Have you installed RTA cabinets?

10 years ago

I have over thought this so much I have about made myself sick. I am planning a kitchen remodel and having such a hard time with making some decisions. I have decided to use RTA cabinets in my kitchen and would love some opinion from those of you who have used them. I would like your likes, dislikes, what to avoid, customer service and quality. However, donÃ¢ÂÂt limit your opinion to just thoseÃ¢ÂÂ¦.give me all the information you can. It is not a huge kitchen, but I am looking for the best bang for my $$$. Also, we are just two older folks, with no children in the home and only occasional visits from the grandkids. I know kids can do a lot of wear to cabinets. There are several places I have researched, including The RTA Store, Cabinets Direct, Cabinet Broker and RTA Kitchen Cabinet Store. Have any of you used them? I like the fact they are all wood, no mdf or pressed wood. Plywood frame is great and the fact they have wood shelves instead of the plastic coated pressed wood ones is a plus. I also understand they can make them sound better than they are.
We are pretty handy (and have tools) and have done a lot of home projects so assembling them isnÃ¢ÂÂt a concern. I ordered door samples from one place, and have noticed they all offer about the same, just call them different style names.
Looking forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance!!!

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Comments (9)

xxxxOldTimeCarpenter
10 years ago
If you are reasonably handy the fact that the cabinets are RTA should cause you no problems. The truly cheap, lower quality MDF cabinets are sometimes warped, but this is rare even at this level.

However, do what most people don't do: READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. And, don't assume that because you followed the instructions for one cabinet that all the other cabinets work the same way.
angie_diy
10 years ago
I had a really good experience with Scherr's. Excellent customer service, communication, and quality. Plus fully custom and made in the US.
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Kitchen Cabinet Systems retails RTA Conestoga cabinets via the internet. Their Craftsman series is top of the line quality and reasonably priced. Avail. in 3/4 " plywood with veneer interior. Huge selection of quality doors through sister company MapleCraft. Best painted MDF doors on the market. I'd used their maple doors on a previous projects but went with painted MDF this time. Both types were just great. The MDF frames have sharp inside corners like miter joints...don't know how they do this but it looks just like wooden frame and panel construction and it's all one piece so there's no crack by the panel. The cabinets fit together tight and square with (French) dovetail joints. Price was areound $12K for 38 plywood cabinets with prepainted doors and drawer fronts and 100# self closing Blum Tandem Plus slide upgrade. Quality compares to highest grade semi-custom cabinets.
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We're in the middle of assembling a Scherr's kitchen now. We had planned on an IKEA/Scherr's combo for a long time, but in the end felt that our tiny kitchen would be best served by going the all-Scherr's route, so we could customize things as needed (and because the closest IKEA is almost 5 hours away). We ordered sample doors (unpainted and two wood types) and went back and forth with Leon, the owner, over the details. When we were finally ready to place an order in late October, the lead time was 10-12 weeks. However, there was a last minute cancellation/delay of an east coast Scherr's project due to Hurricane Sandy, so Leon pushed us up and we got our cabinets in 4 weeks. Cost for our 10x10ish kitchen was a couple thousand more than IKEA and a couple thousand less than a local cabinetmaker (also frameless cabs). As I said, we're still sorting through all of the boxes and assembling cabinets, but communication and customer service have been great so far.
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With Scherr's and Barker's you won't need clamps. What we did was arrange for an installation carpenter to do the install. We did the assembly. We also arranged for our installation carpenter to help us if became necessary. It didn't. We were able to assemble them without assistance. We saved 40% by doing our own assembly. Having used Scherr's, I would suggest that you consider the three US companies, Scherr's, Barker's or Conestoga by the Cabinet Joint. You will know what kind of material you are using. If you need help, it's a phone call or email away and they will speak English. No formaldehyde, glues or strange chemicals. You get what you buy. Spend a little extra and get a lot more.
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We painted our new IKEA doors with BM Advance in Satin. Our lowers are yellow and for our uppers we used Marscapone, which I think is a nice creamy white. The doors we were painting were birch with a white-wash type of finish. We brought one of the doors to our local paint store and they recommended the BM Fresh Start Primer. (They did not recommend the Advance Primer. Since then, I've seen several reviews about how terrible that primer is.) We scuffed, primed, and did two coats of paint, sanding lightly between each coat. We brushed everything except the end cover panels. I rolled those. In retrospect, I wish we had done three coats and maybe even four on the cream uppers. The coverage with the lighter color doesn't seem as good. I think the two biggest downsides to BM Advance are the long dry time (16 hours between coats) and the long cure time. They say up to 30 days but ours was more like 60-90. The upside is that, once they cure, they are really durable. We're coming up on two years since we painted them and have not babied them. I've been known to take a scrubby sponge to them when removing difficult splatters and the finish is still fine. The other problem, which you may not have, was the learning curve. I'd never used self leveling paint before. It took me a while to stop poking at it and let the paint do its job. Also it is super drippy so three thinner coats would have been smarter.
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lucas_tx_gw
10 years ago
Search the forum for my user name and some threads about Barker Cabinets. They have worked out really well for us and Chad is really responsive when you have questions.
User
10 years ago
All of the ones you listed are Chinese. I just wouldn't go there. Especially since there are so many options that aren't Chinese.
c9pilot
10 years ago
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!
CEFreeman
10 years ago
I absolutely love Brian at the Cabinet Joint.com. They use Conestoga cabinets. I'll continue to order from them a little at a time, since I can't afford all my beaded inset cabinets at once.

I have absolutely NOTHING bad to say. His patience and clear instructions are fantastic. The invoice is a bit weird to understand, but he'll read you through it.

I've gotten so good at their cabinets I can put a wall cabinet together in less than 15 minutes. I think it takes longer for the glue to dry than it does me putting it together. Oh - and no brackets or cams.

What can I say? They're great and I'm evidently a Whiz.
ijensen
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks so much for all your great advice. This is the last time I will be able to do a full remodel of my kitchen and I am wanting to do it right. Off to check out some of your new suggested sites. Enjoy your day!!!
ijensen
Original Author
10 years ago
I have a friend that has a rolling island and she loves the fact she can move it around her room. The only con I can see is not being able to have an electrical outlet in it. Any thoughts here?

This post was edited by ijensen on Thu, May 30, 13 at 12:55
salishsong
10 years ago
Sounds like you may be convinced, but I'll chime in too: we used Barker and are very happy. Installation (did it ourselves) was very straightforward, and similar to Ikea. Scherr's was not affordable for us. Chad is indeed very helpful and the only issue we had (missing a small piece of hardware) was resolved immediately (they sent it right out).

I finished the drawer boxes myself and had a local shop stain and finish the doors. They elected to slightly 'ease' the edges because they're custom cabinetmakers and thought the edges were too sharp. Otherwise they were quite complimentary about them. Ours are alder and the grain is very nice, and even though alder is on the soft side, a year of daily use by our family of four hasn't left any visible dings or dents.

Have you installed RTA cabinets?

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xxxxOldTimeCarpenter

angie_diy

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Have you installed RTA cabinets?

Comments (9)

xxxxOldTimeCarpenter

angie_diy

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