Deceptive cabinet maker. Help me determine if this is MDF
ajrmcr
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
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ajrmcr
6 years agoRelated Discussions
let's pretend...$ not a factor! cabinetry-mdf/plywood?!? help!
Comments (7)Money is no object? Easy--solid wood custom cabinets. We were fortunate enough to have them in our last house & when I say solid wood, I mean they took a slab of clear maple and routed the design out of it and put in on hinges & attached it to the solid maple frame. Then they used solid wood slabs for the shelves inside. Those cabinets will likely outlast the rest of the house. Unfortunately, I don't know where that cabinet maker has gone--that was 12 years ago. Now we're in your boat with our new build and the cabinet confusion. Features I would want: painted cabinets with rubbed edges & a glaze, wall cabinets height to the ceiling, accent glass cabinets with lights, custom hood, giant island, slide out shelves in the cabinets, full height pullout trash cabinet, soft close drawers & doors, dove tail drawers, ornamental pulls, ornate corbels, organizers in the drawers, plug mold, pull out hampers in the laundry, cubbies with doors for kid's coats, bookbags, etc. As far as the cabinet maker doing the install--if the cabinet maker will do the install, I'd go that route. Some cabinet places call themselves custom, when they're really not--they sometimes do a semi-custom job or they consider sitting down with you & planning your layout with you to be the 'custom' part and the cabinets are standard sizes made in a factory somewhere else owned by someone other than the cabinet guy you're dealing with. If you find yourself with the semi-custom guy, I'd probably still use him. If they're made in a factory and the design was the custom part then I wouldn't think it would matter. I will point out that some cabinet dealers give you a break on the materials price if they install. I would definitely check out all my options in this respect. Think about the rooms the cabinets are going in. Do you need fancy cabinetry that matches the kitchen cabinetry in the laundry room or will a similar looking MDF cabinet do? How fancy do the kids' bath cabinets need to be? Because cost almost always plays a factor, I would spend the money in the areas that you live in the most. Check out the link below to another GW posting on the best advice someone had collected from the site. There are many references to cabinetry. Hope this helps! :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Some of the best advice from the braintrust on this forum...See MoreHelp! Wood vs MDF cabs!
Comments (27)aklvdb, yes we are also in MB (bit of a shocker waking up to -30 again this morning). We have kitchen craft cabs and I'll tell you what I know, but it is horribly out of date since we did our kitchen 8 years ago. Kitchen Craft was smaller company and dealt with a lot of small local contractors. They had a good product with great quality control. Right around when we did our kitchen, they were expanding to deal with big building companies and starting to go big and bulk. They started to have quality control problems just because they were expanding so fast. I don't know how those problems were resolved as we haven't dealt with our contractor (he had been using KC for years and his wife was a KC designer/sales). When we bought ours, we weren't even shown MDF as an option (that I remember). We were told maple was a great paintable wood and we've been very happy. When I was looking for bathroom cabs about 5 years ago, I looked at many companies including Jake Klassen and noticed a few MDF doors (Klassen told me that was all they would do for the type of door I wanted). I can't remember which showroom it was, but I remember seeing MDF doors with the edges smushed and crushed. I ended up having a local carpenter make my bathroom cabinets - they were cheaper and are a work of art. No regrets there. Our house is over 100 years old and my bias is to real anything. Much of our furnishings are antique wood and my soft furniture is all covered in linen or cotton. I would rather live with a crack in real wood than have perfect MDF. I completely admit that prejudice. You have to decide yourself what is important to you....See MoreHelp Interviewing Cabinet Makers?
Comments (9)I agree about trusting your gut. Ask lots of questions during your first meeting. Ask to see examples of work, and they should be willing to take you through their shop. Be sure the person you choose is open to what YOU want as far as the overall kitchen design and look you want for your kitchen. I searched for two solid years before I found a wonderful custom kitchen and bath business to make my cabinetry. My kitchen is getting installed next week. One of my requirements were for solid American made birch cabinet boxes.......actually I wanted all the materials to be American materials, and they are. American birch is stamped as such so that is one way to be sure you're getting it, if that is what you want. It is slightly more expensive, but we didn't find it prohibitive. We went with Conestoga doors since they have a really nice finish and quality construction, (they also use the least toxic finish available) but the boxes have all been hand made in their shop. They are perfect....and they did not use expensive equipment to make them. They did them the old fashioned way with a draftsman table, etc. Both framed and frameless are both strong if constructed correctly. One of the hardest parts during my search was finding someone to help design my kitchen the way I wanted it, including a large "freestanding" vintage style sink, and not imposing what I call the cookie cutter lawyer office look cabinetry. (This statement is not meant to insult anyone). It's all in what will make you smile every day of your life in that kitchen, and not what someone else thinks you should have. I was fortunate to have found the people I did, as they have years of experience working on restorations of vintage homes, and Jan is also an artist with a nice, easy going personality. Take your time and do your homework. It's a long term investment and don't settle for less than you want. Ity helps if you write up a list of questions to take to your first meeting. It's easy to forget to ask about something. When you find the right person, you will know it immediately. Be sure that the business is also not in financial trouble before making a deposit. The subtle signs are sometimes there during conversation. A shop that is too clean, no one around working (but with the excuse they have the day off), mergers with other companies, things said during conversation such as not being able to afford eating out, etc., can be red flags. Again, trust your gut. Someone that takes a few weeks to bother getting back to you after your meeting is not a good bet either....See MoreWarning about GE Cafe Refrigerator deceptive advertising
Comments (39)Ok, so all of you who are on this thread who actually OWN a GE Cafe Fridge---how are you liking it (other than the fit!) Do you have the ice and water outside? Does the icemaker still work, as I know that is a known issue with just about all french door fridges when the ice is made up in the fridge area, not down in the freezer. We are looking at a full-size (not counter depth) GE Cafe Fridge. We do want the water and ice in the door for convenience. Are compressors still working? Have they frozen up? I worry about them dumping water on my new hardwood floors, since I have never had hardwoods in a kitchen before! It seems not many fridges have great reviews if you don't want to spend your life savings on one so trying to find the best of the bunch. Nothing I hate worse than a fridge that doesn't run and trying to get all your food in coolers until you can get it fixed or replaced! Advice and reviews on these would be appreciated! Thanks!...See Moreajrmcr
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