Modular (made of laminate/plywood/chipboard):
1) Pre-designed parts that are built off-site and then brought to be installed in your house.
2) Typically factory-made, so is quite fast to produce and assemble.
3) Very sleek and minimal profile (because mass produced, edges usually clean)
4) Can easily see and visualize in 3D program planner before building
5) Oftentimes more expensive as it's marketed as a more "premium" and flexible option.
6) In theory, can remove the parts and bring with you when you move to another house (but in practical application, people rarely do this)
7) Lots of color and surface finishing options.
8) Most modern "kitchen cabinet specialists" use modular system.
9) If you want to change, can just dismantle and remove the pieces.
10) Can customize somewhat even after finished installing (add/remove shelves, repaint/vinyl wrap the surface, put in additional built in appliances etc.)

Civil (those old school brick & cement kitchens you see in older houses, usually with tile finish):
1) Counters are built on site, with brick & mortar.
2) Because it's "made to order", usually only rely on drawing, cannot pull out 3D drawings to change layout easily.
3) Very old school and durable, but lacks style and modern touches, difficult to install things like organizing shelves, extra electrical sockets etc especially after the counter has been built.
4) Cannot easily customize or change design.
5) Very durable (because it's brick)
6) Permanent (because again, brick)
7) Price fluctuates because very dependant on material and labor costs.
8) Difficult to clean because tile grouting, cement porousness etc.
9) Takes a long time to build because need to lay brick, mortar, tiles etc.
10) Much cheaper than modular kitchen because it's just brick n mortar, unless you go out and grab a rare quartz countertop to cover (big waste).

About Kubiq, they're considered a more expensive option on the market because of how they wrap their melamine (their melamine chipboard is fully wrapped by factory machines, so no visible seams and very durable finish), although not as expensive as Signature Kitchen brand (which uses same tech, see video below).



Kubiq is actually the "budget" subsidiary of Signature Kitchen, so their doors, materials and fixtures are same as Signature Kitchen, just that Kubiq use plain white carcass (inside) in their cabinet, and have a lot less color options than Signature. Signature will use fully colored boards for even the inside of the cabinet, but price is 💸

Kubiq/Signature advantage is that quite a lot of showrooms, you can just visit and see in person whether you like their materials.

This post has been edited by DragonReine: Jun 22 2023, 02:19 PM