This is what Kraftmaid calls APC i.e."All Plywood Construction"?

[JerryNY]

I got a good deal on these cabinets through a special at HD. I wasn't going to go through HD but they had the lowest price by far. I paid a premium for them to be APC but all the cabs showed up with hardboard backers. I called the store up to complain and they put me in touch with a Kraftmaid rep who tried to explain to my that their hardboard was really a form of plywood and better. This may very well be true but I was told all plywood and expected all plywood so it was a bit disappointing to be honest. The rep said they switched over the backs about a year and half ago which is all fine and good but they should make sure that customers are informed what they changed and maybe call it MPC, "Mostly Plywood Construction". I went with white and gray for the island and the paint job does look really good but still kinda disappointed.

Edited February 25, 2016 by JerryNY

[comp56]

I like how easy it is to screw the little people...

[JimboS1ice]

Very misleading, all is totally inclusive, not meaning well for the most part is plywood

Jimbo

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[ChrisK]

That's crap Jerry. Very misleading. Love those tight fitting joints too!

[JMG]

While I agree that a product marked as all one material type should ship as that particular material in complete, my experience over the years with one eighth and one quarter thick ply material has been anything but stable in both dimension and quality. Too often suppliers would purchase vinyl coated ply that would not be sanded smooth and the rough grain pattern would transfer through and give the finish side a rough look. High grade back board wasn't always available on a regular basis and added to the consistency problem. Suffice to say, from a consistent finish look viewpoint, for white interior boxes, the hardboard solution is an attractive alternative.

 

When building top grade boxes myself of complete ply construction, I ended up applying vt grade laminate to the ply backer in order to achieve the required consistent look, but this adds a significant cost to the final product. The alternative to this was an epoxy coat hardboard when the specifications allowed. Generally the hardboard was a heavier material, but adding laminate to the ply to control the finish look gave some parity to the overall weight difference.

 

I suspect that the manufacturer you were dealing with had more complaints about their finish look than they have had about not having plywood back boards since changing over to the hardboard. Someone just failed to adjust for the fact that they would get called out for it.

 

If I may, I suggest that you lay your boxes face down, check them for straight and square, and then run a heavy bead of hot melt glue around the edge of the backs. This will help stabilize the boxes and keep any rattle to a minimum.

[99_XC600]

That's crap since you were expecting the backing to be plywood which strengthens the entire box. 

[JerryNY]

3 hours ago, JMG said:

While I agree that a product marked as all one material type should ship as that particular material in complete, my experience over the years with one eighth and one quarter thick ply material has been anything but stable in both dimension and quality. Too often suppliers would purchase vinyl coated ply that would not be sanded smooth and the rough grain pattern would transfer through and give the finish side a rough look. High grade back board wasn't always available on a regular basis and added to the consistency problem. Suffice to say, from a consistent finish look viewpoint, for white interior boxes, the hardboard solution is an attractive alternative.

 

When building top grade boxes myself of complete ply construction, I ended up applying vt grade laminate to the ply backer in order to achieve the required consistent look, but this adds a significant cost to the final product. The alternative to this was an epoxy coat hardboard when the specifications allowed. Generally the hardboard was a heavier material, but adding laminate to the ply to control the finish look gave some parity to the overall weight difference.

 

I suspect that the manufacturer you were dealing with had more complaints about their finish look than they have had about not having plywood back boards since changing over to the hardboard. Someone just failed to adjust for the fact that they would get called out for it.

 

If I may, I suggest that you lay your boxes face down, check them for straight and square, and then run a heavy bead of hot melt glue around the edge of the backs. This will help stabilize the boxes and keep any rattle to a minimum.

Yeah I understand the reasons for this but don't like them calling it all plywood. The backs look like they have tons of what looks like hot glue holding the backer board in. It's a shame they just weren't more upfront and misleading in their APC descriptor.

It's a shame they went the misleading route because the paint is rather good and the overall build quality looks very good on the hardwood fronts. The island end caps I managed to find in their 700+ catalog weigh a ton and will save me tons of time integrating legs etc:

They even put hinges on the one with a false front making a tiny 4" deep cabinet, the other side is deeper with two real drawers.

[Logan]

Looks good but it sucks that they don't inform you on that 

[overanalyze]

We are lucky and have a great local cabinet shop that makes us true all plywood/solid wood cabinets. Usually the same or cheaper than "Box" cabinets. I installed Kraftmaid for a lot of years and saw a gradual decline in their quality. Glad you got a good deal...sucks you were mis led.