Barker cabinets come in two paint colors, one of which would work with my countertops. They use a "conversion varnish based paint" "two coats of sealer and two coats of conversion varnish paint" according to Chad, the owner. Is that equal or less in durability than a factory finish?

I have allotted $ for install and assembly of the Barker cabinets (yes optional, but I would want someone to do it), and it still is comparable.

Thank you!

I know nothing about Barker, but I have had Dynasty maple cabs for almost two years and love them....would purchase them again.

Yes, Barker started offering two paint choices a year or so ago. Yes how Chad describes it is consistent with a durable factory finish if it's post catalytic conversion opaque varnish finish.

Why are you thinking of choosing one you have to assemble? You must like some of their specifics or greater flexibility then?

I initially looked into Barker for the cost difference, but I found it to be inconsequential.

The other reason (which will probably make some of you cringe) is that there are some online reviews of Dynasty/Omega that are pretty bad. Plus my contractor, who used to sell cabinetry, doesn't like them. So that made me doubt my original decision.

Hmm, Dynesty/Omega in person reveal a lot of nice features, one of which is its paint finish technique. Yes, when looking at cabinets, I came across that one very disgruntled reviewer of them but like a Gaussian curve, you're bound to get outliers in all cabinets.

Certainly Dynesty/Omega is known as a quality top mid tier manufacturer of face frame cabinets, with good warranty. I know nothing of Barker other than what I've read and seen on this site. Two years isn't a super long time for honing technique on post catalytic conversion varnish for a company though.

If the cost is the same, I'd think I'd be leaning towards Dynesty/Omega but that's just my 2 cents worth. Good luck in your decision.

I'm pretty sure the Barker finishes are done by a guy(s) who does nothing else and is a professional painter. I've never seen the painted ones but my clear finish ones were flawless finishwise and are a joy to live with.

I'd say you have to decide based on features...any differences in the hardware, colors, other accoutrements you want?

Can you get Dynasty exactly the sizes you want? It was the ability to order any size to the 1/4" that convinced me to go Barker but that might be any different for Dynasty I don't know.

The ordering on your own is scary but doable. ;-)

Good luck no matter how you decide to go.

There would be no contest between unassembled and something of Dynasty's quality already assembled. Painting parts and pieces and then assembling them isn't the best idea. Someone besides an expert in cabinetry assembling the cabinets also is questionable quality control if you want to compare the two. It's apples and oranges. Sure, there might not be any issues, but if there are, you've got a lot more fingers pointing around at who caused the problem, with no one wanting to accept responsibility for the issue.

Also, are you really sure you want to 100% accept the responsibility for knowing what clearances the cabinets need in order to function? What size oven cabinet you need? How to trim that cabinet to fit? I can do every one of Dynasty's cabinets that will show in the design with an extended side in order for it to be scribed to the waviness of the wall. I can also do an extended stile instead of a filler against a wall or tall cabinet so that it's more seamless. Do you understand what that brings to the design? And how little it actually costs to be able to do details like that that make all of the difference in appearance and function?