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Lee Valley vs. Hafele blind corner unit?

16 years ago

Hello. I am working with a cabinet maker and he uses Hafele hardware exclusively. He has recommended the Hafele blind corner unit to me, but I'm wondering if I couldn't go with the Lee Valley unit instead - it's about 1/3 the cost. I don't anticipate this unit getting lots of wear and tear... Has anyone ever compared these two? Opinions? Thoughts?

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Comments (4)

susan_2008
16 years ago
I asked a similar question a couple of days ago.
I also asked it on another site. Most people with the Lee Valley one liked it. I would have liked to have a point by point comparison too but I'm not sure that's possible! The Lee Valley one is so much cheaper. Looking at pictures I like the look of the Hafele one better but that could be because they did a better job of photographing it. The Hafele has solid shelves where the LV has metal. I wonder if the sides on the Hafele are also higherWish I could help more.
raehelen
16 years ago
Shaslau,

I don't have the LV blind corner unit, BUT I just installed the LV medium side mount pantry pullout. It seems to be very well constructed. My small beef is that the spring mechanism that 'closes' it at the end, is jerky and small bottles tip. Maybe those with the LV BC unit can tell you if that's the case with that one too. Depending on what you plan on storing in there it could be very easy to live with if's a huge price difference. For me, it's a broom closet, and not a huge deal, I'll even see if DH can perhaps adjust something for me, I should also phone LV and see if they have a suggestion.
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Thanks! We are planning to store small(ish) kitchen electrics there (rice cooker, blender, etc.). We don't use them super frequently, but much more than once a year, certainly. I hadn't thought of doing the 36" cabinet with a fixed shelf and skipping the pullout all together, but that's not a bad idea---we actually really like the two blind corners in our vintage kitchen now, but I realized at one point that they work because the adjacent counters are only 15" deep, so effectively they're 48" cabinets with two 15" doors and 15" of blind corner, with fixed half shelves inside. Very easy to get into, but no way are we having 15" deep counters ever again! :)
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Fori
16 years ago
LV has a ridiculously friendly return policy, too, so it might be worth trying. I don't know how they stay in business! Maybe someone will take some pictures of theirs for you.
raehelen
16 years ago
OK,

Have to thank you for posting this question, cuz it prodded me to phone LV. They are sending out a new pair of sliders to me, in case there is a problem with the sliders on my unit. If that doesn't help, the customer service guy said perhaps we have installed them out of square (but as DH is an engineer, I'm guessing 'NO').

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