For standard chipboard, you may as well use gumtree facebook freecycle freegle etc and add your own doors. If you want water tolerant carcasses, afaik you'd need to make your own. Wood frame or a suitable ply or OSB. Or go concrete.
NT
The ones I have, IIRC luca, are completely covered in plastic. So they will be water proof as long as you seal anywhere you cut or drill.
As for carcasses silicon sealer works wonders on the joints.
Eh? They have them in the local Travis Perkins. Wouldn't even talk to me unless I had a kitchen fitter whom they quote through. One reason we went all the way to Pontefract to look at DIY-Kitchens.
Perhaps the dedicated showrooms are different.
From their website:
"If you haven't already appointed a kitchen installer, now's the time to find one. We sell to the trade because we believe you will get the best possible results if your kitchen is installed by an experienced tradesperson."
That is just a function of the hinges/opener. You can fit them to any door designed for handles and leave a flat surface.
You can even get electric powered stuff that is handle less like my bosch dishwasher. Push door to open, but I do have a moulded handle on it as I wanted the door to match the others.
I think that ply may be the way to go. My local Builders Depot has a large and very accurate machine for cutting up the panels. What I'm not sure about is whether the edges of the ply panels would look okay if painted or varnished, or whether you would have to lip them all with solid wood?
Howdens won't sell to the public. Or at least they never used to. They only want to send an 'authorised' kitchen fitter round.
Travis Perkins have their own brand too. No idea if they are any good.
And that includes steam from a kettle in my experience.
If you use a filler primer or just a thick acrylic and sand between 2 coats they will look good
A lot of cabinetry like that - made from ply with bare edges - on Grand Designs last night.
Bet it wasn't el-cheapo grade plywood though ...
I used P5 (?) chipboard (hard, green, coating) in the loft. On a 'fine' day there was a shower that wetted the surfaces and was dripping of the pile of sheets, some going onto the tongues and into the grooves. Couldn't move it immediately, so separated the sheets and stood them on edge. No sign of swelling anywhere. I don't know if it would be any good for making units.
Must be regional (or some places they are flexible). It might help that I have a TP trade account. However they seemed to be no problem in selling to me. I also bought drawer handles from Howdens without an account. One off sale.
Cheers
Dave R
for a limited time, sure. It makes more sense to not build with that kind of junk though.
Filling & painting the edges works. Wooden lipping works better. Your call.
NT
I only saw the 'reveal' but think they said 30-grand for all of it. This was more that just a kitchen mind you. But yes, it looked like 18mm scandinavian ply. Possibly a high quality one with limited voids.
I used Wickes and they seem pretty good, and with one of their 'sales' were very good value. They supplied most of the appliances and price-matched some things which I could show were cheaper elsewhere. They also refunded on a couple of things We didn't use in the end.
One very useful thing was the initial visit from their 'kitchen designer' who made some suggestions which hadn't occurred to me.
Cheers
One of their fitters has the same name as me and the same broadband supplier.
He also wanted the email address that already had, so was obviously offered it with a 2 appended, which he accepted.
Howdens 'lost' the 2 and started sending me his quotations - shiowing his 80% + discount!
If we use Howdens for our new kitchen, that information could be useful to know!
I had no problem getting a Howdens Trade account - even with a substantial credit allowance. All the kitchen items seem to be sold at a discount of anything between
50 and 100% ( yes 100% for 1 item). Had no problem taking surplus items - mainly accessories back unused for full refund.
Assuming you are using conventional front mounted doors you can even get away with 18 mm shuttering ply for the carcases. Make a sawboard to cut up your own panels, and get a biscuit cutter. Quickest and easiest way to make a strong, accurate "box". I had to do this for one "unit" because I wanted a large sink (at a sensible price) and it had to fit in a non-standard sized space. I also made three deep but narrow-ish waste bins for waste and recycling to use up the space. 12 mm ply sides, 18 mm back front and bottom to provide rigidity. They sit on castors and just pull out.
But I agree, solid wood lips look nicest. I did this on the "end" and "back" of ordinary laminated chipboard worktops rather than faff around trying to use finishing strips. (There's a peninsular so I needed to finish the back of one piece). Ordinary softwood, fitted with concealed dowels then stained and varnished.
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