Opinions on cabinet plywood grades

23 Jul.,2022

Opinions on cabinet plywood grades/quality

 

High Quality Pine Plywood

Hoping to get a little insight from more experienced folks.

I started out using the Home Depot Radiata pine plywood.  Roughly $30 a 4x8 sheet.  It was good for testing and making shop cabinets, etc.  I got the LR32 and wanted to make some 'nicer' wall cabinets for my shop so I moved up to the birch ply at HD, roughly $53 a sheet.  I built 4 cabinets and I thought they were good.  I wanted 2 more so I went back to HD, same bin, same everything, and the colors of this birch were no where near what I already had.  Yep, I know it is an organic thing, nothing guaranteed about colors, grains, etc.

I have roughed out 4 projects for the house.  Laundry room cabinets, replacing some Closet Maid wire stuff with built-ins, etc.  I also wanted pre-finished.  The folks at HD had no clue what pre-finished plywood was.  I had read that Columbia Forest Products can be ordered and shipped to HD for pickup.  The Columbia guys are great.  We talked for a good bit and they sent me a quote on some sheet prices. I don't know what to expect based on these grades.  I don't plan to paint any carcasses, just use their UV finish.  A couple of places I will make doors and I think I may paint those. 

Below are the quotes I got from them.  I am hoping to get some guidance on 'worth the upgrade or not', while moving up this price list.  I was told by Columbia that the birch stuff I have been getting is most likely grade C3.

For example, on the C grade prices, is the CC grade worth a 10% bump in price over the C2 ?  For most of these 4 projects, the back side isn't really important.  But I do want as nice and consistent as possible, face side.

It works out much better to get 10-12 sheets delivered instead of getting 1-2 at a time, having them cut down so they can fit in my son's SUV. 

Appreciate any tips.