lowes cab sale--- plus a new diy angle-this is good!

14 years ago

Lowes has a repeat of their March sale, where you would get a $500 gift card when ordering 10 special order cabs, with a $250 bonus if APC. Greater number of cabs/bigger gift card. I went in yesterday for a KD appt and a quote, the least expensive Kraftmaid door was $6K, the one I realy like, Carrington Maple Miter was $12K.

The Carrington full overlay door style is a newer one for Kraftmaid, I think, which has a heavy routed line 1.5 inches in from the door edge, which results in the door resembling an inset door style. Kraftmaid has also taken this concept one step farther by including little fake hinges on one side of the heavy routed line, so it looks more like an inset door.

The KD pointed out to me that the only difference in the 2 quotes was the door style. This started my wheels spinning and I wondered if anyone ever just got the cheapest Kraftmaid door style and then switched out the doors with ones from Conestoga or Scherrs! Conestoga door Mirage is the same as the Carrington design, so I could get the Kraftmaid cheapos and swap the doors! I doubt that this could possibly cost the extra $6K Kraftmaid wants for them. The possibility made me heady with excitement!!

We have been planning a remodel for several years now and I am getting rather impatient, having moved from a totally renovated kitchen to a disaster (condo) galley kitchen.

I have researched RTA's online but never could get a real firm idea of what it would cost b/c I did not have an actual design, hence the trip to Lowes. I want to price out the difference between the Kraftmaid boxes/drawers and Conestoga and Scherrs RTA's and possibly others and see if it is worth the price difference to assemble them ourselves.

It may be cost effective to buy the Kraftmaid cheapo door cabs intending to swap out for Conestoga pre-finished ones in a coordinating shade.

This idea may be interesting for a few recent posters who are considering RTA's from Scherrs or Ikea with Scherr doors. Obviously the Kraftmaid chapos would be more $$ than Ikeas but the construction is different and also the hasssle of assembling would be eliminated. I will give an update when I get the quotes on the Scherrs and Conestoga RTA's.

Sources for Conestoga Wood doors are Cabinetmakes' Choice and the Cabinet Authority in CT and Kitchen Cabinet Systems in PA, and Northern Granite and Cabinetry.

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Comments (3)

nkkp
14 years ago
In my experience, the doors and drawer fronts are quite expensive and I doubt you would realize much, if any, savings from ordering cheap cabinets and upgrading doors/drawers on your own. I ordered a lot of single doors to use for custom applications in my house and each time I ordered a door, it was between 1/3 and 1/2 the cost of the total cabinet. Although that sounds great - you have to remember that most of the time you would need 2 doors per cabinet or even 3 or 4 drawer fronts. By the time you add that all together, any potential savings would be lost, and most likely you will spend more money. When I was making the final decisions on my cabinets, I quoted Conestoga RTA and the cost was right about the same as KM from Lowes, plus I would have to DIY assemble. The DIY assembly didn't worry me, we are extreme DIY'ers- literally built our house, but it was a matter of time for us. Another thing to remember is that matching stained or painted finishes is not easy - I had to send back over 6 doors in my order becase they didn't match. The company took a 'good' door and is now trying to match that color.
live_wire_oak
14 years ago
The cabinet boxes are the cheap part. The doors (and face frames) are the expensive part. That's why quotes for "refacing" cabinets with new doors and veneer for the face frame can actually cost more than all new cabinets would.

If you really like the different door, then take a look at other retailers and other manufacturers for the same style doors. But, you're not going to get 12K doors for 6K. You might find similar ones for 10-11K by doing a lot of research, but time is also money, and you need to figure out what your time spent doing all of that research is worth to you. And, you need to decide whether or not a certain "look" is worth the additional cost of upgrades. Some people are more about form than function and it would be a no brainer to them to spend the extra money. Some people would be OK with getting 70% of what they want looks wise if the layout worked and they saved 6K.

BTW, "average" kitchen remodels usually cost about 30K, with about half of that going towards cabinetry. So, whether or not you choose to get the more expensive door style, you are still coming in at a budget number.
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hmdennis
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I looked at Kraftmaid cabinets at Lowe's and the price for my kitchen came in at about $10K. When I started working with my contractor he reccomended a local cabinet maker that he felt had a better product. I skeptically got a bid and the cabinets came in at around $8k INSTALLED by the cabinet maker. I don't know what part of the country you live in, or if your experience would be the same, but you might look into local cabinets.

lowes cab sale--- plus a new diy angle-this is good!

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nkkp

live_wire_oak

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hmdennis

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