Visibility of different cabinet parts

[Rob Blaustein]

I've not built cabinets with drawers, but I'm about to, and one side will be against a wall. I'll be using veneered ply. Now the other face of that piece of plywood, the face that's not against the wall, will have drawer slides mounted to it. Once the drawers are assembled and installed, will that inside face of that plywood be visible at all? If not, could I get away with a less expensive veneered ply, like birch, rather than the walnut that I'll be using for parts that show? And is it important to finish it at all? If so, even the face that will be against the wall?

[Steve Clardy]

I do a lot of vanities, and lower cabs that way that sit next to a wall, hidden. I use whatever ply that is handy, especially if it saves me from cutting into a full sheet of good stuff just to get one side piece.
Full of drawers, it won't show.

[Steve Cox]

I'm with Steve on this one, but at some point those drawers will be removed. It may be years but something will be lost back there or you may have one of "those" clients who will pull everything out and crawl back in there with a flashlight looking for problems. Can you stand the thought that in the future someone will look at it and go "somebody went cheap here"? That is your call.

[Rob Blaustein]

Thanks Steve and Steve. This is also for a vanity. And it's for us, so my wife and I are the "clients." I can't use stuff lying around since I don't have any plywood lying around. Maybe it's not worth it--depends if it saves me from buying an extra sheet of expensive ply--a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" walnut (A-1) is $123 vs $59 for birch. Though in the big scheme of things an extra $64 isn't so bad (at least I'm not spending a thousand or more bucks buying the vanity).

How important is it to finish both sides of plywood for casework--do I really need to do the underside of the bottom pieces, or the faces that are touching walls? Even with solid woods I have read conflicting views on this.

--Rob

[Steve Cox]

Don't worry about the finish on the casework. I've not had any problem with panels being finished on one side only especially if they are constrained by the construction of the case.

[Steve Clardy]

I wouldn't worry about finish on the panels not exposed either.
But for the long haul, maybe finish the underneath bottom of where the sink plumbing is. Trap seeps at some point, water line leak, etc.

[Rick Shelton]

How important is it to finish both sides of plywood for casework--do I really need to do the underside of the bottom pieces, or the faces that are touching walls? Even with solid woods I have read conflicting views on this.
--Rob

I always prime the whole case and finish what can be seen.

[Mark Singer]

Where the sides are seen, I make end fascia panels that match the drawer fronts...the carcass is only seen from inside and the edge between doors and drawers.. I would just use the same ply for consistency though.