How consisent should finish be on KraftMaid Kaffe Cherry cabs?

16 years ago

Hi everyone,

I used to hang out here a lot when I was doing my kitchen remodel about three years ago - now we've moved on to the master bathroom!

We've been thrilled with progress on the bathroom so far, until the cabinets were installed yesterday. We ordered KraftMaid cherry cabinets in the Mandloay door style, with the very dark brown Kaffe finish. This is considered a "premium" finish, so we paid a little more for it. Well, there are some very (not just slightly) obvious darker "stripes" of wood on both ends of nearly all (although not 100%)of the drawer fronts, and on many of the end pieces of the door fronts. I understand that with natural wood, you're going to have natural variation - and that's just fine. But this is so obvious that it truly looks striped. It's almost as if they used a different wood species or stain for the end pieces (you can see how they're attached via dovetailing to the primary surfaces), because the wood clearly just accepted the stain so differently.

My GC took pictures and told me that he'll try to go back to KraftMaid, but he thinks their response will simply be that this is how it is with natural wood, and that even if we re-ordered the cabinets, we would get largely the same result.

What do you guys think? Am I off-base, or is there a case to be made for getting them to replace the problematic doors and drawers with a more consistent finish? (Realizing you have no photos to refer to - I may try to post some later). I'd especailly appreciate your two cents if you have any experience with KraftMaid's darker cherry finishes, especially Kaffe.

I guess I'm a little spoiled because we splurged on fully custom cherry cabinets in our kitchen (albeit in a somewhat lighter finish), all grain matched. And they are truly spectacular. We were trying to save a little money in the bathroom, and the door samples we looked at showed no signs of inconsistent staining or finish. I know you get what you pay for, but the KraftMaid cabinets were also not exactly what I'd call cheap.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

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Comments (11)

jayav
16 years ago
Can you post pictures?
footballmom
16 years ago
I think your GC is just trying to get on with it and be done with the cabinets. I have seen the KM Mandolay cabinets in several dark stains and they look beautiful, no streaking at all I think Inerserian? has KM mandolay in a dark stain and has been quite pleased. They look beautiful. Try to get in touch with a KM rep yourself, either thru Lowes or where ever your GC ordered yours. Have them evaluate them. i don't think KM wants you to be disappointed.
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arc1017
16 years ago
Hello- We used KM cherry with Kaffe finish in our small basement renovation a couple of years ago. It is beautiful and totally consistent. No streaky stuff. I agree with footballmom that KM wants you to be happy. BTW we got our cabs in under 2 weeks so it can be a quick process if you insist! I hope my link below works. I am still trying to figure this out so I can post my real kitchen pics! First time with snapfish so forgive me...Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Basement Kitchen
luckyj
16 years ago
I was just at a KraftMaid dealer this week and he spent a good deal of time telling me that everything by KraftMaid is completely under warrenty and that if there are ever any problems (cosmetic included) that they would replace it no questions asked. Have you heard this? Maybe it's worth asking about....or maybe my sales rep was feeding me a big one! Let us know for sure.
kren_pa
16 years ago
i have KM autumn blush cherry...the kaffee is beautiful, btw! i think that you should return the offending drawer fronts and order replacement ones. just say they're not satisfactory...i don't think you will have a problem, it will just take a little while. i actually ordered a replacement door from HD (kraftmaid) and didn't like the finish on the replacement door (it was rough) so i ordered a replacement door for the replacement door. no problems from them and i got a better one, BUT it took time. that might be why your GC objects. i am the GC for myself...so i can take the time... kren
viking30
16 years ago
I am in the midst of my kitchen remodel and half my cabinets are in the kaffe. I don't have any of the streaking you are describing, they are all a beautiful even tone. I have had some minor other issues that I had to reqest new drawer fronts, etc and it was no problem, just takes about 2 weeks.
scwren
16 years ago
My birch Kaffe cabinets are being installed as we speak. I see some variation in the finish, but nothing that I wouldn't expect. I ordered peppercorn on cherry for the master bath and that finish does seem to be more even. We had to replace one cabinet b/c it was damaged and one b/c they sent us the wrong thing. We were very happy with Kraftmaid customer service. The turnaround time has been great - like about 8 days on the replacement. I took some pictures for you today.

without flash

with flash - not sure which is a better representation
acomom
Original Author
16 years ago
Wow, thanks for all the responses! The photos are especially helpful. I'd say the variation in my cabinets is more dramatic and "wrong looking" than anything you guys have shown me(sorry, never got around to taking any photos this weekend - DS was sick and he pretty much kept me busy). You have provided great reinforcement that I should stand my ground. Heard from GC this morning that they are working with the supplier and hope to have everything resolved by the end of this week. Hopefully we'll fix it fairly quickly and amicably.

Thanks again for all the wonderful and very helpful advice and support! I'll keep you posted.
nanj
16 years ago
We have Merillat cherry cabinets and I know what you are talking about with "stripes" in the wood - mine have the dramatic color variation, too. We have several pieces of custom-made tung oil finished cherry tables and the woodworkers told us that the lighter streaks are sap wood. I think that means the wood comes from the outer ring of the tree, while the darker parts are from the heart, or center. They chose to select cherry plywood without the sap wood but, of course, those plywood sheets are premium dollar.

My guess is, in the price range of Merillat and KraftMaid, the cabinet/drawer faces will include sap wood.

Nan
acomom
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi all- just a little update. The KraftMaid rep came to our house today to check out the problematic cabinets, and the bottom line is that they've agreed to provide us with replacement drawer fronts, which should arrive in 7 to 10 days. He agreed with us and our GC that it almost looked as if they purposely tried to create a "striped" effect (although it was undoubtedly just a bad luck of the draw in terms of how the wood was assembled in creating the finished product). Keep your fingers crosed for me that we'll see a better result with the replacements! And thanks again for your help and advice.
new_source_mac_com
13 years ago
My mom lives by Kraftmaid and she got me some 'seconds' cabinets the lady from the finishing section of Kraftmaid said the darker colors are had to stain. My cabinets are unbelievable. They are very well built and the stain is very good in my opinion. In conclusion I think Kraftmaid has very high standards. My seconds cabinets are head and shoulders above most of the cabinets in my friends new houses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pick Of Cleveland

How consisent should finish be on KraftMaid Kaffe Cherry cabs?

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