Plume I just got finished reading this thread - my mouth hanging open, - Difficult to even know where to begin. First - God Bless you for your fortitude and relative good humor in this whole debacle - It causes my blood to boil and the severest nausea to say the least. For those of us homeowners that have made it through a large renovation, we are thicker skinned in general and have learned much along the way. That said, our hard earned money goes to products carefully, even lovingly selected, and to the skilled hands (we believe) of those whom we offer a leap of faith and trust them to do diligence in having a dream come to fruition. Unfortunately for you, your dream has turned into a nightmare - sucking time and money as well as causing emotional and psychological distress. Time you will never get back, and the time spent is on something you are outside the realm of your expertise, trying to find solutions to ever mounting problems created by those of whom you entrusted. While this has taken far too many twists and turns along the way I believe all the above posters are well intended and feel your utter frustration with the lack of skill and lack of responsibility from anyone you have entrusted. The difficulty is standing back & seeing the "forest for the trees" - You want your home and life back, you want a quality finished kitchen that you paid hard earned money for - each day presents yet another challenge in which you spin without getting a result. My business experience coupled with a novice interest in building leads me to believe your best interests may be served by cutting out ALL middle men and going to the top. It seems your Wood Mode rep & distributor have no interest in ponying up - the response of holding you hostage at this point is black mail - totally illegal. Wood Mode has built a sizeable company in the past several years, I think Robert Gronlund Chairman & CEO needs to lend an ear to see in real life how is company is being represented in the field. Let's see if Mr. Gronlund is "hands on management" as he purports. You have done a great job at documenting the issues now is the time to carefully craft letters to the powers that be. My rec is to craft letters to: Mr. Gronlund Chairman CEO President: Fred Richetia CFO: John K. Fairis Nat'l Sales Mgr - Frederick Donohue I would send same to all the above - certified mail return receipt as well as faxing to all - Keep the company's feet to the fire - I would rec being as succinct as possible - including $ spent, time-line, issues met - "fixes", permit etc. Let them know you have photos and would forward upon their request. I would follow up w/a phone call campaign to all the letters were addressed to - keeping logs of dates/times/rep you spoke to of all communication. Additionally in the letters I would state that you are bringing this to their attention in hopes for a remedy to your dire situation. The dealer/builder (be certain to name) was trained by Wood mode and if he has done this on your job, you can only imagine what he has done on other Wood Mode jobs as well. You are hopeful for a quick response and remedy as you are no longer willing to be dealing with the dealer/builder who is literally black mailing you at this point. I would ask specifically if they have any other complaints about this builder/dealer. I would also add: While I prefer finding a solution directly with Wood Mode, you have considered seeking other authorities that may be of help. "other venues" - may be: Dept of Consumer affairs-http://www.consumeraffairs.com/, NKBA-http://www.nkba.org/, congress reps, 7 on your side-http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/channel?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7109212, BBB -http://www.bbb.org/ http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cfocus/cfcomplaint05/focus.htm quote from Wood & Wood Products March 2002 " To often these days, the terms "loyalty" and 'business strategy" are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Another quote: 2005 "recently earned its 12th consecutive 'Masters Award' for outstanding sales in 2004 from Wood-Mode. The firm ranked number one nationally in Wood-Mode sales among more than 1,000 dealers," But not at Wood-Mode Inc. Nestled in the little town of Kreamer, PA, this custom cabinet giant has built a 60-year legacy based upon loyalty - to its dealers, its workers and to its customers. And it's paid off. In the last decade alone, Wood-Mode increased its sales by 200 percent to approximately $180 million, while simultaneously doubling its employee size to 1,700 persons, 1,475 of whom work in the factory. Currently, Wood-Mode produces an estimated 1,600 units per day of kitchen and bath cabinets, as well as cabinetry for other rooms." Link to upset consumers re: Wood mode, Brookhaven http://wood-mode.pissedconsumer.com/wood-mode-brookhaven-corporation-smells-20100116167998.html Wood Mode was founded in the 1942 by 4 guys who were selling white metal cabinets in the 30's when the production of steel would be shifted to the war effort, leaving them with nothing to sell. The four founded Wood-Metal Industries, Inc. in 1942 in a small lumber-planing mill in Kreamer, Pennsylvania Officers: Chairman: Robert L. Gronlund President: Fred Richetia CFO: John K. Fairis http://www.answers.com/topic/wood-mode-inc Reporting a $258M in sales 2008 over 2,000 employees I searched on EDGAR US GOV SEC site for public company's and did not find Wood Mode - http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml So they are a private company and can conduct business the way they choose, which it appears the Execs are not reachable - HAVE FAITH & PERSEVERANCE! Wood-Mode Incorporated 1 Second St. Kreamer, PA 17833 PA Tel. 570-374-2711 Toll Free 877-635-7500 Fax 570-374-2700 It seems in my brief study here, the private company grew rather large, very quickly - perhaps the foundation began to give way with the tremendous growth it experienced. My very best to you!

Don't worry about lack of support. All the weight gets transferred to the sides of the cabinet. The purpose of that horizontal piece is to have a nailer for the finished toe kick. I suspect that the orig. piece was particle board--seeing that the sides of the cabinets are PB. Probably broke and someone replaced it with the pine 1x4. PB breaks easily. I lay it over a RR tie & just stomp on it to break it up into smaller pieces for disposal.

I have Maple veneer frameless Brookhaven cabinets in the kitchen. We went with slab fronted on some cabs and all the drawers, and glass fronted with reeded on the other cabinets. The Woodmode cabs were gorgeous. The edges are different than the Brookhaven. The Woodmode has a more rounded, finished looking edge. Also, if you want the grain to be all in the same direction, you have to go Woodmode. With our Brookhaven cabs, the maple grains on the doors are verticale and the drawers are horizontal. The sales person made that distinction clear to us. I realllly wanted them all in the same direction but the Woodmode costs a LOT more. We didn't get a quote on the Woodmode, though, cause we just knew we couldn't afford them and they weren't necessary for us. FWIT, we love the Brookhaven cabinets! We've had them in for exactly a year now. The light stain is even and a very nice shade, exactly what we had hoped for. The veneer doesn't look "fake" at all and is very soft to the touch. And it never bothers me that the grains don't don't go in the same direction from cabs to drawers. They are lovely cabinets and we'd get them again.

Just finished a remodel where we replaced 20 year old Brookhaven with new Brookhaven. It was time for a change, but I had no issues with the finish. (white both times) The kitchen designer's take was that the difference between WoodMode and Brookhaven has become realistically minimal, with the exception of the hand rubbed finish and didn't feel that it was worth the up-charge. I have no experience with Grabill.