Plywood vs Melamine, which one is better in terms of durability, appearance, less susceptible to water damage, easy to clean?

By looking and touching, how can we know which one is plywood or melamine?

Melamine better.

Melamine....

Good read

https://www.ampquartz.com/plywood-melamine-...inets-malaysia/

knock on it.. melamine sounds solid.. while plywood sounds inside kosong a bit (depend on how many layers of plywood).. if somewhere didnt expose to water/liquid, i will suggest melamine such wardrobe, tv cabinet.. but if got budget/kitchen cabinet, yes, go for plywood..

mostly kitchen is the one that people have concern.. inside carcass body either melamine or plywood or some even mixed both is fine.. mostly expose to water is around sink cabinet & surface of door panel.. if you plan to use aluminium glass door as example, then carcass could be melamine/plywood.. but based on personal experience, melamine board seem easier to bend over the time especialy hanging cabinet..

compared the price between melamine & plywood, theoritically plywood more expensive in general.. but some E1 melamine board also quite high price.. surface of melamine is water resistant.. the rests is dpeend on the edging wrapping technology.. if manual wrap that type, mostly liquid enter from edging and board swollen & mostly byebye.. just make sure whenever got expose to liquid, use dry cloth wipe it.. settle..

This post has been edited by ChuanHong: Jun 15 2023, 01:06 PM

How can we know it's made of melamine? How can we feel by touching? How do we test if it is melamine?

This post has been edited by goolie: Jun 21 2023, 03:41 PM

your line of questioning is not wrong, when i started solid wood furniture making, i was also confused as hell, when discussing board materials with kitchen makers, they always say melamine melamine.. lol.

so many funny funny answers. no wonder everyone gets confused.

lol

melamine is refering to the surface of the panel. (but in malaysia it seems that it refers to chipboard with melamine surface covering. ) actual term should be MFC, melamine face chipboard

can read more here, one of the big suppliers of "melamine" chipboard MFC
https://www.mieco.com.my/products/mieco-mfc/
.

then there are other options for "melamine" such as melamine plywood.




This post has been edited by ar188: Jun 22 2023, 09:17 PM

you may know it when furniture installation.. or you ask the vendor straightly.. melamine done by factory and when installation, all woods panel are done perfectly.. just screw and install.. plywood usually install on site and then laminate on the spot..

melamine is just the surface skin that is applied on top of wood panel/board

plywood/mdf/chipboard/pine wood they all can have malamine applied on and be called melamine board

but most of the melamine in the market is chipboard, which is the cheapest board, or blockboard for certain area in cabinets

if the seller using plywood with melamine, they will usually set the price higher and will tell you they are using plywood with melamine

This is correct

This post has been edited by epicure: Jul 1 2023, 01:40 PM

Hi Sir,

I have few questions as below:

Is this pricing reasonable for laminated blockboard?

Base cabinet 9.5ft (L) x 2ft (D) x 2.6ft (H) = RM4200 (all blockboard inc. carcass)
Tall cabinet 2ft (L) x 2ft (D) x 9.8ft (H) = RM2000 (all blockboard inc. carcass)
Carcass for sinki 2.6ft (L) x 2ft (D) x 2.6ft (H) = RM350 (stainless steel)
DTC drawer with PVC board 2ft (L) x 2ft (D) x 2 = RM900

For sinki carcass, what is the cheaper option with good durability? aluminum? PVC?

DTC drawer is as expensive as quoted price?

Should I use melamine instead?

For sink carcass, since it's more prone to water splashes, suggest to use solid wood , provided budget is not an issue.

if the budget is the issue, what is the other options? my contractor quoted for s/steel carcass for sink

Stainless steel plated or pure stainless like this you see in restaurant? Stainless steel plated is just wood as based then stick on stainless steel sheet

I'm not sure about the price of stainless steel since I have not used it before, I built my own kitchen cabinet and I'm using softwood plywood finished with paint and polyurethane to give a waterproof finishing

S/steel like we see in restaurant. So the total price basically will influenced by countertop?

Since countertop i will stick with stainless steel. I am comparing the price for the base cabinet actually. Trying to compare the price between melamine or blockboard.

Countertop usually the most expensive, so it will take up large part of your budget

I don't see much difference between chipboard and blockboard, they are both having melamine layer, while blockboard is more moisture resistant but it doesn't do well when there is constant water contact too, it is the edging that fail all the time

As for price, just go for whichever suit your budget, usage wise, as long no water leaking then they will last, sink compartment is actually dry most of the time

Hyperlapse of the installation of a cabinet done in my living room to put random stuff inside, but mostly for kids items.
Done by ACE Cabinet, using E1 Melamine. Now, they have E0 Melamine too.