Bump, trying to find reviews on this cabinet brand

Thanks Jon. I do have a question posted over on the kitchen forum about what others had their custom cabs made from. I did a search but didn't get a lot of specific info for the custom type so thought you wise and experienced wood workers could help. I've read a few sources that say MDF is better than plywood, which is better than particle board. But the cabinet places are stating industrial strength particle board. What's your opinion on this type of particle board? Is it standard stuff for kitchen cabinets? And does today's melamine do a good job in the moisture protection department? Sorry if I sound like a rookie - I am. I do know the difference between the products mentioned, I'm just not used to having it in my cabinets. Our original 16 yr. old cabs are builders stock but all plywood. My DH does some woodworking as a hobby but mostly does outside projects with solid wood so he's favoring the same in the kitchen remodel. Thanks, Diana

I doubt it was you, but you offered particle board and melamine. and the owner may have chosen that to save money. It also was 15 years ago and changes happened around here in the wood industry around then. I don't have any idea, but I am guessing that they were/are a LOCAL company. The house was architect designed and has custom doors, and floors. The cabinets seem to be custom too and local, I'm guessing. But the paint is falling off of the doors at the joint. (It could even be that the doors were painted on site by the guy who did NOT prime any woodwork!) Since the boxes are melamine over particleboard and fiberboard, they are not lasting. I talked to a kitchen designer who said they had just pulled out a custom kitchen exactly like it. I think that they wanted to save money with cheaper boxes, but now that the doors are shot, I need to replace both so I can do the stone countertop. You probably are a great company, I was letting my disgust with particle board and North Dakota get the best of me, not your fault at all! I have a very hard time with the whole idea of "chinese crap," somethings are junk and some amazing, depending on where and who oversaw it. I have gorgeous handcut cards done by widow women that are trying to support their mothers and their children. People often frame them when I send them. A ring from a high end jewelry store that could only be made in china (only a short time frame) because no one in the US could have made it for less than 10,000. I have 2 "stained" glass lamps handmade and sold at high-end stores, surrived 6 moves! I also had Ikea stuff that was made in china and fell apart in no time. (I have a lamp from Ikea made in Sweden that is still great after 2 kids played with it.) Good is good, bad is bad. It is really hard to tell what things are made of until you have had them for a while....such a problem for cabinetry.

I'm SO happy I did NOT go with a local custom cabinet maker! I've VERY HAPPY I went with Shiloh cabinets, an upper-mid-range cabinet company. I decided a couple of months ago to re-claim my dog cubby in the kitchen. Since Godfrey died, it's not being used by the dogs the way Godfrey and Shimmer did, and I decided I wanted the "real estate".. I called my KD company and asked them to order a sample drawer front in the same color as I used before: SW Repose Gray. I was warned it might not match - the cabinets are 3 years old. If they didn't, I had ordered a door and shelves when I did the cabinets, and could order pull-outs. The drawer sample came in and we looked and looked and looked at it and it was a very good match. So I ordered 2 drawers. This AM, they were installed and you would never know they had not been there from the beginning. I doubt a local cabinet guy could have matched them as well. So much of cabinet making these days is run by computers, and frankly the quality is more uniform and reliable. A large company can afford the latest, state of at the art, paint techniques. When I did my kitchen 2 years ago, we used Shiloh's standard hinges - did not pay for the upgrade to Blum. Now, the cost of the upgrade is only a few dollars so I did order them. All work perfectly. I'm thrilled with my new drawers. When DGS1 gets home from college this weekend, I'll try to grab him for an hour or so next week to line these drawers with cork and fill them with their new occupants. I'll take pictures then and post them. I could not possibly be any happier with Shiloh. The guy who came today is not the one who installed my cabinets but he did do the final trim work. When he was finished with the drawers, he looked around and started adjusting doors and drawers throughout the kitchen - he has that kind of eye. I mentioned that I had always wondered why the doors under my sink were kind of "concave" where they met in the middle. He opened them and said the stops had never been installed, went to his truck, found some, and installed them. How, all on the same plane as the panel above! This guy is gifted! I asked him if he preferred Shiloh or Mouser (the other brand carried at this store). He said he could not imagine paying that much more for Mouser - Shiloh was very high quality. From the horses mouth...