better option for wood work- plywood or board and laminate or veneer?

Question

I am planning for wood work for my new flat. I want wardrobes and wall units to be done. Which one is better option for good finish , quality and durability? Plywood or board? Another query, I plan to go for combination of colours and designs, my carpentar suggests to use veneer as laminates leave gap at joints and has more wastage. Is that true? Is veneer better than laminate?
Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

If you want a good finish on your wardrobe you should consider going with a hardwood plywood, which is a birch or oak plywood it gives you a great finish and plus its easier to build with than wood. I guess it would give you the wood board finish with the ease of plywood.

Answer 2

My husband and I are both carpenters and have built wall units etc. SO!!!!!
laminates and veneers are virtually the same. they both have a very thin layer of either real wood or arborite etc glued to one side of a cheaper wood. Both could lift. and the edges are not covered. Veneered wood is a cheaper way to have an expensive looking finish. a piece of wood with an oak veneer applied is considerably cheaper than solid oak. I would recommend you choose veneer if you were going to stain the wood or leave it natural.
if you are going to paint the wood veneer is a waste of money because you'll never even see the veneer. buy furniture grade plywood. As for gaps and wastage, A good carpenter will not have any.
If you ever wanted to repaint the wardrobe and it needed to be sanded, Laminates and veneers will lose the grain pattern if over sanded.
Whatever you do stay away from MDF board. it's just pressed paper. Veneers and laminates cost more than plywood too.
Any more questions email me.... glad to help

Answer 3

usually the only time I use plywood is for the box part of the cabinet, other wise I use solid wood for the face frames,doors,drawer fronts. Depending how fancy you want tot get there are times i use solid wood for drawers when i dovetail the joints. To me veneers and laminates are cheap looking and never seem to look real, where as solid materials tend to look more like furniture. Both are about the same in labor time. you can get cope and stick and raised panel cuters at harbor frieght now and they work pretty good, so you can make raised panel doors all day long and they always look great. Merry Christmas!

Answer 4

1.For wardrobes use Veneer on top of plywood (good quality like kitply)
2.U can go for laminates on waterproof plywood in kitchen or board.Laminates are easy to clean.

Colours is not a pb in both laminates & veneer.However plain dyed colour (compared to natural wood colour) is bit more expensive in Veneer.

Answer 5

I work in a custom cabinet shop and 90% of our material is MDF (with or without veneer) I would recomend the veneer for stability and cost. You can use moldings that match your stiles across the front of your shelfs to help support them. Plywood (for me) is hard to work with, especially when it comes to finnishing. It can be done but it can be time consuming. Also...Why Poplar frame with Cherry case? The two woods don't match and if you stain them the difference will be magnified. But that is just my opinion.

Answer 6

I agree with Larry, i am a contractor and nothing can beat real 100% solid wood...it costs more but in the long run it is worth it.

Answer 7

all heavy furniture use wood and for all decorative use board