What Is The Best Material For Bathroom Cabinets?
Nowadays, the bathroom vanity cabinet is a piece of furniture that satisfies necessity and is an aesthetic addition to any bathroom interior design. It helps to redesign any bathroom space by providing you more space to store and keep necessary things. Moreover, it helps make your bathroom look more organized.
While purchasing such crucial furniture for your bathroom, you need to be more attentive to the material. Because it is a long-term investment as you will purchase it for 20 years or so.
Choosing a vanity cabinet with the wrong material that will not suit your bathroom environment will ultimately damage your furniture. So, you will have to choose the material wisely.
So, here are two reasons regarding the importance of the quality material of a bathroom corner cabinet.
1. Humidity and Moisture-related Issues
The environment of every bathroom is highly humid and full of moisture. If the material of your bathroom vanity cabinet will lack in quality, then the humidity and moisture of your bathroom will kill it for sure.
So, you need to choose a vanity cabinet with such material which can fight these issues. Otherwise, after a certain period, you will get to see warp, crack, and discoloration in this piece of furniture.
2. Drooping and Sagging-related Issues
The material of the bathroom vanity cabinet need to be strong and supportive enough to the heavyweight of the countertop.
Vanities with poor materials lead to the center of the cabinet drooping and sagging. Because the center of the bathroom vanity cabinet usually holds the heavy basin and countertop. So as time will pass by, this problem will get worsen.
Mostly, the cabinet will not entirely collapse but will cause rifts and cracks. Also, the seal between the top and the vanity will break. So, it is very important to pick the bathroom vanity cabinet with the right material.
Are you feeling perplexed about which material of the bathroom vanity cabinet will be perfect for you? Then, this article will meet your concern.
Now, here providing some of the most commonly used and available materials of bathroom vanity cabinets and the pros and cons so that you can choose accordingly.
i. Solid Wood
Solid wood is the finest material you can ever find for the free standing cabinet of your bathroom. But nothing supreme in this world comes as not-so-pricy. So, you will have to pay extra for the utmost premium quality.
The quality of solid wood as the material of the bathroom vanity cabinet is unbeatable and incomparable. It makes the vanities the most durable and strongest ones.
Among all the solid woods, solid oak wood is the best. It is the finest material for such furniture. Also, the solid woods of birch, maple, and polar are very premium in quality. So, if the price is not an issue for you, you must choose this option to ensure the ultimate durability and sturdiness.
ii. Rubberwood
Rubberwood comes from the rubber tree called hevea brasilienesis. As the material of the bathroom vanity cabinet, rubberwood comes as the second option.
Because it has 90% of the strength of the solid oak wood has. Also, it is an eco-friendly option. Because, if makers do not use it as the material of these sorts furniture, it will go as wastage.
iii. Solid Plywood
If you can control the level of moisture in your bathroom, then solid plywood can be a very good option. Because we know it is the material of building residential roofs.
So, there is no doubt regarding its sturdiness. Also, it will not make you expense so much like the previous two options, and thus it will also be a bit lower in quality than the ones mentioned earlier.
Therefore, if you want to pick the material of the bathroom tall cabinet with decent quality and moderate price, it will be the best option for you.
iv. MDF
The most affordable choice as the material of the bathroom vanity cabinet is MDF. It is the most cost-effective option for users who have a limited budget right now.
As the price drops, the quality of the MDF bathroom vanity cabinet will drop by nearly 70% as the solid oak vanities.
Now, let’s focus on the best material of the vanities for the specific parts like the main skeleton, door panels and drawers.
A. Main Skeleton
This section includes the parts like the bottom, back, sides, and inner supportive beams. Altogether they form the structure of the bathroom vanity cabinet. It is crucial to choose strong materials for this skeleton part as it has to deal with the humid environment of the bathroom and the heavy countertop.
Painted MDF is a decent option. It can go for some period, but it will not do as good as the other options in the long run. MDF consists of glued together saw-dust through which water and moisture can penetrate.
That is why it cannot stand the moist and humid environment of the bathroom. In the long run, the furniture will weaken, shrink, crack, and warp dramatically.
So, choosing solid wood will be the best option in this case. The other two options will also work well.
B. Door Panels and Drawers
In most cases, the material of the drawers is plywood or MDF.
The main reason behind doing so is, keeping the cost down. Even in some cases, manufacturers claim their vanities as a solid wood bathroom vanity, but the material of the drawer is MDF.
Usually, it will not go against you as you can get the cabinet at a cheaper price. And the quality will also not vary if your sink will not leak or any such issues.
Conclusion
Solid oak wood is the best option for the bathroom vanity cabinet. But if you have a budget issue and are bound to use the more affordable options, you will have to control the moisture and humidity level of your bathroom.
You can use either a dehumidifier that will absorb the extra humidity of the air or an exhaust fan as per the size of your bathroom. Also, running an extractor fan through the rooftop will prevent mold.
