Aquarium Cabinets for Businesses, II
In addition to wooden aquarium cabinetry, mica offers it's own advantages for certain environments. We do not get a lot of call for mica cabinetry. Most of the time, if a business needs this type of cabinetry, the aquarium cabinetry is built when the rest of the office is done using the same mica contractor. Not always the most effective cabinet/canopy designs, but they tend to have it all done at the same time. We do get a few orders for mica, generally upgrades or later additions to the office.
For medical types of services, academic settings and customer service areas in a typical business, mica makes a lot of sense. It is easy to clean. It is very durable. These two strengths alone give it good commercial qualities.
Many people mistakenly think of mica as being applied to an mdf/press-wood type of substrate and therefore falls apart at the first hint of moisture. Not true. Quality mica work is laid-up on the same type of plywood cores that the best of wood veneer sheet goods are. However there are a few drawbacks to mica.
Quality mica cabinetry is expensive. It rivals wood cabinetry in price. Many styles of mica are quite expensive. We have used micas that run into the hundreds of dollars per sheet. To properly lay-up a mica cabinet covering every little angle and edge- it takes a while. BRI mica cabinets are finished on the inside of the cabinet too. This also applies to the inside of the canopy. A proper mica build is very labor intensive.
Mica styles change every few years. This creates problems if you have a customer that is adamant that the new cabinetry must matched the original. Nothing you can do about it. Once they quit making it, they quit making it. Many times you can find something very similar, but it is going to be different.
Just a few more thoughts about aquarium cabinets for business.
For more information on aquarium cabinets visit www.briaquaticcabinets.com.
