I have lived through the last 8 months of fighting my GC to call us or email or or even text us. He delayed me for weeks and weeks to choose my cabinets and when he finally "got around to it" we couldn't go with the ones I wanted because of time restraints! We have been sooooo frustrated with our GC and only our GC. The subs he has working (except one crew) have done excellent and quick work. The problems we have had is all with our GC's lack of communication. As an example, we were suppose to have granite installed yesterday. Monday afternoon I "ran into" my builder at our new house. He isn't down there much. Well I asked how the Granite was going to be delivered with a big trench in our front yard for the sewer (a whole different set of problems). He said, no problem, they will ride down the side of the lot and bridge the trench. I said ok and left it at that. Well Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from the OWNER of the granite place saying they cannot get anywhere close to the garage to deliver and they drove two trucks 50 miles for NOTHING. She was mad and couldn't get the builder to answer his phone. I had to call him, but had to leave a voicemail. My question is why not, knowing they were delivering that day, be there? Granite is thousands of dollars and I thought important. Too many details getting missed causing delays, frustration and MONEY!!! Sorry for the vent, but I HIGHLY recommend you stressing (as we did in emails, phone calls, and in person) that you want a review each week either over the phone or in person or email. Have it stating where you are and what the next week should cover. Make certain you are making your decisions on time, ahead of time if possible and know what you need to be deciding on now for the rest of the build. We were told 4-6 months to build a 3200sqft house. We are 9 months from breaking ground (ran into drainage issue) and 6 months from footers being put in the ground. We still have another month of work left. I know this will be worth it in the end to be in a home I love and can enjoys for years to come. I just want it DONE! Best of luck!

I'm just finishing a kitchen by Nuwood out of Racine. All custom carcass & door sizing makes life MUCH easier than force-fitting the stock cabinet sizes to fit your space. They have someone make the doors for them while they do everything else, including finishing. Three-quarter plywood is standard, no funiture board. I have spindles inset on cabinet corners (like they should be) rather than hanging full spindles off the edge of cabinets for that "faux" look. No one else could do inset spindles..which I thought was very odd as this is how furniture is built & the intent is cabinets mimicing furniture. They can do most anything your looking for. I wanted 3 inch on center beadboard & they didn't have a source, but they said if you can find it we'll use it. I found it in Madison & they did a nice job with it. Phil is the owner. Mention a recent cherry & warm-white beadboard kitchen with soapstone counters and he'll know me. They still have to finish some trimwork once I finish the floor. If you work with them you'll be the GC. They have trades guys they can suggest (I used them & they were good), but you work with the trades directly & do the logistics of getting them in at various points. Naturally...if you're the GC you need to know what you want from the trades...while electricians/HVAC guys know what works, they are not designers. If you need some reasonably priced & good design help I can suggest another person. I had three estimates and thought NuWood was fair in cost. Mostly I liked the flexiblilty of "custom" & "local"...BIG help. Nice people to work with. Been in business for 50 years.

to colin3: I noticed this is an old thread, but I am in the market looking for a cabinet maker for mast bedroom, closet and Bath. I need built-in cabinets, vanity, linen cabinet and closet shelves, etc. Not big job but want something solid. How's you job turned out? I call this place yesterday and will go take a look when I got chance. It seems they are not very busy right now, maybe it is good news for me. Thanks

I'm in the Dallas area. Someone on my other thread had a helpful suggestion to ask here if anyone local to me had vendor recommendations. I'm most at a loss on custom cabinetmakers - does anyone in this area have recommendations? I'm not sure I'll go the custom route but would like to talk to a couple of shops just to compare. While I'm at it, can anyone recommend a vendor for quartz countertops? I've already talked to Gage's Granite and they are coming out to give an estimate. Any experience with that shop or others? Finally, any recommendations on a local KD or GC who can work with a relatively modest budget? ($25K-$35K excluding flooring, no structural changes)