Customers routinely come to us with interesting questions about how we manufacture our wall beds/murphy beds. Questions that perhaps other persons claiming to have knowledge of woodworking and/or cabinet making might be giving them. We are here to answer those questions truthfully. We have over 30 years combined experience in cabinet making since our doors opened in 1991. Not to brag, but we know what we are doing.
FIRST, let's just dispense with the myth that women cannot do this kind of work.....bring it!
VARNISH: IS IT LEGAL?
Of course it is. Many manufacturers in California are stating that varnish is illegal. THAT IS A LIE!!! To spray a conversion varnish you must have a permitted spray booth. That costs a lot of money and therefore most manufacturers like to tell you that they cannot spray the superior finish of varnish because it's against the law. Well sure it's against the law if you are not permitted, duh. So what do they spray on your cabinets? I dunno. In fact, we believe that kitchens, due to the high traffic and exposure to sunlight, should only be sprayed in a varnish. You also have to wonder where they are spraying your cabinets if they don't have a booth. You're still required to spray in a booth regardless of what you use. Do they throw your cabinets in a truck to go and spray? Maybe. Do they spray illegally? Maybe. I dunno.
YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT AT WALL BEDS BY SANDMAR WE HAVE A PERMITTED BOOTH AND FOLLOW ALL OF THE GUIDELINES FOR SPRAYING AND FOR DISPOSAL OF CHEMICALS. JUST ASK TO SEE IT!
PLUS, WE ARE NOW OFFERING WATER BASED PRE-CATALYZED SPRAYS. This is our most favorite finish to use and is even more durable than old school solvent based sprays. Plus, it's enviromentally friendly.
FORMALDEHYDE
Many people ask about formaldehyde in cabinetry. It's a good question. However, if someone tells you that their cabinetry has no formaldehyde in it, then it cannot be made of wood. Wood naturally has a degree of formaldehyde in it. The problem comes from the adhesives used to join layers of plywood or particle board and to join the cabinet pieces together. If you buy from Wallbeds By Sandmar, we can assure you that this does not happen. Because we build our products right here in El Cajon, CA from raw wood, we know what goes into them. Nothing is prefabricated. Let me be clear....all the wood products that come in our shop are raw. You can watch your cabinet being made from scratch if you'd like. I might find it annoying but if that's what you want, so be it. Being that we are in CA, we legally cannot buy products that violate the CARB 1 laws requiring that no formaldehyde be added to adhesives. If your product is made by another manufacturer that has their cabinets made in another state or country, they do not have to follow these standards.
PLYWOOD
Another question we hear often is about the quality of "furniture grade plywood." That term is misleading. Most low grade plywood is called "furniture grade plywood" to make you feel better about the cheap product. In fact, we don't ever use that because it causes bubbles and poor adhesion between the core and the veneer. We only use gold plywood that is domestically made right here in the good old U.S. of A. First off, we believe in supporting U.S. companies. Secondly, gold plywood has bands of ply surrounded by MDF (medium density fiberboard) which avoids all the issues with "furniture grade plywood." The finished product is superior, and we will not use any other. With over 30 years experience, we know our stuff.
PARTICLE BOARD
We also hear a lot of customers saying that they do not want particle board. One reason is that they have been told that it has formaldehyde and we have already dispensed with that myth because Wall Beds By Sandmar only uses CA standard products. Another reason is that many of the bigger stores make furniture that has low grade particle board....it tends to break apart. If you come to our shop, we will show you a piece of low grade and then our high grade particle board. Low grade has gaps and large chunks in it. When we use particle board, it is only for laminates and it is of the highest quality and is tightly packed and very fine. Don't be fooled and dismiss a whole product because there are different levels and grades to all products. Whatever type of material you decide to use in the construction of your wall bed, you can depend on us to use the best quality.
Interesting fact: If you use particle board, you use around 95% of the tree. If you use plywood, you are using around 47% to 65% of the tree. If you use solid wood, you are lucky to use 15% to 25% of the tree. What happens to the rest? It becomes waste. Please note that we recycle all of our wood waste.
Any questions you have can be answered by us. We can also take you right back to the shop behind our showroom and show you how the product is made. We follow all of the requirements and laws and always attempt to keep the environment in mind. We live here too.
We are San Diego women, making great cabinets/furniture for you. Help us keep it local!
Wall Beds by Sandmar
619-631-0152
1991 Friendship Drive Suite C
El Cajon, CA 92020
wallbedsbysandmar@gmail.com
