Cabico, Thomasville, Kitchen Craft, trying to decide

15 years ago

We are in the planning stages of a kitchen project and we are now faced with the following options. I am looking for any advice based on your experiences on which way we should head on this project. We are doing a kitchen renovation and have been shopping around.

Our first option is Home Depot with Thomasville full overlay framed cabinets. The rough estimate we got from HD was around $13,000 for the cabinets. My only concern with HD is that it is hit or miss with the designer. Although he seems like a really good guy, the designer appears to be putting cabinets in the plan just to fill space. You know what I mean. For example he put a double over right next to the fridge and a wall to ceiling pantry right next to the double oven. The other two designers we met with said you really need a counter next to the double over.

Our second option is through a local dealer in both stock and custom cabinets. We were looking at Kitchen Craft full overlay framless stock cabinets with all plywood construction. The designer definitely put a better initial plan together than HD. I also got the dealer to waive any design fees. The estimate we go from this dealer for the cabinets approximately $16,000.

Our third option was through a more high end local dealer specializing in high end cabinets. During the initial planning phase, we really wanted inset cabinets but we realized they were out of our budget. This dealer was able to locate beaded inset cabinets made by Cabico with melamine or particle board boxes. The design prepared was for approximately 5-6 less linear feet than the Thomasvill and Kitchen Craft cabinets. The estimate we got was $17,500 for the cabinets with $1,500 for four design meetings. The catch to this one is $3,000 in shipping costs. Essentially, the cost would be around $21,000 for the Cabico cabinets. From researching, I found out that Cabico is a good buy in semi custom cabinets.

Although we really want inset cabinets, we are now weighing our options.

We would appreciate any thoughts on your experiences, the above manufacturers and ideas for moving forward.

Thanks so much.

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Comments (8)

mmme
15 years ago
Well, I'm a big fan of Cabico and was planning to recommend that, but geez, those extra fees seem ridiculous! $1500 for four design meetings? And $3000 for shipping??

I would check out other shops until you find one that offers a cabinet style you like without the excessive fees.
brown126
Original Author
15 years ago
That is the tough question. I have heard good things about Cabico but the $6,000 difference with the shipping makes it a tough call. Also, the Cabico plan includes a bit less linear footage. However, I do have to consider the long run.

Any other thoughts would be helpful. Thanks
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sanborn5
15 years ago
I have had the Cabico in my previous home, in our new home, and our mt. cabin. I do know they are made in Canada, but I didn't think you had to pay shipping if you purchased them from your local kitchen planner. We did get the inset this time. I also priced out more expensive cabinets and I did not think they were worth the difference. We have been very happy with the cabico.
donnar57
15 years ago
Do you have another KD at that HD, or another HD near you? Thomasville cabinets are just fine - we have them and are happy with them. It sounds like you're spot on with the assessment of the designer vs the cabinets.

We didn't care much for our first KD at HD. We changed to a different one when the first one was off duty, and just told our new one that we weren't too pleased with trying to get in touch with the first KD. (He worked short hours there and wasn't fully certified as a KD there.) We absolutely loved our second KD, and were glad we made the change.

We could have also switched to another HD - we have two within 7 miles of us.

DonnaR/CA
brown126
Original Author
15 years ago
We are still facing the same issue. I have been trying to find more dealers of Cabico in the NY area to see if the estimate of $3,000 for shipping was correct. I just can't get myself to pay that much for shipping.

We have heard some good things about Cabico. They appear to be a good buy for the money and we really want white inset cabinets.

It may be a KD issue to some extent. The HD guy needs some help and I am going to give him another shot. I am not an expert so I don't want to be the one to dictate the design. The other two KD have been good in the early stages.

If anyone has any other thoughts, we would appreciate it.

Thanks
nymommy
15 years ago
I have friends who used Cabico and were very happy with them. They used Majestic kitchens in Mamaroneck and I don't remember them mentioning any shipping costs. Seems a little ridiculous to me.
brown126
Original Author
15 years ago
Just to give you an update, HD came back with a crazy estimate of approximately 20K for cabinets when they originally gave me a general estimate of 13K. Big difference and not a great design.

As for the Cabicos, we are now leaning this way. We just spoke to the KD and she indicated that the $3,000 includes delivery and installation. This makes a lot more sense.

With this in mind, we can probably get the Cabico beaded inset cabinets in white for an equal or better price as Thomasville cabinets from HD. Granted, the HD plan had a few more linear feet of cabinets.

We haven't made a final decision but we will meet with the KD for the Cabico plan again. HD appears to be out right now. KitchenCraft is still a possibility but we will see.
brown126
Original Author
15 years ago
We finally decided to go with the Cabico cabinets. They were a bit more costly than Thomasville and Kitchen Craft but just by a small margin. The shipping and delivery is $750 as opposed to the $3000 (this included installation).

We are going with the Cabico because we feel it is the best (1) cost to quality and (2) we really like the KD.

If anyone has Cabico white beaded inset cabinets, we would love to see photos. Thanks

Cabico, Thomasville, Kitchen Craft, trying to decide

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mmme

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Cabico, Thomasville, Kitchen Craft, trying to decide

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