If you feel the surface, hardwood typically has texture and grains, while laminate is hard, glassy, and has a plastic feel to it.
Cabinet brands that belong to the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) will have a sticker on the back side of the sink door or side wall of the cabinet. On the sticker there should be a code or the cabinetry name in the middle of the label.
There are two types of wood you can craft your cabinets with, broad-leafed, hard trees, and soft trees. Hard trees yield birch, oak, maple, cherry, and hickory cabinets. Meanwhile, soft trees yield pine, spruce, and cedar cabinetry.
I.D. Wood is your Pocket Guide to Woods from around the world with full screen samples and detailed information for over 200 different woods. The standalone application will work with or without an Internet connection so that the samples and information are always at your fingertips. From the basic to the exotic, I.D.
Xylorix Inspector is an automated macroscopic wood identification mobile app. Given the 24x magnified anatomical visual information of the cross section (end-grain) of a timber, Xylorix Inspector uses its trained artificial intelligence models to identify the timber genus/species in a few seconds.
Laminate Cabinets
Thermofoil is a vinyl laminate that is heated and pressurized onto an MDF core. This process leaves a completely smooth surface that does not show any seams. The lack of seams around the door's joints can be a clear indication that your cabinet doors are a laminate material.
A sure way to recognize wood laminate is when the grain does NOT follow through your piece. Wood Veneer is a sheet or thin layer of 'quality-natural-hardwood' that is adhered to a lesser quality wood surface. Wood Veneers give the impression of a more desired quality wood without being as costly.
The least expensive option is painting laminate cabinets. Laminate is not an ideal surface to paint, but it can be done.
Good-quality wood glue and a clamp to hold the laminate against the core is a good way to repair laminate coating that is peeling. Once the glue has set and dried, you can begin to clean the cabinet doors and drawers.
Laminate is a multi-layer synthetic flooring product. It is designed to imitate the appearance of real wood. The core layer of laminate flooring is manufactured primarily from melamine resin and fiber board material. The top layer has an imprinted textured image made to look like real wood.
Check the edges of the doors and drawers. If they are solid wood, you'll see end grain on the tops and bottoms. If they're engineered, you'll see edging material with a longitudinal wood grain, which looks unnatural.
If the underside of the furniture you are inspecting has a grain that looks completely different than the top, then it's a veneer. Top and bottom veneer pieces are made from two different pieces of wood, meaning they won't match.
Melamine is cheaper than laminate as it is manufactured by a method which is not cost intensive. Laminate is more durable than melamine and more resistant to heat and chemicals. Melamine is produced with a pressure of just 300-500psi while to make a laminate a pressure of 1400psi is required.
The main difference is that veneers comprise thin layers of wood that are pressed on a plywood base while laminates are manufactured by pressing together layers of flat paper and plastic resins under high pressure.
Look at the grain pattern. The texture of the grain determines what kind of wood it is. A wood has an open, porous texture. Softwoods are usually smooth with no grain pattern while hardwood usually has an open pore structure that is quite rough and sticky.
Common Types of Wood Used for Veneers
The most commonly used tree species for softwood veneer is the Douglas fir, although pines are also used. The supply of other softwoods is limited. As a general overview, common types of wood used for veneers include: Anigre.
You can often tell the piece is laminate due to the manufactured appearance of the wood grain. Higher-end laminate pieces have a slightly more realistic look, but it's not the same as a piece made from real wood.
Laminate flooring will have a repeating pattern. It may not be obvious right away, but that's only because you're not looking for it. If you stare long enough, you will likely find boards with the same wood grain. Hardwood flooring is made from solid wood, so every board will be different.
Laminate cabinets consist of a strong core material typically created by compressing wood or wood particulate and melamine, which hardens the mixture into a sturdy plank. After that, a thin layer is attached. This layer can be printed with a variety of designs, patterns and look-alike options.
With laminate or wood veneers laid over the existing cabinet boxes, you can change the style, color, wood type—even the associated historical era.
As a general rule, if there are any cracks in the laminate, the entire piece needs to be replaced; however, if there's only peeling, you can reattach the laminate with adhesive.
On the downside, it can look warn and dingy over time. You can revitalize laminate cabinets without peeling off the old laminate, as long as they're firmly affixed to the frame and in good shape.
Laminate costs an average of $91 per linear foot or $1,000 to $3,000 total. High-quality veneer costs an average of $193 per linear foot or $2,500 to $6,500 total. Real wood veneer costs an average of $454 per linear foot or $6,000 to $14,000 total.
Laminates are priced at $4,000 to $15,000. Comparable to wood veneers, it's a budget-friendly option to wood. It is a man-made material that is placed on particleboard in both high pressure and low pressure method.