I just had Showplace installed a few weeks ago. And I just laid on the floor to look at the bottoms of my cabs for you! :)

Yes, it sure does seem that the lazy susan bottom is particle board and the others are plywood. Yes, plywood sides are standard. I guess I never really thought about the bottoms.

My personal opinion would be to NOT upgrade. I actually don't think plywood is all that imperative to upgrade to. Just happened that I got the plywood Showplace for about the same price as the particle board Kraftmaids, so I went with the Showplace (plus a way better KD than the HD guy). Use the $135 on some fancier pulls or something. Or some takeout dinners! :)

I sell SWP- all the susans are particle bottoms- all other bottoms and all sides are ply. There are other brands that do the same, not that uncommon.
I don't even think about it or bring it up unless the client is emphatic about ply-I am not. In the case of the susan the construction is such tha bending is not an issue with the particle AND I think the extra thickness of the Particle is has less deflection since the sodes are captured.
Note that shelves are standard particle aas well. There I routinely upgrade wider shelves to ply depending on intended use. That is a pretty inexpensive upgrade. .

Kathy & Jakuval,

Thank you for your answers. I am not going to upgrade as we're already busting the budget with cabinets.

Kathy, I had priced Kraftmaid and it came in about $2k less than Showplace. Showplace had the finish & stain I wanted, plus they have some really neat options. Can I ask what finish/style you chose? Is there a reveal of your kitchen on Gardenweb? I'd love to see your kitchen.

Jak, could you tell me what you mean about the construction being that bending is not a problem? We're getting down to the final details and I'd not really thought about the lazy susan until they came and measured the other day and my kd mentioned the particle board on the lazy susan.

Thank you both for your responses.

The ONLY specs that are better for ply than particle is for bending under a horizontal load when both are the same thickness AND the span reaches a certain width AND the load reaches a certain number of pounds. That is for "simply supported" as in adjustaable shelves. Shelves that hold LOTs off wt over 30 or 33 inches I sometimes upgrade. That said in my own framelesss BH kitchen all shelves are particle with no issue.

The bottom of a cabinet is Not simy supportef, it is fixed on all sides which effectively increases the resistance to bending greatly. At 3/4 thick the bottom of a susan is fine in ply.

BUMP

Just left my KD and hopefully we've finalized the details. Just have to let DH give his final approval. First thing the KD said when I walked in was they would give me the upgraded LS for free. Later, there was an option that I wanted and it cost the same as the upgrade, so I traded that for the LS upgrade.

Feeling confident in the construction of the LS as is, sure was nice to be able to get something design-wise extra. Thanks to GW and the posters, I am one step closer to getting my dream kitchen.

Linda: Congrats. Isn't it nice to have details finalized? I don't have a reveal yet...still doing the final touches. I got Concord doors - soft cream uppers and cherry lowers in Cayenne (with a glaze on the stained...caramel maybe?). I have to say, the finishes are really nice. The cherry especially - it's got just enough interest in it to be pretty cherry, but it's not full of sapwood and really stripey which you might get in this price point.

Kathy,

Sounds beautiful! I'm very familiar with the style & finishes you chose. Please, please, please make sure you do a reveal.

I'm choosing cherry Pendleton W in truffle finish. My big decision now is matte or satin finish. What did you choose and why? Unfortunately, since the matte finish is so new, the display at the showroom doesn't have an example of a matte finish. I like flat paint on the walls and so I think I would like a matte finish, but am leary about ordering matte without seeing an example.

You'll be very happy with the cherry!

My stained cabs are the satin finish and my paint are the matte. For paint I would definitely say go for matte. For stained, I think you'll be happy with the satin - it's not at all shiny like a dining room table might be. I don't think I even knew about the matte option for stain? But I don't think I would have gone with it. I think it helps the painted not look plastic, but I think it might detract a bit from the depth of stain? But I'm no expert and I'm totally speculating! I have matte finish paint next to my satin cabs and see no issue.