Bengaluru
Modular Furniture Manufacturer in Bengaluru — Anatomy of a Modular Unit
What a modular furniture unit is actually made of — carcass, shutters, hardware, edge treatment and fixings — and which components determine cost and lifespan in Bengaluru.
Quotations for modular furniture are usually presented per square foot, which tells you almost nothing. Two quotes at the same rate can describe substantially different products, because a modular unit is a stack of separately-specified components.
Here is the stack, from the inside out.
The carcass
The box: two side gables, a top, a bottom, a back and any internal partitions.
- Material: pre-laminated particle board, HDHMR or plywood, depending on where the unit sits. Dry rooms tolerate particle board; kitchens, utilities and bathrooms need plywood or HDHMR.
- Thickness: 18 mm for gables and partitions. 17 mm and 16 mm boards exist and are used to shave cost.
- Back panel: 6-8 mm, grooved into the carcass rather than pinned on the rear face. A pinned back allows the carcass to rack out of square.
The carcass is the part you never see and the part that determines whether the unit stays square for a decade.
The shutters
The visible face and the largest single cost item.
- Substrate: MDF for anything routed or painted; pre-laminated board or HDHMR for flat laminate shutters.
- Finish: laminate (most common, most durable per rupee), acrylic (high gloss, scratch-visible), PU paint (best appearance, highest cost, repairable), or veneer.
- Thickness: 18 mm typical.
Balance matters: a shutter finished on one face only will bow. Both faces need a laminate or balancing layer.
The hardware
Where a cheap unit is usually cheap.
| Item | What to specify |
|---|---|
| Hinges | Concealed, soft-close, branded; 2 per shutter to 900 mm, 3 above |
| Drawer slides | Ball-bearing telescopic, full extension, stated load rating |
| Handles / profiles | Material and fixing; profile handles need a routed shutter |
| Shelf supports | Metal pins in a drilled line, not plastic clips |
| Levellers | On every carcass, with a clip-on plinth |
Hinges and slides are operated thousands of times. They are the components that decide whether a unit still feels good in year five.
The edge treatment
2 mm PVC edge band, machine-pressed, on all exposed edges. On shutters, all four edges — including the top and bottom, which are commonly skipped and are exactly where moisture enters.
The fixings between units
This is what makes furniture modular rather than merely factory-made. Carcasses should join to each other with connector bolts that can be undone, and units should be independently levelled. Units nailed or glued to each other are a single fixed run pretending to be modular.
Where the money actually goes
Roughly, on a typical unit: carcass material a third, shutters a third, hardware a fifth, with edge banding, fixings and installation making up the rest. Which means:
- Upgrading hardware costs relatively little and improves daily experience most
- Upgrading shutter finish costs a lot and improves appearance most
- Downgrading carcass material saves modestly and shortens lifespan most
If a budget has to be cut, cut the shutter finish, not the carcass or the hardware.
Ask for the breakdown
Any manufacturer should be able to state, per unit type, the carcass material and thickness, shutter substrate and finish, hardware brands, and edge band spec. We put it on the drawing for every project we produce at our workshop at #336/10, Hosur Road, Bommanahalli.
Call +91 98860 03777 or email info@srirangainterior.com.
