Yeah, at this point we are not considering the whole house humidifier. I've spoken to a couple of other people who have talked me down from that idea. I think we may look into table-top humidifiers, however, because I think one of those in the bedroom may help with some of the sinus issues we've been struggling with this winter.

We're in Texas, where it is usually quite humid. Summers can be downright unbearable because of the moisture in the air, combined with the heat.

You may wish to post those cabinet photos on the kitchen forum. Some cracking in the paint of solid wood cabinet faces is to be expected if I recall correctly but this seems beyond a small crack here and there.

Ah, Texas, So August was probably hot and humid and then we had really cool/cold (depending on your perspective), very dry air lately. I had to sign a release on my painted cabinets, but 8 years later, I don't have any uglies like you do. Fine separations at the seems in sime places, yes, but not like those.

Is this a cutom home? Site built cabinets? My guess is they were built in spring and summer (we had a really wet spring and early summer followed by heat and humidity), painted on site and then the cool, dry air with the heat running (making the air drier inside) -- you get contraction. They can be remedied, but it is tedious work. Some of those cracks would be somewhat normal, but the degree to which you have them is not.

And no, your pulls, knobs, etc., wouldn't have any impact on that.

"And no, your pulls, knobs, etc., wouldn't have any impact on that."

But be prepared for the builder to say just that -- 'well, you voided any warranty by modifying cabinets.' Just sayin'....

If bath vanities are fine & no problem with furniture I doubt it is humidity. Slight crack of paint at the miter corners is normal on wood painted doors but certainly not the rest. I hope you quickly get a remedy.

Jen, I posted this on my woodworking forum,

take this link.

cabinet problem

Thank you so much, cliff_and_joann! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to post that to the other forum, and appreciate the response. This is in line with what my dad had to say about the situation a little while ago.

**What lascatz said.** And, Jen, be careful not to volunteer a presumptive remedy (ex your mentioning a whole house humidifier in one of your notes to the company). You are the customer and you paid for quality work. I'll guess that the builder didn't put in the contract that you needed a whole-house humidifier to keep your cabinets from contracting and cracking open at the joints.

The notebook idea is a good one. So is your going out and enjoying the gorgeous day. While you want to stay on too of the issue and have the builder make it right, it's going to take time and your level-headed calm persistsance. Let _them_ articulate the problem and remedy. I think it's best that you not offer ideas or remedies ;). It might promote the company to echo your 'fix' and (perceived) willingness to fix it, letting them off the hook.

Mitred joints (versus butted or lapped) can be tough. (Allison's comment.) they seem less forgiving than other joints, particularly if they are painted after assembly (versus stained), in area where there is expansion and contraction (say from seasonal changes in humidity), and in areas that see a lot of vibration (cupboard doors versus trim around doors and windows).

If you'd built them yourself from unseasoned stock, you might expect this from a first attempt. But you paid for a contractor to have an experienced cabinet maker advise you and construct a quality set of cabinets. Be clear, polite and firm. Document. Give them the opportunity to satisfactorily remedy the situation. In the meantime, go have fun, relax, visit and send spring weather to us northerners, would ya?

You're welcome Jen, I suspect your going to have a fight on your hands.

Don't settle, don't waffle, make them do it right.

Joann...

often the cabinet maker is stamped somewhere on the cabinet or on a drawer side... if you can find the manufacturer, you might want to google to see if it is an unusual problem... as with everything, quality varies a lot!

The builder stopped by the house a little while ago and spoke to my DH about the issue. He will be returning next week with a crew and they are going to address this further. Because I am much more adept at communicating than DH (no offense to him, it is what it is), I am going to be there when they're at the house next. We'll get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

Thank you all for letting me vent, for commiserating, and for being so helpful. I appreciate it greatly.

I am totally sympathetic to this problem and understand your frustration and anxiety. ( I just got my car back from being painted and they made it fire engine red, was supposed to be another color.)

However, perspective is always helpful. You are not on a sinking ship trying to escape Syria, your kids are not in an iron lung somewhere and you are not all alone in a dirty old people's home, looking at worse than bad cabinets. You will go through some unpleasantness, maybe even court, you will prevail and in time, this problem will recede into its proper place in life. (hugs)

A good sign that the builder is already responding to your concerns, I hope a satisfactory solution is found without too much stress for you. Good luck and not all builders are hard to work with or bad guys. Sounds like you have one of the good guys!

A very good sign that your builder has already responded.

We had our own issues when we did the addition. Everything isn't perfect, but such is life.

I would not worry any more about it being fixed. If the same builder is still selling new homes in your neighborhood, he will want you to be happy. Very Happy. He knows there is a chance that any prospective buyer might talk to current owners.

Definitely First World Problems, but when they're your own FWPs, it can be pretty darn frustrating.

Yes, I too am heartened that the builder has already stopped by. I will hope for a quick resolution and will try not to let it color my enjoyment of the home in the meantime. I so look forward to just being in our new place - just spending time there puttering about. Earlier today I was feeling like I didn't even want to go home when I get off work this evening, but I'm starting to come around from that.

I do have a bit of unrelated good news, and that is that our buyer has asked us to move closing up on the sale of our old house to February 29. Today we received word from her agent that she has already called the utility companies and made arrangements to begin service in her name as of closing. I'm really excited about that, as we were not scheduled to close until a bit later. So there's that little ray of sunshine. :-)

Yay! A silver lining.

Of course you're upset with those cabinets. You've been working so hard to make your home warm and inviting, so to have not one, but all your cabinets cracking in the joints is disheartening. So don't feel bad about venting to us, we would all react the same way, I'm sure.

So glad the builder responded already, take that as a good sign, but document ever single thing. Hugs.

I have been trying to stay positive in my day to day, and you have shown yourself to be generally an upbeat person. Okay so I see two good things happened today to counter the anxiety and disappointment over the cabinets: builder has stopped by and is returning next week, so he is not ignoring or dismissing you; and the sale of your old house is humming along smoothly. Oh as I type just thought of more - a walk in 72 degree weather (jealously thinking to myself as I look for positive must be nice as I freeze at a SUNNY 24) and Valentine's Day and maybe a three day weekend.

The most probable cause is threefold.

1. Wrong caulk. Cabinets and joints, abutments, etc., require a high quality acrylic elastomeric caulk like Sher_Max Elastomeric sealant.

2. All joints should be primed prior to applying caulk. Too often builders and other non-painters are in a big hurry, skipping the primer step and caulking bare wood or bare wall board. That's not the proper way to do it.

3. Low end paint and applied too soon over caulk. An ideal wait time is 4 hours, but most non painters are in a hurry and paint over wet, uncured caulk, which causes cracks, separations, etc.

I've nothing more to add to all the helpful and sensible suggestions made by other posters Jen, but wanted to say I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this issue in your lovely new home. {{{Hugs}}} from England to you guys & hope you get it sorted ASAP!

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. I would be just sick about it. I think you will get it resolved to your satisfaction though. I know I would throw a raging fit until it was.

Jen, I'm so sorry to see that you are having to address an issue so quickly after moving and hope the builder will make it right.

I wanted to talk to you a bit about humidifying the house. My parents live in your town and have a whole house humidifier that they use when the furnace is running. You can adjust the percentage of humidity. They have never had a problem with mold. They also have a whole house de-humidifier which is awesome in the summer and really helps the efficiency of the A/C. In fact, maybe the humidifier/de-humidifier is one unit. Even with the whole house humidifier, they use a table top, cool air humidifier in their bedroom when they are sleeping. They have found it helps with their sinus issues, especially in winter when the furnace is running.

Just take it one step at a time and give the builder the chance to correct the problem. Based on what he does or doesn't do, you will know how to proceed at each juncture. Just try to remain calm and not become antagonistic....I know easier said than done.

We've had a whole house humidifier for years.....no mold problems and with my dry skin I wouldn't be without one.

Jen what a bummer! I ran these pics by my son who does high end finishes. His take is that while the cabinets could have been constructed with wood that wasn't totally dry, it's more likely that this is a really poor finish job. From the pictures it looks like there are areas where there are some paint sags and a bit of orange peel leading him to suspect the cabinets were actually over-painted with a quick drying product. The results is the outside paint layer hardens before the initial coat dries properly and bonds to the surface, consequently nothing cures properly and the finish separates in stress areas. He'd also be surprised if the joints were caulked at all and thinks they were probably just shot with paint until they were filled. At any rate I hope you are able to get this resolved soon and can get back to enjoying your new home.

That's a lousy carpentry job. Decent quality cabinets, moldings and other woodwork shouldn't come apart even after 30-40 yrs of use, no matter the climate conditions and house settling. You certainly deserve better than this kind of job.

In my family back home we have wood furniture pieces that are 50-100 years old. Those weren't very fancy pieces when new but they were solidly built. We have a country cabin built of timber over 60 years ago. Freezing winters, some summers scorching hot and dry and some summers rainy and muggy. Nevertheless, no seams coming apart and no wood cracking in a big way.

In order to build quality pieces, the lumber should be dried indoors for several years. Not in a kiln, just stacked in a dry, well-ventilated storage.

My great-grandfather, who built furniture for a living, stored his lumber in the attic over his workshop for 3-4 years before using it. My dad used to help him in the workshop when he was a teenager. There are many factors to consider: the direction of wood
grain, the wood species, what part of the log the planks were sawn
from, etc.

I do suspect it isn't the case with the goods sold at HD or Lowe's. It sounds like you ordered from a higher end supplier. You would be well justified to demand a better quality from them.

Looks as if using wood glue in the process of assembly wasn't a requirement in their process.

When assembling for painting a necessary step.

Sometimes you just have to start over. In this case, starting over is the only practical solution unless you'll be happy with "repaired" cabinets. Adding caulk and paint will not fix the underlying problems.

I would also examine how the cabinets are mounted. Is the box properly secured to studs in the wall? Did they use brads or finish screws to mount the moldings? Are the center panels "floating" panels or fastened in place? When staining, a floating panel works well, but when painting, the center panel must be fastened in place to avoid movement.

And 4boys2 is right. No glue was used.

That looks like a start-over to me, too. That's really too bad, and shouldn't have happened. My front door here did that. (But it was cheap off the shelf Home Depot.)

Thanks so much for the thoughts and advice. I'm feeling a little better about this today, having had a near-immediate response from the builder and putting it all back into perspective. We'll get this taken care of and it will become a distant memory, like everything else that at first seems insurmountable.

Jen, words escape me for the disappointment you must feel, since we take for granted all will be well because after all, it's a *new* house. I seem to find here in Tx builders want a 'happy buyer, unlike Ca where most of the time you will have to file a lawsuit to get things finished as they should have been done in the first place, but still sub standard. I believe your builder will come thru for you, so please try to stay positive. Would you mind sharing the name of the builder? As in Ca, most builders seem to build in several cities in a state. Since my youngest DD moved almost 45 minutes to a better school district, I may be making a move to be closer since the traffic is only getting worse. If I can avoid a builder with potertial problems, it would make my life much easier. Hang in there Jen!

Oh, Jen! I'M so sorry... - I would have a major hissy fit and I wouldn't let up on the builder until things were fixed to my satisfaction even it they had to replace all cabinets. Lynn gave you good advice to document everything in writing and photos. Keep checking other areas to see if any other issues show up. You will get it straightened out.

Great news about the home sale.

Thank you so much, Joann! I so appreciate those folks taking the time to consider my situation.

Thanks to those who commented recently. I am grateful for your thoughts and kind words. I don't wish to share the name of the builder at this point, preferring to see how this all plays out. Hope you understand.

I tried to post a photo earlier but couldn't get it to load. Just wanted to share a pic of the adjacent room that I'm focusing my attention on today, only because it makes me crazy happy. This builder did do a super job on most of this build; the cabinets are an anomaly. (Photo still won't load; maybe I'll try later.)

I have trouble posting a photo when I go to the discussion via link in email.

I found the manufacturer name of my cabinets in the door hinges.

I missed this until now, but TR I am so sorry. No additional advice, but I am so glad your builder appears to be addressing this. I hope you will end up with a resolution to your satisfaction very soon. In the meantime, try to stay positive that you are the customer and should be treated fairly. Don't 'MUSH' at night, as my dear niece calls it...Making Up Stuff in your Head, and losing sleep over possible outcomes and what 'might' happen.

MUSH - love that.

Lots of great advise and help so far Jen, I'm sorry you've run into the snag but hopefully they will make it right for you.

I live in humid KY, but when the veneer started popping off valuable antiques in the winter when furnace was running, I knew I had to do something. My HVAC man recommended an Aprilaire whole house humidifier. I've had it now for about 12 years and it does a great job. I keep the humidity level at about 60 winter and summer (better for furniture to be consistent. Of course in summer, the AC has a built-in de-humidifier. No, it does not cause mold issues but portables certainly can, and I speak as someone with severe mold allergies.

The answer you get depends on whom you ask.

If you ask your coffee klatch, you'll get support and commiseration, random finger-pointing, anecdotes, calls for revenge.

If you ask a painter, you will get a paint-based reply (Wrong Caulk!!) lol, you don't caulk that seam, silly painter.

Have you thought of asking a woodworking forum?

Casey

Repairs are underway and the guys are doing a beautiful job thus far. I posted this photo in a separate thread, because it looks so strange to me to see the doors off the cabinets! DH made a silly remark about it looking "all cottagey" now, and in a different life I probably would've been tempted to go with this look. But no ... The doors are being rebuilt, repaired, and/or repainted. We are satisfied with the work being done thus far, and particularly impressed with the prompt response we have received to our complaint.

That is good news! How long do you have to wait til you get your doors back?

Should be all done fairly soon. I'm hoping within the next two or three days, we'll be better than new. ;-)

How ya keeping animals outta there? My cats would make it their home.

;)

Happy this is being resolved satisfactorily and promptly!

rob333, surprisingly enough, they haven't had a tremendous amount of interest! Penny and Pip did poke around in a couple of the bottom cabinets last night, but they then just curled up in one of their usual evening spots and left things alone. They seem slightly more interested in the currently closed doors than the open cabinets. I've got the door to the toilet in the master bath closed because the cabinet doors over the potty are removed, and the cats just sit and stare at that closed door. They can't stand being kept out of a space they're normally entitled to go into! ;-)

I'm glad it's being fixed :) My heart sunk when you first posted, because I know how much you love your new home and how disappointed you must have felt.

Great news, Jen! I'm not surprised the kitties are more aggravated by the closed doors...where's the challenge in all that open space? LOL

Donna

Cabinets shouldn't be caulked. They shouldn't be site built and site painted either. Those issues caused to really poor quality that you see when looking at the doors and some of the icky stringy spaghetti look of some of the joins. No real custom cabinet maker was involved with the construction there. If they are in there "fixing" things the way they built them the first time, oh boy. You'll probably post an equally upset picture this summer

The other issue is the NORMAL cracking and gaps between the wood panel doors when the home humidity drops. And that is remedied by a whole house humidifier.

I'm so pleased this is being fixed.......and so promptly too! Hope you are satisfied with the results and that you have no further issues so you can just get on with enjoying your new home :-)

Yay! I'm so happy reading things are getting fixed for you- I hope the finished product is done correctly and doesn't have the same issues.

I didn't read every comment, so forgive me if you addressed this already- did anyone ever tell you exactly what caused this? I would want to know the cause to ensure the problem doesn't repeat itself. If it was poor craftsmanship - then I would want someone new fixing them.

All I can say is, I have cheap builder grade cabinets that are almost 20 years old. I painted them five years ago (turned out great) and mine today look almost the same as they did five years ago. I have a couple hairline cracks but nothing like you pictured - so little oh me thinks - a kitchen like yours should be holding up way better than my old builder grade cabinets I painted myself. You had every right to be upset too. Again, I'm happy things are getting fixed.

Post more pics when they get reinstalled :)