kitchen standards

[j0den]

Guys(and girls)

I am loking to buy a flatpack kitchen from a importer in Wetherill park called Paradise kitchens.

So far i cant beat the price which worries me because i am not the most knowledgable when it comes to kitchens.
There must be taking shortcuts of some type.

Before signing away i wanted to know what australian standards i should be asking the product holds before buying.
I did see another thread re:formaldyde so i want to avoid this.

any other bits i should be looking for before buying?

[Sybarite]

The bottom line is that any kitchen supplied in Australia should conform to AS/NZ 4386.1+2

This is a pretty extensive document that quotes other standards within it such as AS/NZS 1859 "reconstituted wood-based panels" and so on...

Unfortunately I am not allowed to post the complete standards content due to licensing restrictions (you've got to pay for a copy) otherwise I would go into more detail, but I will advise you to obtain a clear reference to these standards from any supplier of cabinetry you choose to go with.

This means getting the supplier to provide you with a copy of their certification of complying to the above mentioned standards.

If they only give you verbal guarrantee or try to fob this off then I would seriously recommend you reconsider your purchasing decision.

And as if the above is not enough, at the end of the day, there is no accounting for the actual quality of the manufacture - i.e. boards being cut to exactly the right length, pre-drilled holes lining up and so on.

I don't want to denigrate any particular supplier or importer, but I can honestly say that I have not met a single professional installer who will happily contract to fit an imported system - infact most that I know steer vehemently away from them.

Just my opinion...

Cheers,

[renomart]

Are you sure they are importing? I know Paradise Kitchens use CNC equipment extensively throughout their manufacturing operation and they also make a lot of kitchens so it comes down to economy of scale.

They can afford to sell kitchens cheaply because it doesn't cost them that much to manufacture when you are producing 100's at a time.

I don't know where they get their cheap granite from, maybe it is imported.

You can also try Thermwood Corporation in Penrith. They sell CNC machinery to the woodworking trade and also produce kitchens for the general public. Assembled or flat packed.

Hope this helps.

[Just George]

Guys(and girls)

I did see another thread re:formaldyde so i want to avoid this.

The glues that make man made boards isn't pretty in its liquid state but

safe once solid - otherwise they wouldn't be making it. If they are turning

out as many kitchens as

renomart

says they are then

they must be doing a good job. What price have they quoted and how

many cupboards is this for?

[peter_sm]

I got quotes from more than 10 places to do some cabinet work. It may have been 11 or 12.

I looked at all of the info and the detail they went to in their quotes and soon found a cheap, intermediate and expensive price. Then after comparing what they offered and the way their products were built, and to what tolerances they built to, I went for a quote between intermediate and expensive.

This was a supply of unassembled product, and the specs for measurment went down to 1/2 a millimetre, and the final assembly by a fussy me proved the cutting and drilling to be spot on.

So as long as the unassembled product is spot on and you are very particular it should be good.

[j0den]

After looking further into it they are not an importer , it is made onsite.

[j0den]

thanks for all responses

[Tubby2]

I know its a bit late in the game but DIY Kitchens (also at Wetherill Park) supply flat pack and will also assemble the cabinets for you if you wish. I went through the exercise of doing a cutting list and getting a price for all the cabinets from another mob and found that DIYKitchens were about $100 dearer over 6 floor cabinets. For the sake or screwing the bloody things together I'd suggest the extra $100 is well spent. They also supply the plastic adjustible feet included in the price. I didnt put any doors on my units as they were to fit out my pantry but I do know they can organise doors for you.

http://www.diykitchen.com.au/

[BrissyBrew]

My brother-in-law who is in the kitchen business tells me formaldyde is normally present in the kitchen benchtops and carcuses where the board looks more like weatbix and less like MDF. He keeps well clear of it, even for the recycles stuff he also sells as his sparkies and plumbers now refuse to work this high formaldyde kitchens.

[wonderplumb]

Excuse my ignorance fellas but could someone explain 'formaldyde' to me. Is it something to be concered about? Is there particular cabinetry that you would find it in? Ive never given it any thought over the years with my head stuck in a kitchen cabinet or a vanity hole-sawing away and breathing in the crap. Ive also heard there was a concern with MDF?

[Terrian]

Excuse my ignorance fellas but could someone explain 'formaldyde' to me. Is it something to be concered about? Is there particular cabinetry that you would find it in? Ive never given it any thought over the years with my head stuck in a kitchen cabinet or a vanity hole-sawing away and breathing in the crap. Ive also heard there was a concern with MDF?

not nice stuff, when I worked in the chem industry (supply to textile industry) we used the stuff.
wiki link

[Sybarite]

Formaldehyde, like a lot of other chemicals, can be tolerable in small quantities and toxic in greater volumes.

Some very strict Australian Standards exist that regulate the amount of formaldehyde which has been "judged" as safe to be exposed to.

Check this out for another opinion.

http://www.aela.org.au/aela/Publications/Media%20Release%2015-03-06%20-%20final%20issue.pdf

Cheers,