If you have a lot of time to spend waiting, then I would recommend TheRTAStore. I will preface this with the fact that I bought cabinets already built, not the ones you need to assemble. The Bad: The receiving process is ridiculous and very time consuming. You MUST take pictures of the shipment as it comes off of the truck and and throughout all stages go the receiving. DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ON THE INVOICE OTHER THAN YOUR SIGNATURE. I wrote on the invoice and was told that it couldn't be used to bill the shipping company for the damage and therefore there were costs associated with replacing a cabinet that arrived damaged. It was clear that it was the way RTA packaged it was the reason for the damage but if they cannot bill the transport company, you will pay, not RTA. The replacement cabinet came broken and after that, they are sending parts of the cabinet for me to piecemeal together. It has been over a week since I sent them the documentation and pictures for the second batch of damages and they have yet to send the replacement parts, so the granite measuring and install of appliances has been put on hold yet again for one cabinet. Total time from receiving the first set of cabinets...5 weeks. No sympathy from them. The Good: The cabinets are beautiful!!! They are definitely on par in the quality department too!!! The cabinet installer even commented that they are nicer and better built than the cabinets that come from Home Depot. You will need to do some touch ups, on areas where it rubbed during shipping, so plan on that. They are a great price, not only for what you get, but for what you would expect from anywhere else. For example, these came with plywood construction. Home Depot charges you more for plywood construction and it costs you 1/3 more than here. The online design team is absolutely the most helpful and professional staff I worked with. They were creative in problem solving and offering suggestions that I had not thought of and they remembered all of the little things that I would have either forgotten or not though of. The design they presented was an amazing use of space and such a transformation from what I had before.

We used Scherr's, too, and they were wonderful. We just gave them the dimensions of the cabs and the appliances that we chose and they designed the cabs with the proper spacing and all the stuff a good KD would do. The customization is the best - the wall oven cabinet was worth it alone. The instructions were terrific, customer service wonderful - I just can't recommend them enough. We got the mixed-hardwood boxes for our drawers. They are beautiful dovetailed boxes, and you only notice the crazy woods when the drawers are pulled out. It appeals to my reducing/recycling/reusing inclinations, and it is fun trying to figure out what kinds of wood they are. Several of the families that work there lost their homes during the flooding a couple of years ago that made national news. And it's great to support a "Made in the USA" product! Scherr's Scherr's Scherr's!

It's been a busy two weeks. We can see the finish line. It's in sight. I'm not going to post any more pictures until it is finished. I can tell you that it is gorgeous. My husband and I installed the Vent-A-Hood ourselves. Due to an error on my part, I ordered this run of kitchen cabinets an inch too deep. They were 13" and the hood is designed for a 12" cabinet. It was entirely my fault. I changed the specifications without considering the ramifications. After some careful measuring, we attached a two by four as a nailer with some shims to level the wall. We fashioned a cleat and attached it to the wall. We hoisted the hood onto the cleat and screwed it to the wall. We thought it would be much harder to install. It wasn't at all hard. We just had to think about it. Our HVAC guy had extended the ventilation pipe. The carpenter had cut the properly sized holes in the cabinet. Presto, it all aligned. We are so proud of ourselves. We clad the exposed inch of wood nailer with strips of metal ducting material to create a non-combustible surface. The strips are hidden. While the hood is attached, it hasn't been wired. We are waiting on the electrician to complete the hook up. The carpenter has framed and enclosed the area above the cabinets, trimmed where the cabinet meets the wall and run crown molding along the ceiling. My husband and I hung the cabinet doors and our carpenter attached the drawers. We spent the weekend attaching the drawer pulls. Our carpenter installed the light rail and toe kick boards. All of the door and window trim has been completed and is waiting for paint. We didn't ordered the trim package from Scherr's. I wanted the crown molding to match what was already in the house. We did order the trim that created a flush toe kick, the light rail and decorative furniture ends that matched the cabinet doors. We placed an emergency order of scribe molding painted to match the cabinets. Leon came to the rescue. The scribe molding took a week including shipping. Our walls are so out of plumb that it was necessary to trim with the scribe molding in a couple of places. If we had a more square home, the scribe trim wouldn't have been necessary. We have gotten to the bottom of the pile of cabinetry and cabinet parts that were provided by Scherr's. We had plenty of light rail and toe kick boards, without having too much waste. When it came to the installation hardware such as screws, fasteners, hinges and slides, we weren't short of anything. But, there wasn't a lot of extra, either. You need to be very organized in order not to lose anything. The only place in the last two weeks where we were delayed was waiting on the countertops to be fabricated. They measured on a Friday and it took 10 days for fabrication and installation. The fabricator already had our slabs, but they were very busy. We tried to stay busy finishing up a few odds and ends. The fabricators did a beautiful job. I did insist on viewing the slabs before they were cut. I am using a fabricated quartz product, LG Viatera Rococo. The pattern is mostly uniform, I didn't need to be around to watch them template it. We did consult with them and approved the CAD. We consulted on where the seam would be placed, the amount of overhang, the best edge profile, and the overhang on the sink. I told them I was worried about big blobs of color randomly appearing in the slab. They told me that those were considered to be "B" grade slabs and they didn't deal in them. They also said that the danger with quartz slabs was explosion by cutting. Quartz slabs are formed under pressure. They map out the required pattern plan on the computer. They cut the slab into smaller units according to the plan. This way, if the slab explodes not all of the slab is lost. I learned something. I wanted to try to install runnels for a drain board. While it wasn't a problem if we had used granite or marble, the polishing of the runnels would have resulted in voiding the warranty on the quartz. I sent the fabricator a picture of a drain board that I had seen on this site. It was the first time anyone had requested an integral drain board. I challenged them. They put their collective heads together and figured out how to fashion one without voiding the warranty. I don't mean to tease, but it looks great. I think they enjoyed the challenge. Yesterday, the tile guys returned. They installed the backsplash and grouted all in one day. We are enjoying our peaceful weekend. I have been cleaning each room of the house now that we have seen the last of the drywall sanding. I committed to spring cleaning each room of the house one room each day. All hell breaks lose on Tuesday. Controlled chaos. The final push begins. The electricians and plumber show up Tuesday morning to complete their finish work and install the appliances. The carpenter will come by for an hour to attach the last pieces of trim after the dishwasher is installed. The painter is scheduled for the following Monday. The end is in sight. It can't come soon enough. The wine cabinet is getting a little empty.

Search the archive of RTA discussions in the Kitchen forum. There are tons of threads on the subject already. Casey