I knew this day would come. I knew when they told me that due to GW they were very busy this past Summer. They said that they were not seeing the typical slow down in business.

Try Oxford Cabinet Shop. Not sure how far they go. They too were a GW Darling at one point.

Here is the contact information from a thread in 2009

"Oxford Cabinet Shop
120 Quarry Road
Oxford, PA 19363
Jacob K. Fisher
Call Monday, Wednesday or Friday between 8-8:30 AM
(717) 529-0949
Obviously, being Amish, he does not have a phone, so he waits by a phone on those mornings."

Most of the Amish businesses we know do have a phone but they might not answer it, usually an answering machine and they return your call.

Wow, looks like I got in just in time! I'm sorry Dutch wood is not working out for you. Maybe you will find someone great that is local to MD/DC/NoVA and start a new trend. Good luck!

Bee, did you simply respond with, "You're welcome?"

I kinda wonder if they wouldn't see fit to give GW referrals a bit of a preferred status. After all. It sounds like without GW they might have faced that seasonal slow down.

But that's just me...

I got the exact same email this morning too! I wonder if they just sent out a mass mail. In my thread about DC Kitchen Designers someone recommended LMS Woodcraft. Can anyone comment on this company?

I'm also in the DC area and I've been lurking here for too long trying to figure out what to do with my kitchen. I wonder if it's possible to track down the cabinetmaker for senator13's beautiful kitchen - check out her QS oak cabinets, I noticed after admiring her photos that one of the posts have mentioned MD (not sure if it's anywhere near DC though, I'm just inside the beltway and rarely manage to make it anywhere else.)

Here is a link that might be useful: senator13's lovely kitchen

DC is in Maryland.
She's in southern MD and will probably post here shortly.

Ironic that in such a huge area, with such ridiculous development, that a recommended cabinet maker is so difficult for we locals to find.

Christine, I have a hunch that a slowdown in the summer is actually a welcome thing. Jason owns the farms that surrounds the factory. And most of the employees that build the cabinets are Amish. I'm sure that they use the time away from DW to tend to their own farms.

Anyway, try Oxford Cabinet Shop. I think I did read someone all the way down at the Jersey shore was using them. So they do travel.

Here is my cabinetmaker's information. He is Amish, so if you plan on using him, you wil need to visit his workshop (which is a gigantic metal building on his farm) during the week. He is wonderful to work with, and you are going into a slower season. I worked with him in the spring/early summer, which was his crazy season. He does beautiful work, but I will say, while he comes to do all the measurements, you need to be specific with everything you want. He is not a design guy, but he is a remarkable craftsman. I really enjoyed working with him and I think you would too! He also has a driver, Marilyn. She drives his family around several times a week to do errands. I could e-mail her and ask her to tell Amos to call me that evening, and he would. That way I wasn't always driving to the farm. Here is his contact info:

Amos Kurtz Dba Hiltop Cabinetry
10195 Fairhaven Road
Mechanicsville, MD 20659-4054

Good luck!

'I knew when they told me that due to GW they were very busy this past Summer.'

yea!

the Amish sure are good workers. They built an addition to our house back in the early 70's. They finished a month early and under budget.

Thanks senator13!

What is the best way to initiate contact with Amos Kurtz? You only provided an address so would it be best to write him a letter?

If you check out macy's new kitchen she has a cabinet maker in Manassas VA...perhaps they aren't too far from you . Her kitchen is certainly noteworthy. c

I would write him a letter and include your phone number and the best time to contact you. I would also include in the letter some information about your project, including a timeline. My cabinets took about 3 months, but it was his busiest time (April-June). But make sure to factor in a buffer for yourself.

I could also give you the e-mail of his driver, but let me check with her first. Sometimes she would see him before I could get something in the mail and she would just tell him to give me a call that evening.

Cameo Kitchens in falls church is wonderful to work with. They use Honey Brook for their cabinets. We are using them now and our install date is Nov. 5th!

Thanks for the other leads-I really appreciate what a supportive community this is!!

I spoke with Jacob at Oxford Cabinet Shop today and am taking a trip out to visit them this weekend. I will report back on how it goes.

You might want to try Watkins Cabinets in MD, they did my neighbors cabinets and she loves them.

DCJersey-
Any luck with Oxford?
I am thinking of checking out Watkins as suggested by rjl443 above. If I do I'll let you know what I hear.

Here is a link that might be useful: watkins

My wife and I went out there last weekend. It was about a 2 hour drive from exit 29 on I-95. I'd say our visit lasted about 30 minutes, but we have a very good idea of what we want and brought a drawing with rought measurements with us so we didnt really need to sit down and create a plan and pick the type of cabinets.

The showroom is pretty small. In the downstairs area are samples of all the different door style options, paint color and stain options, and hardware options (there are lots of all of them). Upstairs there is an area with a few mock kitchens so you can see how the fully assembled cabinets look. The quality appeared to be excellent.

Jacob took the copy of the plan and said it would take about a week for him to come up with an estimate.

I should also add that he works with a countertop guy who sells Cambria quartz. We are thinking about quartz countertops so we also asked for a quote on that. Jacob said that might make things take a little longer.

Overall I was pretty impressed. I am eagerly awaiting the estimate!

DCJersey-
Any luck with Oxford?
I am thinking of checking out Watkins as suggested by rjl443 above. If I do I'll let you know what I hear.

Here is a link that might be useful: watkins

You probably drove past (or were very close) to my old house...

Glad you went and it sounds promising.

Ok, send me an email if you want directions that won't take 2 hours from 95 to get there if you have to go again.

beekeeperswife at gmail dot com

So we received the quote from Jacob at Oxford Cabinetry yesterday and I was very pleased. Before going to see Jacob we had gotten an estimate from Home Depot which came out to about 8300 for American Woodmark cabinets not including installation. Our quote from Jacob was just under $12,000 including installation. Needless to say I think it is a much better deal than Home Depot. We selected painted cabinets in shaker style with full overlay doors.

I was also very pleased with the quote we got from Jacob's counter guy. We will have about 55 sq. ft. of counters in the kitchen and it came out to just over $3500. We have selected Cambria Fieldstone for the perimeter counters (approx. 19 sq. ft.) and Cambria Torquay for the island (approx 36 sq. ft.)

I've been following this thread for outcomes and am very happy for you DCJersey. It's wonderful they will do the install also help with the Cambria.

I'm in Northern Virginia just a bridge across from D.C. Are you in the D.C., MD, VA or do you know if they come to this region?

I hope all goes smoothly for you and look forward to following your progress.

I am located in MD just outside of the beltway in the northeast portion of Montgomery County. I am not sure if they would travel to you. You should give Jacob a call and see what he has to say. At the very worst you could buy your cabinets from him, pick them up yourself and find your own contractor to install them.

You live in the DC area and you're considering buying from a shop in Oxford, PA?
All this fuss & muss over custom and a simple search of the local Wood-Mode dealer would probably give you a WARRANTY with your cabinet purchase.
Be careful, in some circles, Amish made means CHEAP!

If you have been following any of the threads here on gardenweb you'd know that the Amish cabinet makers mentioned here represent VALUE. It's true that not all Amish cabinet makers are the same, but the ones we have been discussing have proven track records and many satisfied customers who have posted here!

Oh and by the way, jacob's cabinets come with a warranty.

And correct me if I"m misunderstanding, but isn't Jacob in Oxford Maryland?

I'm over just south of Bowie and had been following this with interest, given I thought they were not in PA. Mechanicsville, I'd actually read. Which is less than 40 minutes from me.

Let's hope jumpioletmdm's warning could be very subjective, as offensive as I find "cheap" to be. (JMHO) It could mean inexpensive, it could be referring to quality, it could be referring to many things.

I also love reading about the flexibility of design and the frequent lack of upcharges for add-ons semi-custom (Wood-mode included) usually charge.

If I were to come into some money where I could actually buy all my cabinets? I'd probably hunt down Jacob as well.

Good news, DCJersey. Glad you got out of your box geographically, too. If you went down 301 you probably passed within a mile of my house.

I think Jacob is actually in Oxford, PA. But I think it is still just a couple hours from her, so it really isn't htat big of a deal. I know lots of people who would drive a couple hours to get what they wanted for their kitchen cabinets. It is not like it is something you would do everyday, afterall.

Jumpilotmdm, I believe the OP said she was comparing American Woodmark to Jacob, not Woodmode. American Woodmark is a HD line that I would expect would be cheaper than Jacob's cabs. Although, I am not sure if these were really comparable as it appears that Jacob might have been including things that were not in the American Woodmark quote.

In all fairness, quality can come from many sources, as does junk. I am sure their are people (Amish or English) who produce both. In my experience, I love dealing with the craftsman himself thoughout my process. That was something that a manufactured cab company couldn't give me.

Jacob is located in Oxford, Pennsylvania. If you look at a map, Oxford is not that far over the border from Maryland. I live about a 45 minute drive from Alexandria and it took me a little under 2 hours to get to Jacob, so it is definitely a doable drive for you SparklingWater.

The quote we got from HD for the American Woodmark Cabinets was somewhat comparable to Jacobs. The boxes were plywood, it included full extension and soft close drawers (not sure about doors though), and hardware. The benefit of Jacob's quote is the full customization. With the American Woodmark cabinets we were forced to put barely usable 9 inch cabinets in as fillers. With Jacob we dont have to do that. Jacob's quality also seemed vastly superior.

Yes, it seems we GWebbers will travel far and wide for quality construction and customization at competitive pricing. I appreciate your feed back DC Jersey, and wish you well on your project. My kitchen is still more a dream than near term reality but what I learn here is worth the pre-planning and much more.

If you have your entire kitchen planned out from the start, its not really all that inconvenient to use a cabinet maker who is slightly further away. By knowing exactly what cabinets I want I am able to cut down on the number of trip to see Jacob. Driving for 2 hours a couple of times is a small sacrifice to make for the quality I will be getting. To me value trumps convenience any day.