Fitted wardrobes- MDF any good

stevoh

I'm looking to get a wardrobe built and fitted by a wardrobe specialist.
They quoted approx £4k (inc VAT) for a 6 door fully fitted wardrobe, including taking out the old one, disposal, and painting the new one in decent farrow and ball paint.
Its about what I'm happy to pay for, however they said it will be built out of mdf, with the interior in white melamine mdf. They didn't give me the option to use any other material. I'm wondering whether they're going to look OK, or whether I would be better off finding someone who uses solid wood.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

nofoollikeold

1. MDF is far more stable than natural timber.  It is made to closely defined limits of thickness.
2. Natural timber is prone to warping, and to expanding and contracting with moisture / temperature.  It is also generally much more expensive than MDF and more difficult to work and still achieve a good result.  
3. I would check other work they have done to make sure the edges are properly painted. One downside of MDF is that cut edges are rough, and need proper preparation before painting.
4. I would query Farrow and Ball as a paint for MDF, or anything else which gets much handling.  The colours are great, but I find it a relatively soft paint and easily scuffed.  You can match the colours with a tougher paint, like a two part catalysed type.  However these really need to be sprayed, and are very expensive - at least £70 per litre.
5. Nothing wrong with white melamine faced MDF for the interiors.  
6. I would consider £3.4K plus VAT a pretty good price for a 6 wardrobe unit.  

stevoh

Thanks!

Jeepers_Creepers

He's no fool ^^ :-)

As NFLO says, MDF is the usual go-to material for such jobs, and you'll find that most (all?) non-timber kitchens, wardrobes, cupboards are also MDF under the plastic film you see on their fronts. 

Is the F&B paint a specialist type for such use? Eg is it a 'satinwood' or 'eggshell' paint that's reasonably durable and will take repeated wiping down? If not, then NFLO's idea of taking a F&B colour sample to, say, a Dulux centre and seeing if they can make up the exact same shade in, say, 'Diamond Hard' or similar might be a good idea.

What style are the doors? Do the fitters know EXACTLY what you want, and do you know EXACTLY what they propose to do? You really don't want a "Oh, I didn't think it would look like that..." moment half way through. 

White melamine MDF for the insides is also fine - it's crisp-looking and easy to clean - but it can look a bit stark and even 'cheap' depending on its quality. I would go with white if it happened to compliment the outside colour, but would consider beige, grey or even a light pattern if it looked warmer and 'classier'. You can even get textured MDF finishes - that's cool.

If you go to a kitchen showroom and look inside 'budget' cupboards and then top-of-the-range ones, good chance the cheap internals will look stark and 'cheap', whereas the totr might possibly have a warmer colour with even a light repeated pattern in it - it can make quite a difference. Yes, this will cost more, but not that much more as the largest part of your quote will be for labour which should remain relatively unchanged.

I'm not at all saying you should do this, only that it's something to consider. Again, you don't want an "I wish I had gone for..." moment at the end of the job :-)

Wanna post some photos when it's all done? Pleeeeeeez. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Oh, and the backs of the doors should ideally be painted with the same paint as their fronts so it's 'balanced' in how it breathes. Or at least they should be 'sealed' to the same level.

One negative issue with MDF is that it moves with moisture content, and if one face takes in more from the air than the other side, it'll very likely warp. 

Silvertabby

I'm a great fan of Johnstone's Trade paints, which can also be colour matched to F&B.

nofoollikeold

One thing I forgot to say was to make sure they are using 18 or 19 mm MDF for the doors and carcases at least.  15 mm is a bit on the thin side, but probably OK for interior dividers.