Thanks to all who advised to check custom against big box

12 years ago

I took your advice and went to a custom shop today. Really nice guys, very knowledgable, beautiful cabinets and if we go with them, our money is staying local, which is important to us. Anyway, just to get an idea if it would be comparable to the Diamond cabinets at :****, I asked him to price a 36" sink base with comparable doors and finish and the plywood upgrade. 81.00 cheaper. Just on one cabinet. I was really surprised because I had a nagging suspicion that it wouldn't be possible but, you all were right! At least for this part of Wisconsin, you were! So, Thanks!

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Comments (4)

breezygirl
12 years ago
Great! So good to hear! I never thought that was possible either until I came to the forum.

Plus, you'll be so much happier that your sink base doesn't have to be 36". It could be 35" if it fit your sink and you wanted it that way. That extra inch would be used for better storage elsewhere. Gotta love custom!
deedles
Original Author
12 years ago
I'm really starting to love custom and here is a little more in my quest for savings: I checked with another custom shop that handles the same cabinets that were quoted cheaper than L=****'s, and this shop came in 90 dollars cheaper than the one that was 80 dollars cheaper yesterday! I told her that it would be doubtful that I would drive the extra miles to her shop unless she was significantly cheaper and by golly, she was! And I didn't tell her the quote from the other place until after I had hers. I'm liking it. Pays to shop around! Thanks people!
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I've roughly compared prices to Brookhaven, Ikea, Scherr's, and a local SF area cabinet guy (I suspect the bay area is as overpriced as NoVA). Very rough comparisons of course because by the time we get a quote we have a new plan but our space is small enough it can't change TOO much! The custom guy was about the same price as Brookhaven BUT did a lot more custom stuff for the price, like weird sizes, custom depths, and creative strange things. His price also included installation, which the BH didn't. I don't think my BH quote included any custom sizes--I think it's possible with that line but the KD at that particular shop kind of ignored our wishes... Ikea was less than a fifth the price, but of course wasn't all custom fitted to our space and doesn't include installation. Scherr's was about 2x Ikea for a paint-ready cabinet. So, fully custom, but unassembled and unfinished. I'm not sure how Brookhaven compares to Kraftmaid on the price (or quality) scale, but I did like that my custom guy would do full custom (very helpful in a small space) as well as installation for around the same price. He sounded a little skittish about frameless though so we may go with Scherr's. They're helpful and have some great customer reviews. If you're willing to do a little DIY OR pay your GC to do some extra work, it might be worth asking them for a quote. Some people here have picked out their cabinets at a bigbox store and then ordered them online for less. So, even if you decide to go KM, you can still shop around.
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jamiecrok
12 years ago
We had our kitchen priced at a big box store. Then we called some custom places. Custom was half the price! The guy we ended up going with is so easy to work with and you don't end up with a bunch of filler pieces because they can just make the cabinet the exact size that you need (true custom places can anyway some order in the boxes and make the doors).

The other great thing about our guy is that we went from melamine to solid wood and the price upcharge was only about $500. We went from 36' to 48'' uppers and it didn't add any additional cost. We went frameless and it was the same price, he said it is cheaper to make since it is less material! We had him make us a sample cabinet to get a feel for quality since it really can vary from place to place. His quality is amazing, really sturdy and feels very upper end.

Pullout shelves, $25 a piece. Raised panel doors add $25 a door since it is more material.

The price difference is amazing and the nice thing about finding a small company that is easy to deal with is that they don't really charge you a bunch more for the trendy stuff just the actual cost diff. in material prices and labor.
PRO
Showplace Cabinetry
12 years ago
Generally speaking, people have a misconception that the Big Box brands will be less expensive than local custom builders or other brands sold by independent kitchen and bath dealerships.

As many are discovering that is not always, or maybe even not often the case.

Also worth putting in the evaluation pot is, how much help will you want with the overall design and functionality of your new kitchen?

This is an area where the independant dealers often shine brightest ... and they all sell brands at multiple price points so they too, can typically out-price and out-service the Big Box stores.

Worth checking BOTH the local custom shops and the local independent dealers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Showplace: Independent Dealers on why they love Showplace.

Thanks to all who advised to check custom against big box

Comments (4)

breezygirl

deedles
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Thanks to all who advised to check custom against big box

Comments (4)

breezygirl

deedlesOriginal Author

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jamiecrok

Showplace Cabinetry

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deedles
Original Author