Difference between free-standing and fitted wardrobes

There are wardrobes and built-in wardrobes. Freestanding wardrobes have a frame that is not attached to the walls and floor of the room. Such a wardrobe can be moved, disassembled, transported and assembled in a new place. Fitted wardrobes, as such, do not have a frame and all elements of chipboard are held by the walls and floors of the room. Such a wardrobe cannot be sold because it will not fit a new location. It follows from this that a frame wardrobe is an excellent option for a temporary solution. Or it can be used in case you do not want to punch holes in the walls, floor and ceiling. The fitted  wardrobe looks much better because it fits the size of your wall. There are no gaps between the sidewall and the wall. As a rule, such wardrobes are made from floor to ceiling, without gaps and indents.

A built-in wardrobe is a serious purchase that will serve you for many years, more than 20 years, until you get bored with it. The maximum that can break in a built-in wardrobe is the sliding mechanisms of the compartment doors, but they can be repaired. The “carcass” of the fitted wardrobe lasts longer, because it is not subject to rolling, wobbling, bending. In fact, there is no carcass. At first, these are individual parts, such as shelves, racks, lintels, which we connect during installation not only to each other, but also attach to the walls and to the floor. The result is a monolithic, solid construction that does not loosen over time.

Are you familiar with a situation like a falling out back panel of a wardrobe? Did it happen that the shelves fell inside the cabinet?

Drawers warped over time or even flew off the rails? Did the bottom fall out?
Do you hear creaks when you slide the doors of the compartment?

This is because the frame is wobbling.

What is the solution?

Regardless of the size of the fitted wardrobe, it is still subject to rolling. Therefore, the back wall of the HDF and the bottom of the drawers fall out. This is not because it is poorly secured, it is because the body is playing, the fasteners are slowly loosened and the cabinet begins to crumble. Drawer mechanisms slowly begin to break due to excess backlash, as a rule, they fail after 5 years. And there is no difference, either with a domestic or foreign chipboard. For example, we work only with the Austrian manufacturer “Egger“, but we will not say that the cabinet-type wardrobe from “Egger” will last longer. Chipboard does not matter; it is the cabinet design, its size and internal filling that decides.

It turns out the built-in wardrobes are more durable? Yes, we undertake to approve this with full responsibility. We make real fitted wardrobes, this is when every shelf, every rack is sawn to fit the shape of your walls. It should fit snugly, without gaps, with its end to the wall. It is necessary to fasten each shelf with powerful dowels and thick self-tapping screws. Each shelf fixed to the wall gives 10% strength to your wardrobe. It’s like a honeycomb, one shelf adds rigidity to the next, you can’t skip through one, fix the parts to the walls.

The drawers get a strong base and the rails will not break from rolling. The construction we make is very solid. There is pseudo-built furniture, not real, this is when the frame is assembled and pushed into the niche in whole, or in parts. Shelves and racks do not undermine the shape of your walls. The enclosures are fixed at several points to the walls, usually at the top points, to prevent tipping onto a person.

What is the takeaway?

Such a pseudo-carcass will sway during operation, albeit not as much as that of a freestanding wardrobe, but it will bend unambiguously. The shelves are held only by racks and sidewalls made of chipboard. You got a cabinet cabinet with finger-thick slots between the shelves and the wall. The extra sidewalls, floors and ceiling of such a cabinet conceal the useful area of ​​the cabinet with their thickness.

The installation process of a pseudo-built cabinet is short, like its life. There is no need to cut anything in chipboard, sharpen, drill concrete walls, make noise, dust. As they say – “Blooper blooper, everything is ready!”. Our real fitted wardrobes take several days to complete. Yes, yes, a few days. Option – “And so it goes …”, it’s not about us. We approach the production of each cabinet with great care and do everything as for ourselves. The conclusion suggests itself the following – if you want the wardrobe to be beautiful and durable, then only go for a fitted one and order from us.

Make an informed decision.