of paper and produced nasty edges around the holes. Luckily I placed painters tape over the hole area prior to drilling, but it was still nasty.

2) Birch plywood that has a clear coat finish applied. Will have the look of true custom cabinetry. This would be my choice because it is real, and therefore looks real. It will last a lifetime, and even if the clear coat has signs of wear, it can easily be refreshened/reapplied.

Dear habsmom: what did you end up using? I am also planning to use plywood covered in melamine. I requested that so that the cabinet interiors are easy to clean. I have wood shelves now and between the kids and housekeepers it looks all damaged. On the other hand, where we have melamine shelves, they still look good, can tolerate some water, and wipe clean. Also, do you know the brand name of the melamine plywood you were thinking of using? Many cabinet makers never heard of such a product.