Kitchen Cabinet: Concrete Structure vs Wood Carcass

One of the reno ‘forumer’s contractor had advised wooden carcass below the quartz countertop and asked for our opinion….

There are two main options when deciding to built your kitchen countertop:

Concrete Structure and Wood Carcass

How do you tell from a distance which is which? The tabletop thickness and end panel material and thickness are give away.

Let’s go with quartz countertop for both of them and it cost about RM180-200pfr….

	Concrete Structure	Wood Carcass
Price	Higher RM125pfr For concrete only Exclude Plastering	Lower
Lifespan	Longer Sturdy	Shorter
Countertop Thickness	8-10cm Concrete=5cm Plaster=2cm Quartz= 1cm	5cm
Base height	5cm	10cm
Base material	Concrete + Floor tiles/ Concrete + Quartz	Wood/ Wood+ Laminate/ Wood+ Melamine/ Wood+ aluminium layer
End Panel thickness	8-10cm = countertop height	2-3cm
End Panel	Concrete + Quartz	Wood/ Wood+ Laminate/ Wood+ Melamine/
Options for cabinet	Wooden Carcass Or just Wooden Frame & ‘Stools’	–
Others	Easy to wash floor ‘Old skool’ design	Minimalist & Modern Design

Who do you engage to build the concrete countertop?

General contractor, kitchen cabinet manufacturer, Wet works contractor or Tiles Installer (if doing tiles countertop)

My preference

Dry Kitchen: Wood Carcass

Generally I prefer the minimalist looks of wood carcass + quartz for the dry kitchen. There’s an option to change the countertop and cabinet easily in say 15-20 years….

Wet Kitchen: Concrete Structure

The wet kitchen countertop has to be sturdy enough and be able to wash/ hose it down. However, quartz discolour in sunlight and on exposure to heat so that option was out.

What about granite? It might also discolour as some manufacturer uses dye. Moreover, it is higher maintenance (requiring sealant).

So I opted for porcelain tiles instead. Overall, the porcelain tile option is still cheaper pfr (concrete + tiles) by RM20-30 compared to quartz on its own.

Choosing a Kitchen Countertop