laundry room cabs--finish and ply?

[David Croteau]

We need to put some cabinets and shelves in our laundry room (including a base for a utility sink) and my wife is set on something white. Melamine is obviously one possibility but I’ve never worked with it and I sort of dread doing so because of the weight, chipping, fasteners, and the plastic look. We’ve got some unusual shapes and sizes so I don’t think borg-bought components will work either (though I’m looking into it).


My questions:
1. If I built something using ply painted white, what would give me the most durable finish for a laundry room application?

2. What type of ply would be the most appropriate for this sort of project?

Thanks.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi David. This is not exactly the same, but this spring I built a set of cabinets in the garage that included an Elkay stainless steel sink. I used 3/4 "shop grade" plywood. Shop grade ply is not commonly available, so you might have to call around. I found mine at a hardwood supplier in Dallas. It is not up to the cabinet quality plywood, but it has a good surface if you are going to paint it. I used 3/4" for everything except the drawer boxes that were 1/2" shop grade ply.

For counter top, I ordered in some Wilson Art laminate from HD. Laminate is easy to install. Just cut it about an inch larger than the counter top on your table saw, and once it is cemented to the counter, just run around it with a flush trim bit in your router.

[Ray Bersch]

David,
I completed the same project this past spring. The boxes and shelves were Birch ply, the shelves finished edge was poplar, face frames and door stiles and rails were poplar and the door panels were 1/4" luan ply. I applied 2 coats of poly to the interior and shelves (I actually painted the poplar edge white, great look, lots of work to get it right). The exterior was painted white with Ben Moore's Impervex Latex High Gloss Metal & Wood Enamel 309. This is an acrylic interior/exterior paint that others have told me is very duarble. BenMoore recommends priming with their Ironclad Latex Low Luster Metal & Wood Enamel 363, which I did. Bought one quart of each and sprayed with a Porter Cable conversion gun. I added some Flotrol and had to thin a bit to get it right for the spray gun but I am very pleased with the results.

The most difficult part was working the luan plywood. This is a very open grain material and I wanted a completely smooth, grain free finish. I had a heck of a time getting a wood filler and finally got some that was meant for filling floors - it was a bear to work with but the results were exactly what I wanted. Others on this site can recommend better fillers and if you search for my post on the subject you will see their replies. I will try something else next time.
Have fun.
Ray

[Byron Trantham]

David, I bought mine from HD. I couldn't build them for the price. As for using Melamine, I use confomat screws made for this kind of material. They are very strong and you can buy white plastic caps to finish them off. You can buy them from McFeelys.

[Jeff Horton]

I can't speak for your area. But unless you are looking the cheap partical board cabinets, in my area you can get a cabinet maker to make them cheaper and you get much better cabinets too.

To your questions if it were me:

1. Oil based paint
2. Cabient grade birch ply

[Scott Parks]

The most difficult part was working the luan plywood. This is a very open grain material and I wanted a completely smooth, grain free finish. I had a heck of a time getting a wood filler and finally got some that was meant for filling floors -

Anyone try Bondo? Easy to sand, and paint over it... But I don't know how well it sticks to wood.

[Al Willits]

Plywood type?
Kinda depends on how fancy you (she) wants them, I'm building shop cabinets and as I'm painting them, I went with B/C from Menards at $20 a 3/4" 4x8 sheet.
Had to pick though about 20 before I found 4 I liked, but considering I'm painting them and they're for the garage, they'll work fine.

My quest for plywood lead me from construction grade at $18 to Cabinet grade at $120 a sheet, if I was gonna make cabinets for the wife, especially the basement, I'd probably use the shop grade or not being able to find that, the $40-50 stuff at menards (or lumber yard equivelent) would be my choice.

Al

[Chris Padilla]

I found some "32 mm style" melamine panels at local building supply store and was able to take advantage of this system to toss together a reasonably priced cabinet system for my laundry room.

Also, check out www.easyclosets.com (http://www.easyclosets.com) as you might be able to use their system and quickly build out the laundry area. I've used them to get all the closets in the house done. They sent me so many extra parts that I was able to redo a closet in our final room with all the extras...after I found the above-mentioned 32 mm melamine panels.

[David Croteau]

Thanks, everyone. I checked out stock melamine cabinets and couldn't bring myself to buy anything. It's just not my cup of tea.

So, it's gonna be painted ply w/ face frames. Not the most economical or time-efficient, but since I'm trying to teach myself woodworking skills, this seems like a good chance to practice. (I've got kitchen cabs coming up next year.) I'm hoping the investment in skill-building will pay off later.

[Ray Bersch]

Well, David that is exactly what my laundry room project was about - practice. I suggest you put up some shelves to make the wife happy for awhile and get on to building the cabinets. In the process I learned to set up a jointer and planner, boring to those who have done it many times, but instructive to us new guys - I also learned about getting the wood flat and square - a bunch of stuff ended up being scrap, but no problem. I also made inset doors - a process I found to be a snap because the wood was square and flat.
I have been acquiring used tools for so long my wife swears that my hobby is collecting, not wood working - so be it, if necessary - but now I am on to other projects and have the confidence gained by the experience of building those laundry cabinets.

Good luck and have fun.
Ray