Louisiana Flood took my cabinets- help please

7 years ago

I have to replace 14' bottom run on one side and 10' on the other, plus a pantry. Uppers the same except for a 32" window. Galley kitchen. My former cabinets were custom knotty alder with Old Masters Dark Mahogany finish. We didn't have flood insurance. Please, before you consider me an idiot, know that our neighborhood hadn't ever flooded since it was built in the mid 70's. We were not in a flood zone.

Anyway it was only about 7 years ago when the great folks here helped me renovate that kitchen. I learned here about the microwave drawer that I adore. Appliances were saved thankfully. The cabinets could have been saved. We didn't have the help to do more than gut the sheet rock, and husband thought the cabinets would be fine if he just cut holes on the backs and put fans on them. Two weeks later we find he was wrong. Serv Pro came and measured too much moisture that had been there long enough for mold to set in, and we saw de lamination was occurring when we pulled them out. My granite was saved and hopefull can use it again.

Sorry this is so long! I just want to give you the perspective. We did get an SBA loan of $48k, and $15k from FEMA. That has to cover sheet rock, painting, trim and baseboards, new floors and cabinets. Living area is 1608. We are VERY blessed to be able to live in our travel trailer in our back yard!! It has electrical hookup and we can use the toilets in the house.

So I am going to have to do all new purchased cabinets. I'm hoping there is a company that has a wall oven cabinet where the microwave drawer will fit under the wall oven. It appears most that have a oven/micro cab have the micro on top. That won't work with the drawer.

All the salvaged furniture and appliances are in our shed. There is nowhere to store RTA cabinets nor can my husband do it for several reasons. We will have to go with a package where they keep the cabinets till they are ready to install. There are no custom cab makers available in the area at all. We will be very lucky to get a contractor who will even show up. Most don't even answer the phone or call back they are so swamped. Understandably they only want to work on insured homes, or people they know have the $$, and are telling them to just fix it at whatever price. They are not giving itemized estimates, just one number. I am not kidding. I understand they are thinking with over 100,000 homes and properties needing work, they will be very busy for the next couple of years, but then their work will likely drop off sharply, so they are making the money now. I can't complain, as businesses have been very generous. LensCrafters have me an employee discount for replacement glasses lost in the flood, and Flooret is sending 8 free samples of flooring to me.

Any suggestions of mid range cabinets lines to look at? Ones where I could perhaps have my oven configuration as I'd like?. Thanks for any help!

Featured Answer

amylachney

7 years ago

I know cliq studios delivers cabinets whole, and they cost about the same as what my cabinets from a local custom maker cost.

Prayers for you and all of the area affected! I am from Mandeville, with many friends who had relocated to the BR area and sustained damages. So sad!

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Comments (24)

Mary
Original Author
7 years ago
Oh, and the nearest IKEA is in Houston, 5 hours away.
homechef59
7 years ago
I know you are completely overwhelmed. It's hard to think clearly. Solve one problem at a time. Make a lot of lists. List will help with the confusion and disorganization that is rolling around your head right now. Remind yourself that it is just stuff. Take a deep breath. You are okay.

I suggest you go the RTA route. There are lots of ways to approach this. You could impose on a relative to store them in their garage for a few weeks. Or, you can hire a storage locker in another town. Put them together off site over a weekend. Hire a U-Haul to bring them to the site when needed. There are a lot of options on how you can get this done.

Solve one problem at a time. Make a lot of lists. It helps with the disorganization that is rolling around your head right now. Remind yourself that it is just stuff. You are okay.

We stored and put our RTA cabinets together inside the house. It's just not that hard. Hire a teenager for the weekend to help you shift things around. You can do this. One step at a time. It's going to be okay.
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Illhhi
7 years ago
Were the doors/drawers removed? Can they be reused?
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I feel your pain and anguish. My house went under water in the Houston flood in April and I am still living in the rv in the driveway. I lost pretty much everything but did have flood insurance of course it's not paying enough for everything but thank God we have that. I lost my kitchen cabinets too. There was no way to match the uppers and the quality was not great so we choose to do a full replacement. I used a cabinet company that my granite company sells in their store. I love them and he was able to get them to me with just a week notice. They do sell them RTA or they will install them I let them do it all and the price was still lower than any other quotes. I will recommend Matt at Cypress granite and tile he is wonderful to work with. You are iin for a long process. I have members of my family who lost their entire house, water over the roof and their farm buildings and tractors etc, they got the animals and people out. I have posted on here recently and have pictures of the cabinets if you want to see them. I am more than happy to help you in any way. I have been through exactly what you are starting to go through now. What area of Louisiana are you in?
Mary thanked ravencajun Zone 8b TX
jakuval
7 years ago
For the oven cabinet: Showplace (for sure) and likely Shiloh can configure that. Those are the two most reasonable national brands that I know of that offer significant modifications. With the amount of work you have to deal with I can't say if they will be in the budget.

I'd avoid storing the cabinets until ready to install. There is nothing to gain from that and it would simply cost extra. If you have a plan post it and I'll get you some likely pricing for you ( a range guessing at dealer markup-to get real cost based including delivery I need the zip code and CAN a tractor trailer make it safely to the residence?) Then at least you can have a starting point to see if they fit the bill. I'll just be fitting it in between so may take a week or two to put together. If you only have dimensions it will take longer but I'll get it done. I know SWP is distributed in LA, don't know how close to you they are.
Mary thanked jakuval
jhmarie
7 years ago
I have never been in your situations, so perhaps this is an unworkable plan, but I will throw it out anyway:)

First - what a difficult time for you! I agree to the above to take it one step at a time. There can be such a feeling of just wanting your life back that decisions can be rushed and the frustration overwhelming.

I suggest you consider putting in a simple kitchen with basic elements that will work till the present crisis is past and you can be sure of getting a reputable contractor. Start with having your floor and walls restored.

I recently put together a basement kitchenette for about $1200 (walls, plumbing and electrical already in place) I used salvaged cabinet (from my own garage - they are the original base cabinets of my home that I refinished) and my old sink removed when I replaced the one in my main kitchen this spring. You might be able to find cabinets at the Restore Habitat for Humanity store, but since many are in the same bind as you, they may not have much. You could also get a some basic base and upper cabinets from a home center store. The counters are stock home center counters at a cost of $230. The faucet is a Delta for $120. I would not normally use a home center faucet, but this will get minimal use and similar would work in a temporary kitchen. I made the shelves, but similar can be bought. The backsplash is beadboard wallpaper - easily removed down the road and $20 for the roll. My countertop guy charged me about $400 to set the cabinets and cut and install the countertop. I haven't got the plumbing bill for the sink install yet:)

French Country Cottage blog put together a guest kitchen also very inexpensively - less than $1000 a few years ago. Hers is very pretty!

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2012/09/building-vintage-farmhouse-kitchen.html

Mine is more rustic. There is a pantry cabinet built under the stairs and a nice size table but I am still working on that area of the basement. It also has no range since it cannot be vented:

My pics -work in progress: · More Info

My pics -work in progress: · More Info

You can give away or reuse elsewhere in your home the cabinets once you are in a position to get your really nice kitchen.
Mary thanked jhmarie
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
7 years ago
We have found that the habitat restore store a wonderful asset in our situation. We were limited to the fema insurance funds so on a budget. We got a LOT of stuff there including some very nice porcelain tile. Door knobs and electrical outlets and covers, bags of them for very cheap. Whole kitchen cabinets and countertops, sinks and toilets and faucets. Some of the stuff is brand new. I was just there today and they have a very lightly used Viking professional range and a brand new GE Monogram range with double ovens it was very large. Man I wish those had been there before I got mine. I know there is a store in Lake Charles not sure of the other locations. I also was just at my granite guys store and he said he would absolutely ship the cabinets to you in Louisiana.
Mary thanked ravencajun Zone 8b TX
Mary
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks to all of you for the suggestions and kind replies.

Jakuval I do have the original blueprints used by my cabinet maker as jpegs. I sent that to cliqcabinets and hope they can use them and come close. If sending you those would help I'll do it. No worries on when- all I've got is time! My zip is 70818. Baton Rouge LA.

I think we've pretty much decided the floor is going to be between LVP (Modin by Flooret) or stained concrete. The kitchen ceramic survived of course so that will stay.
jakuval
7 years ago
Yes post the jpegs here and I'll work on it.
Mary thanked jakuval
new-beginning
7 years ago
you might consider getting a POD to store your items in until you are ready to install/bring back in the house
Mary thanked new-beginning
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
7 years ago
You might want to go into your profile advanced settings and allow people to contact you through the private messages here. I have some information about help you might check out but I won't put their information on the site.
Mary thanked ravencajun Zone 8b TX
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
7 years ago
I have 3 mobile mini containers in the front yard storing the salvaged stuff, not sure what we will keep and what will go. Yes septic systems back up into the flood water and back up into the house through the bath tubs, toilets, sinks etc. Anything that possibly touched the water goes. I had clothes and fabric that the Rubbermaid tubs fell over and water got in them, I threw it all out. I could have washed it on sanitize but I wasn't going to try it.
Mary thanked ravencajun Zone 8b TX
Mary
Original Author
7 years ago
Ravencajun I think I changed my profile to allow for PMs. Thanks!

jakuval here are the photos
Mary
Original Author
7 years ago
Jhmarie, I love the rustic look of the photos - thanks for posting!
Mary
Original Author
7 years ago
Great news! I found a cabinet maker by total miracle, from MS. He gave me a very good quote of right at $11k for the same kitchen I had before. I am so thankful. Waiting to hear if that includes install but it normally does. My former cabinet maker found him for me.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
7 years ago
Awesome!
Mary
Original Author
7 years ago
He didn't think he could find anyone that did frameless. The few we had locally are either swamped or dealing with their own issues. And, it is apparently a dying art. Like so much other hand crafting is....
paigect
7 years ago
Hi Mary, So sorry to hear of your situation. Glad you found a cabinetmaker, and that is a reasonable price!
cpartist
7 years ago
So sorry to hear about your losses. The devastation there is horrible. Also no one thinks you're an idiot for not having flood insurance. It's a story we've heard over and over on the news about how so many areas that were hit were not in flood zones.

I hope it all works out with the cabinet maker. I wish you only the best.
Pennie Heath
7 years ago
I'm so sorry, bless your heart.
esbordelon
7 years ago
Mary, I'm in a very similar situation as you. I live in Denham Springs and our home was flooded as well. I'm trying to find a custom cabinet maker that isn't three months out. Would you mind sending me the information on whom you used out of Mississippi? It's getting to the point where cabinets will be holding us up as we just are about done with taping and floating our Sheetrock. Any help you could provide would be great. And thanks for this original post as it has been very helpful!

Louisiana Flood took my cabinets- help please

amylachney

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