Help

The most used materials for the kitchen are:

• Refined chipboard

• Banding tapes
• MDF
• Acrylic
• Veneer
• Laminate

Beside material, hinges are also important.

Basic dimensions of the kitchens that we make are:

• Height of worktops 86-91 cm
• Kitchen cabinets height from floor 10-15cm
• Floor kitchen depth 56cm+ front
• Wall kitchen cabinets depth 33cm+front
• Worktop thickness 38mm (~4 cm)
• Worktop depth (from overhang to the wall) 60 cm

Our kitchens can have all additions you wish like aluminum door with glass, wall panels, pull-out pantry, tandembox drawers, or anything else that can be find on out market.

KITCHEN CABINET CARCASSE- all elements, panels without shelves, drawers, doors. Just a box. It is usually made from refined chipboard.

FRONTS- doors or all frontal (visible) parts of drawers, usually made from refined chipboard, MDF…

           KITCHEN WALL PANELS- we make them from lacquered MDF thickness of 10 mm, and usually chipboard is enriched with CPL (Continuous Pressed Laminates) and HPL (High Pressure Laminates) what is ideal choice in combination with worktop (same decor).

WORKTOPS- when making kitchen worktops the most widespread and accepted today’s material is 38 mm thick chipboard coated with CPL and HPL laminates of numerous decorations (ex imitation of stone brick or wood, etc) made with postforming process.

Kitchen worktops can be lacquered but that is not the best solution because the gloss will disappear from places that are mostly used. If worktop consists of two parts they should be carefully connected and protected from moisture. It is usually done with moulding. If you are picky and you don’t want that joint to be seen there are several options.

One option is that we make you CNC joint of worktop. In short that is a method of treating joints under certain corners with CNC machine and when it is quality done joints are almost invisible. Some problems can appear if walls are not flat. If you want something different  think about Compact worktop. Compact worktops are additionally protected pressed laminate and those worktops are very resistant to surface damages and moisture. Compact material worktops can be made in one piece if it is allowed by dimensions and if it is not possible and they need to be connected , joint is so thin and barely visible.

Compact worktops are significantly more expensive than regular worktops and they come as worktops with black, white and Alu Quattro core. If you don’t think about price, but only about the aesthetics and quality then consider Corian worktops. Corian is very modern material that is in fact an advanced blend if minerals and acrylic resin. We do it in many decorations, but it’s downside is a price and may happen that one Corian worktop costs as much as some mediocre or slightly better kitchen.

Refined chipboard

Particle board is main product for making refined chipboard that occurs so that the wood chips are mixed with glue presses with special technique under high pressure and temperature. Refined chipboard is chipboard on whose surface with special techniques of refining  beautiful décor paper sheet impregnated with melamine resins -shortened to melamine is glued. Considering it is cheap and has good mechanical characteristics, as well as large selection of décor , it is appreciated for making cabinets, fronts and kitchen worktops and rest of furniture.

What is often said as the lack of it, especially in terms of aesthetics, is that at sides there is no melamine, it is plain chipboard so refined chipboard needs banding. Although refined chipboard is cheap material, there are differences in refined chipboard quality from different producers. Refined chipboards of well-known producers as Egger, Kronospan, Kastamon and Fundermax are much higher quality, more durable and more resistant chipboard from little-known manufacturers.

As it is said above, refined chipboard sides are unprotected so they need banding to be protected and aesthetically acceptable. Banding is done with banding tapes. Two most common materials for banding are melamine and ABS tape. Melamine tape is fairly cheap, thin, rigid and it easily breaks (especially on edges) and can peel off. If you are intending to buy kitchen made of refined chipboard think carefully whether you want your fronts and cabinet box to be banded with melamine tape due to its mentioned downsides.

Beside bad melamine tapes we also have ABS banding tapes.ABS is type of solid and hard plastic so it is a good solution for banding refined chipboard. Its thickness can be 0.5, 1 and 2 mm. ABS 0.5 mm thick tape is better solution than melamine tape even though it is not perfect solution especially on demanding places. They are good for places  inside shelves, not visible parts of cabinet box and etc.

On demanding places, places that will be exposed to impacts, stumbling upon edges, places that often come in touch with water we put ABS tape 1 mm thick or even better 2 mm. That kind of tape is long lasting and quality solution.

Be careful- when the kitchen is new it is very hard to notice difference between melamine banding tape and 0,5 mm thick ABS tape because they look almost identical.

MDF (MEDIUM DENSITY FIBERBOARD)

MDF (medium-density fiberboard ) panels are made of wood fibers  in which are added binders and they are pressed with special procedure. Thanks to that, MDF panels are thicker and tougher than chipboard so it is easier  to shape them. One more advantage of MDF is that it does not need banding so MDF fronts look nicer than chipboard ones. Kitchen fronts are mainly made of MDF. Even MDF panels are not expensive, if they are going to be used for making fronts, they need painting (matte, semi-matte, high gloss) and that is significantly more expensive front. It means that some average kitchen, exactly the same and the difference is only in the material for making front (ex one of chipboard, and the other  from MDF lacquered in high gloss) can be double or more of price. Of course, it all depends on kitchen size and number of fronts.

Advantage of lacquered MDF is unlimited  choice of colours and shades, no need for banding so front made of it look nicer, and lacquered is resistant to moisture. The downside is the high price and also low resistance to mechanical damages of surface. In other words, if you are not careful lacquer can be easily damaged, scratched  and there is no correction but only expensive re-painting.

Except lacquered MDF there is also MDF coated with PVC foil. Advantages of this kind of MDF are better resistance to mechanical damages and it is cheaper than lacquered MDF. Downside is that after some time foil peels off at places around the handles or edges, but this unfortunately can not be repaired.

In short- the advantages of MDF are his strength and ability of various design, no banding, a huge selection of shades when painting. Disadvantages-quite a high price and possibility of destruction, as it is already said.

ACRYLIC

One alternative for high gloss lacquered MDF can be acrylic. Acrylic layer can be put on chipboard or MDF. Thickness of layer is usually about 1 mm. Acrylic looks shinier, like mirror comparing to high gloss lacquered MDF. Downside is fact that it needs banding, usually with acrylic band. Those bands are not so visible but demanding people, for whom banding is not option, will not like it. Advantage of acrylic is higher resistance to mechanical influence comparing to lacquered MDF and if it comes to damages it can be polished. One other advantage is price, which is fairly cheaper than high gloss lacquered MDF.

HINGES

To make your kitchen working long time without squeaking, pinning, and similar it needs good “mechanization”. Under hinges we mean all that hinges, slides, knobs or tip-on mechanism, lifting mechanism…

There are more or less quality manufacturers of hinges, and leaders are Blum and Grass. The same as material price influences on kitchen price, also does price of hinges. Quality manufacturers are more expensive but they offer long lasting and quality solution. Beside type of hinge, the price depends on what you really want.

There are also different slow close drawers slides. They work in a way that drawer closes softly no matter what strength you use. When drawers are full only help are quality slides that make your drawers close easily and softly preventing hard contact of fronts and cabinet box. Not so quality slow close drawers slides will not pass that test because they can only function when drawer is empty, and when it is full you have to pay attention how you close drawers. Example of that quality mechanism is Blum’s Tandembox plus Bluemotion.

It is the same thing with lifting hinges, kitchen shock absorbers, lift up mechanism which all have same purpose (opening doors up) but have different price and durability.

 WORKTOPS

The most widespread worktop in our region is chipboard worktop. We offer you worktops of any thickness but the most common is 38 mm one. It is made from  chipboard and it is coated with CPL and HPL laminates which imitate different materials and surfaces. It is easily maintained with mild detergents but it is non-resistant to water and strong acids and it can not be repaired. At “L” shaped kitchens it is necessary to put mouldings or silicone because water going down joints can destroy kitchen. Also sink sealing strips are put same as worktop decoration or coated with aluminum.

Solid Surface

There are several manufacturers of this composite material in our market like “Corian”, “LG HiMacs”, “GranMatrix”, “Kerrock” …..This homogeneous mixture is poured in panels thickness 6, 9  or 12 mm. It can be found in different one-colour variants or in decorations that are imitation of stone, also known as artificial stone. This smooth surface is antibacterial and is often used in practitioners and pharmacies because of that. It can be damaged by water so it is not good to have water on it.

Same as chipboard worktop coated with CPL and HPL laminate, it can stand higher temperatures but it is better to use potholders. In case of damage with polishing, removing thick layer it gets old look and shine. Mouldings to protect water running between wall and elements can be made from same material. In the case of “L” kitchen worktops joints are not visible. There is also possibility of sink casting resulting in unified surface without joints, which is extremely hygienic and easy to clean.

WOOD

Natural material that visually leaves the strongest impression. On the other hand, highly ecological surface which doesn’t harm environment has downsides. This material needs more maintenance in the form of occasional oiling as worktop would not crack due to often wetting. Best solution for the wooden worktop is kitchen worktop made of slats which are glued together which ensures its stability. Advantage of wooden surfaces is that with abrading surface can be renowned.

GRANITE

Granite is already well-known natural material used for worktops, but it is rarely used because of its high price. Its main advantage is resistance to high temperatures and amazing visual impact on the area in which it is located. It is extremely heavy so installation is a little bit more complicated.

SILESTONE-QUARTZ

Silestone is modern composite material, made of quartz particles, different sized grains of quartz powder and high-quality acrylic. Raw materials are mixed in different proportions. Depending colour and texture of surface, about 85% is natural material- quartz, 5% is coloured pigment and 10% high-quality acrylic. In nature, granite contains approximately 30% of its stiffest ingredient- quartz. Quartz quantity in Silestone worktops is guarantee of hardness and durability of worktops, which allows to cut and make food on these worktops. The silver technology incorporated into Silestone is based on controlled release of silver ions to minimize growth and proliferation of different types of bacteria. It is confirmed by certificates from Germany, the USA and Japan.    It is made in 3050x1300 mm dimensions.

• Why choosing Silestone?
• It contains 85% of quartz
• Absolutely non-porous
• Extremely sturdy and long lasting
• Resistant to water stains and limescale
• Silver ions destroy bacteria
• It is easy to maintenance and clean
• Safe in contact with food
• Heat resistant to 180C
• UV resistance (solid colours)
• Wide range of colours (homogenous painting)
• Polished surface is resistant to scratches (not dull knives)
• The base layer is made of recycled glass (air-infused glass)
• Material is 66% lighter than the natural stone of the same thickness
• The base layer accepts standard screws (easy installation)
• Supporting framework is not needed, it can be installed same as standard surface.