Heard a supplier badmouthing solid wood at a trade show last week

I was at the Midwest Woodworking Expo in Chicago and overheard two supplier reps talking near the veneer booth. One said to the other that solid wood is dead for kitchen cabinets because MDF with thermal foil is faster and cheaper. He bragged about a shop doing 40 kitchens a month with zero callbacks on warped doors. That really bothered me because I've seen foil peel after 18 months in humid kitchens. Solid wood still has a place if you properly acclimate and seal it. Anyone else noticing this push away from hardwood and toward composites?

2 comments

2 Comments

david82123d ago

...so a buddy of mine runs a small cabinet shop in Ohio, solid stuff, mostly custom kitchens. He took a job last year from a customer who wanted that MDF with thermal foil, cheaper and faster like that supplier said. Eight months later, the customer calls him crying because the foil bubbled up right near the stove, looked terrible, and the whole thing needed to be replaced. He ended up redoing it out of pocket with solid maple, finally sealed right, and that customer sends him referrals now because it's held up like a tank. I'm with you, that supplier's take is short-sighted, especially in a kitchen where moisture and heat are a real challenge.

parker_bell23d ago

Agree with you @david821, that Ohio cabinet guy took the hit and learned the hard way. Good on him for making it right though, that's how you build a solid rep.