Board Guide: Classification and Basics of Whole-House Custom Boards

Whole-House Custom Cabinet Materials (1) — Professional Knowledge Sharing

Has anyone been looking into whole-house custom boards lately? Today I'll walk you through several common types of boards on the market in detail. By substrate, the boards on the market mainly fall into these six categories: particle board, OSB, eco-board, plywood, pine board, and fir board. They all share one common structure: board + veneer + substrate.

I. Particle Board

Particle board is an engineered wood panel made by applying adhesive to wood chips or other wood-fiber particles and pressing them together under heat and pressure — commonly known as chipboard. Its performance is relatively balanced across the board, and it can be used for both cabinet bodies and cabinet doors.

Advantages:

1. Low price.

2. Tight structure and stable material — a common material for panel furniture and custom furniture.

3. Flat surface, free of knots and wormholes.

Disadvantages: Poor stability and poor moisture resistance; it tends to swell and deform after absorbing water, so it is not recommended for damp areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

II. OSB (Oriented Strand Board)

OSB is a strength-upgraded version of particle board, also called oriented strand board. It has the strongest physical performance among engineered wood panels. It is made from large strands of pure wood arranged in oriented structures and pressed in crisscrossing layers, and can be used for both cabinet doors and cabinet bodies.

Advantages: Good stability, strong screw-holding power, good toughness, resistant to cracking and deformation, and good plasticity and machinability.

Disadvantages: Relatively higher price.

III. Eco-Board

The core comes in two types — Mahogany core and fir core. It is recommended only for cabinet bodies, not for cabinet doors, since doors made from it have a high deformation coefficient. It is a board commonly used by carpenters when building cabinets.

Advantages: Low glue usage, low moisture content, strong load-bearing capacity.

Disadvantages: Soft texture, low hardness, poor screw-holding power — not suitable for cabinet doors.

IV. Solid Wood Plywood

Plywood is made by cutting logs into veneers, or slicing wood blocks into thin sheets, and gluing them together into nine-layer or eleven-layer panels. It can be used for cabinet bodies, but not for cabinet doors.

Advantages:

1. Strong pressure resistance and a small expansion coefficient.

2. Moisture-proof and deformation-resistant, with good load-bearing capacity.

3. Good moisture absorption and breathability.

Disadvantages:

1. Relatively high price.

2. Pine is relatively soft and cannot withstand knocks and bumps, with poor screw-holding power — not suitable for cabinet doors.

V. Fir Board

The grain of fir furniture looks quiet and soft, bright and warm, revealing a natural mood. It has a fine yet smooth wood texture. It can be used for cabinet bodies, but not for cabinet doors.

Advantages:

1. It gives off a faint natural log fragrance; the cedarwood alcohol contained in fragrant fir has a bacteriostatic effect.

2. Light and soft material, easy to dry, small shrinkage, resistant to warping and cracking, good durability, easy to process, and good gluing performance.

3. Low oil content in the material, and the yin-yang color distribution is very uniform.

Disadvantages: Fir cannot withstand collisions and tends to crack in high-temperature environments.