Best price and construction of kitchen cabinets?
hanna7636
13 years ago
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where to buy cabinet hardware - best prices on line?
Comments (20)I bought my pulls from Knobs4less.com. They had the best prices that I could find, and they emailed and called me when my longer pulls were on backorder. I had free shipping and a good experience. I bought my cup pulls on ebay for about $1.60 per cup. I am very pleased with the quality. (I first bought a sample) I also have hardware that I bought at Menard's that I have had no problems with. The brands were Liberty and Belwith. I check the bags carefully because I once brought home a "newer" version of the hinge I was looking for, though it had the same product number, the style was just slightly different. I had to dig through the bin to find the same packaging as my match. I was relieved that there were enough of the same....See Moreconfused about kitchen cabinet grades / price levels
Comments (15)You want to compare Apples to Apples - this means you need to know what you want. Specifically, what cabinet construction you want. For example, if you go to Home Depot and see a cabinet you like, the salesperson will start going blah...blah...blah. So, you need to know some specific parameters to ask about. For example, you like door style A, that's nice - Home Depot's standard is particle board, there is a "partial" plywood upgrade and then the full plywood construction upgrade. What do YOU want? Note, 1/2" plywood is not the same as 3/4" plywood. So, you need to know what you want and take those SPECIFIC details to different cabinet showrooms and even a few custom cabinets makers to find out who has the best price on the exact same cabinets. If you want to get an apples to apples price comparison, try laying out a small pretend kitchen with standard size cabinets and bring that in to the various places and have it priced out - that will tell you what the best deal is. So, a 36" sink base with tip-out drawers, a 30" 3-drawer pot and pan base, a 42" blind corner cab. A 24" (or 27" if you want 15" deep uppers) corner upper, and a few standard uppers. ALL cabinet manufacturers offer these cabs, so this is a way to get an idea on different pricing. Make sure you compare particle board to particle board, or all 1/2" plywood to all 1/2" plywood, or all 3/4" plywood (mostly custom, rarely semi-custom) to all 3/4" plywood. And make sure you compare equivalent drawer slides as well - here I suggest you do not accept anything less than Blum Blumotion undermount soft-close glides - you'll be miserable otherwise. Don't go in with a complicated layout to get a lot of different prices to compare apples to apples - the more complicated it is the more the salespeople talk and throw you off your goal. Keep it simple for now. As for pull-outs: Yes, there is a HUGE upcharge on ordering cabinets with them already installed. It is MUCH cheaper to order the pull-outs separately online yourself (Rev-a-Shelf, Hafele) and install them yourself or have your cabinet installer put them into empty cabinets BEFORE they are installed on the walls. This, unfortunately, is the only way to ACCURATELY compare prices among the gazillions of cabinet manufacturers out there. After that you can do a real layout and compare the pricing on exactly what YOU need amongst the 2-3 cabinetmakers you know already offer the best value for the money....See MoreKitchen cabinet construction
Comments (6)All manufacturers I know of make face frames from 3/4" solid wood. You will occasionally find 1" available from higher end companies, most often for aesthetic reasons not for strength. How the frame is made? This is more definitive of quality than almost anything else that you can easily find out about. Less expensive brands will use pocket holes and screws to join the frames. Next up are doweled frames. At the top end there are true mortise and tenon. A few mid range companies offer loose tenons or a variation on dowels. That sounds nice but in my experience the results are not done as well as doweled cabinets. How are the boxes kept square? Plastic corner reinforcements, wooden corners (better), full plywood struts along each side (even better), and finally at the top end full sub tops or dust tops. Inset cabinets should always have full dust tops in my opinion. Sides- How are the sides joined to the cabinet and what are they? First off what are they? (note particle board will often be called furntiture board, long grain flakeboard, and occasionally incorrectly MDF. Of the 500 or so mfgs out there only a handful actually use MDF for boxes) Cheapest will be 3/8" particle board, that is a case wherer you should upgrade to ply. Then comes plywood-3/8". 1/2" for standard sides are common- 3/4" for standard sides is not common but can be found at local custom makers. It keeps customers happy and is easy for them to just buy it. It is unnecessary in a framed cabinet. 3/4" (or 5/8") is more common in flush finished sides and desireable. There is often debate over plywood versus particle board. I find nothing wrong with particle (especially for frameless) depending on what it is, some of the plywood used is simply no better. But a lot of folks will argue this. How good the particle or (ply for that matter)is will vary. If looking at manufactured cabinets I would go more by price/reputation than worrying about the specifics. It is unlikely that the salesman can answer with authority what type, where it came from, what grade, etc. When I'm looking for a mfg the reps usually have to put me in touch with the factory to get those answers. Local shops are less likely to use particle. Domestic or Canadian particle or ply is better than Mexican (particle) or Chinese (any) More importantly is how the sides are joined to the box. Most of that you can only tell by looking at an uninstalled cabinet. Best are into dadoes and glued, staples are ok if the glue is done properly and the fit is tight. Lots of staples is a bad sign. A little glue exposed is a good sign. I would rather see some glue that was not cleaned up than get a glue starved joint. Almost everyone will give you dovetail drawers. There are other constructions used by local shops and often are fine and will still last 30 years. 1/2" box sides require better wood than 3/4" sides. I will not sell a cabnet with Chinese drawer glides- I only consider Grass/Mepla, Blum, KV or Accuride glides. (in that order for undermount) What type of finish- full conversion varnish is arguably the best but nothing wrong with pre-catalyzed varnishes used by local shops. How much is used and how well it is applied matters more. Almost no one can tell you what the "wet build" is for the finish on their cabinets. (you should see the look on reps faces when I ask that :) Run your hand along the bottom edges of drawer faces- feel smooth and consistant- good. Best way to tell finish. Warranty- mfgs will give you a "limited lifetime warranty" This is a great marketing tool. If you are going to have a defect it will be in the first year, after that everything is wear and tear. So you are then left to the good graces of the mfg. Better mfg will take care of things forever as a courtesy, cheaper ones will be less likely to do so. Hardware is almost always for life and not usually difficult to bet taken care of. What "grade" of wood is used for doors AND what they consider a replaceable door. If you are getting light colored woods you want a better grade of cabinet if you are fussy. Some manufacturers will replace a door if the salesperson asks, others require it be warped a specific amount (as much as a 1/4") some want it to acclimatize for a year, some have a size limit on doors for warranty....See MoreBest Company for Modern Kitchen Cabinets (Thermofoil or Laminate)
Comments (23)@jdesign_gw The multiple latches that were broken were plastic push-to-open pieces. The small plastic pegs that stick out of the hardware were broken off on doors all over the showroom, making the doors completely non-working. One display had uplift doors that were too stiff to open without enormous effort. I would imagine a real kitchen would receive just as much wear as a showroom over years of use. Do you follow up with clients as to their long-term outcome with the cabinets you've installed? I was thrilled with my Ikea closet when first installed. A year later, not so much. I'm glad you've had a successful business with Ikea products. Perhaps your custom work includes your own door-opening hardware that isn't failing prematurely like some of the hardware that comes standard on Ikea doors. By the way, I ended up getting 3 drawers instead of more shelves to add to my longest shelf area as I feel the box construction of the drawers will better prevent sagging. I did notice that the Ikea kitchen cabinetry stayed within a narrower width tolerance for all the units available versus the closet systems, and I wish they would restrict width on the Pax closet system as well to protect customers from the sagging shelf problem I am facing. I loved one of the 3D laminate option on the kitchen doors, and the tolerances of the door clearances and design options looked great compared to other displays of frameless cabinetry brands I've seen. Pros and cons are mixed with Ikea, in my opinion. I've bought a lot of things there, but the closet shelving was my most expensive purchase and a little disappointing in the long-term. I will doubtless shop there again, just not for cabinetry or shelves unless I hear they have upgraded to prevent some of the quality issues I've experienced....See Morehanna7636
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