Should contractor or cabinet company install the cabinets?

16 years ago

I'm in the process of getting bids for my kitchen remodel. The cabinets have already been ordered. The cabinet company would also install them and their price is $4,000 vs. the first contractor bid I received for $5,000.

I'm wondering if using the cabinet company makes sense. If something doesn't fit or gets damaged, it's their problem. They won't be able to blame my contractor. And I would assume their people have more experience with their cabinets.

On the other hand, I need to worry about coordinating the installation with the contractors demolition, preliminary electrical and plumbing, installing tile floor, etc.

Any thoughts?

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Comments (14)

caligirl_cottage
16 years ago
It shouldn't be hard to coordinate the installation. Basically, you ask the contractor for the schedule. Ask when they'll be ready to have the cabinets set and then let the sub know. Keep getting updates from the contractor in case another sub gets delayed or finishes sooner, so you can then update the cabinet company. I think it's a good idea to have the cabinet people install their own work so as you say, they're responsible for anything that's damaged or doesn't work properly.
paul_ma
16 years ago
I only have my own experience here, but having the cabinet company do the installation was never an option. In any case my contractor was great, and I woujld not have wanted someone else to do it.

I have the impression that there are cabinet companies that prefer to user their own contractors, and those that don't.
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@jellytoast and others who point out that basically I’m not qualified to act as my own GC and am not saving money by trying to do so: There’s truth to that. Ultimately I’m responsible for not verifying the install was plumb and square, and you have a valid point. I knew the installation itself was critical, and I knew the cabinets need to be square. I totally dropped the ball on verifying that they were. On the other hand, as Sammy pointed out, some GC’s are no better than what I wound up with. This could have ended up a non-issue, or the same way – or even worse. In any event we’re dependent on (1) our own knowledge + information from the GC or (2) our own knowledge + information from the installers/tradesmen. When we bought the house 2 years ago we hired a GC to install hardwood floors (in ½ the house) and to handle what was going to be a much larger kitchen remodel (bump into the garage and tear down another wall instead of keeping the same footprint). It was a really bad experience. First, we paid a premium for sub-par hardwood floor install/finish. Had I learned more on my own about HW floor install and finishes rather than relying on information from the GC and his sub we would have done the floors differently. It was a disappointing and costly mistake. I learned there are risks with a GC as well as without a GC, and that hiring a GC doesn’t guarantee desired results. We did get a bid from another GC to handle the scaled-down kitchen redo this year. Ultimately we weighed the risks vs costs in either scenario (GC vs no GC) and decided to GC ourselves. This isn’t the right decision for everyone, but I still believe it was the right decision for us despite the situation we’re dealing with. The KD came out yesterday along with one of the original installers and an install project manager. The project manager recommended tearing out the counter that has ½” shim, and install the cabinets correctly. Also tear out the crown moulding where it’s bad/ugly and re-do. All doors that have cosmetic imperfections will be replaced. At this point we are satisfied with the proposed solution, although it’s certainly not over. I can’t say how much I appreciate all your comments and help! Thank you!!
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If the company you chose has a good reputation and a history of happy customers then it may be a matter of miscommunication, where each party is 15 percent off in understanding what the other is saying. Sometimes that just happens. And when it happens each party gets irritated. I think for customers it feels like we are staring at a black box in terms of the actual building process. We don’t know what we don’t know. Four days, for example, is not a long turn around time to get an estimate on a counter, because the shop needs the specs from the contractor first and then someone on their end needs to sit down and do the math and a rough drawing and get the bid back to the contracter. In my case one stone .outfit took a week to reply, another took two weeks. And maybe the designer is frustrated, thinking they’d done all this work to get you the price in a timely manner, what do you care about the details? It is a good price btw, i would thank the person for their fast reply (despite the rude All Caps thing) and ask where I should go the view the material. You don’t know what they’ve found for you until you actually see it. Re In picking a slab at the stone yard, the people there mark your selection with your name. In my case I took a pix of the slab and the inventory number while at the yard. What you pick on-site should be what you get. I would then send a cheerful note to the project manager with the inventory number and how you are looking forward to your counters. I did a succession of fairly major projects ( kitchen remodel, rebuild of corner of house and basement, replacement of fencing, and deck, gutters, HVAC, appliances, flooring for the entire house, installation of new sub panels, and rewiring for kitchen, replacement of lighting fixtures interiors and exterior, etc. It involved multiple subcontractors. My take away was this: most of these people are working on multiple projects and when you leave them a message their first thought is “is it on fire?” If there isn’t anything on fire and if you sent a page of questions then they will take care of any parts that seem sensible to them for that stage of the project then wait a couple of days and send some laconic message that seems completely opaque. It doesn’t mean things aren't on track or that stuff isn't happening. If you stick with these people then focus on your part of it - it’s fair to ask when they need your selections, and then get them the information they need. If the job is now slated to start in late July and they have the cabinets onsite then, to their mind, the job is “on the calendar“ I.e. it’s a happening thing. That is their reality and their understanding of the process. Nothing so far says they are going to flit out of town or refuse to supply soapstone instead of quartz. My suggestion would be to keep things amicable, keep good records, politely stick to your choices, and see how it goes.
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californiadreamer
16 years ago
My cabinet company installed my cabinets - my thought was if there is a problem with how the cabinets are installed, how the lazy susan turns, or whatever, there will be fingerpointing back and forth about "it was your product", "it was your workmanship", etc. My cabinet company worked well with the contractor, as once the undercabinet lighting was done by the contractor, the cabinet company came in for the last time to install their light rail. As you say, the cabinet company knows their products and knows all the workarounds. If the price is lower and you can see some of their work, I would definitely take that route. Good luck!
bluekitobsessed
16 years ago
I'm having the cabinets installed by the cabinet co. (dealer) as we speak. There's a bit of a coordination issue -- sometimes the cabinet people have questions that I can't answer, and they are critical of the contractor's drywalling -- but scheduling the cabinet people was not an issue at all. They'll come back for the crown molding, toekicks, and hardware at the very end of the job. The cabinet people are very protective of their cabinets and so far seem to be doing a first class job. "No one's touching my cabinets except me," he says when I ask him about who's going to cut out the sink base for the Shaw's sink. My GC says $3K and 2 days to install cabinets; the cabinet co. is charging $4600 and taking 4 days, and IMO it's worth it.
annettacm
16 years ago
In my case, we had a custom cabinet maker. I didn't pay extra for his installation, so his money was due upon delivery. When my contractor went to install his cabinets, two were measured wrong. It was like pulling teeth to get cabinet guy to fix those. I can guarantee if I had had his money, plus installation fees, when HE put them up, he would have quickly gone back to his shop to fix said problems immediately. I will always have the cabinet guy install from now on... or at least not pay until they are up and working properly.
annettacm
16 years ago
Oh, and I failed to mention that when my contractor installed, he didn't realize how the cabinets fit together on one side of the island, so without my okay, he cut one of the cabinets to make it fit, which made my counter top angle off, which made me have to get a filler piece. If the cabinet maker had installed, he would have known exactly how they fit together and this could have been avoided. Next time, I'll let each expert in his field do his job so they can be held accountable.
rgillman
16 years ago
My independent KD said you should always have your cabinets installed by the cabinet people; that way, if something goes wrong, nobody can blame the other guy.

That said, my contractor installed my cabinets - but he used to work for the cabinet guy doing all his installations when my cabinet guy was a full-service firm. The job is perfect...but if I had used a different contractor I would have had the custom cabinet people do the installation.
janran
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the opinions. I'm definitety more inclined to let the cabinet company do it now.
vwhippiechick
16 years ago
Cabinet company installed ours. It worked very well. They knew the products and the design and as others have said when there was a problem, which there was, no one was blaming the other guy. They offered solutions and we selected the best option for us. Their price for labor was very reasonable.
mavmomma
16 years ago
Any good cabinetry line will INSIST on installing their own product. The installation process can be complicated and needs to be done by experts who know the product well. Yes, anyone can nail boxes to a wall. But a professional whole-kitchen cabinet installation is so, so much more than that.
tkbalt
16 years ago
Our cabinet company insisted on doing installation...
User
16 years ago
My cabinet manufacturer (small local guy) gave me an installation price I couldn't refuse - almost 50% less than contractors estimates. He said the installations went much better and were less work for him when his employees did them. In concept I liked it for all the reasons cited above by others.

In practice he turned out to be a problem and I needed to get the Department of Consumer Affairs to inspire him to complete the job. But that was his personal issue - not the concept of having cab maker do install.
waime54
16 years ago
Our cabinet people are installing the cabs, but my question is, who does the counter top and places the sink in? The granite people says that the top and sink has to be in before they come out to do the granite. But the cab people say they don't do it unless THEY are doing the granite too. Help...
igloochic
16 years ago
waime that sounds goofy. Your cab people should be doing that as part of their install (the top for instance). THey are probably holding back on that because they want to sell you some granite ;(

My cabinet company uses a specific installer for the product we ordered. They will prep the cabinets for install of the countertops (stainless and granite) and they do sell granite...but that's not where I purchased it. They had no problem with that aside from asking for specs on the stainless install.

I was very fortunate. My entire remodel has been a disaster from the beginning with a once lovely, turns out, not so good contractor. My cabinet company (after I spent a lot of cash LOL) loaned me their installer (GC) to use to finish the job, which includes not only cabinet install but other finish work as well.

Should contractor or cabinet company install the cabinets?

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Should contractor or cabinet company install the cabinets?

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