I'm guessing that nobody here has experience with Parker House. :) I was also looking at the Ethan Allen Traveller media center (in white). It is somewhat similar to the set I found on Wayfair, but 3x the price. I've never purchased furniture from Ethan Allen and I wonder if I'm really paying for the name. (I purchased a dining table from Pottery Barn and have been disappointed. The quality did not match the price! So that is what is causing my hesitation with EA and making me look at Wayfair.) I'd love to get your thoughts on either set. Here is a link that might be useful: Ethan Allen

Hi, Your post is great. I am seriously considering using Barker. If I do end up going with RTA, I will definitely measure the height/width of every single cabinet as soon as they arrive. I can start planning the inspection early. :) That means clearing the living room or something. Yes, remodeling = problems. All those remodeling shows on TV make it look fun, but that's fantasy. :) I had bathroom cabinets done. I bought them at a local kitchen showroom that ordered them from a company in another state. They sat in my house (in boxes) for months while other work was completed in the bathroom. The day they were finally installed: 1) The linen closet door was missing; Oops... it was sitting in their warehouse; 2) The installer messed up two doors when he put the handles on; they were crooked. When he straightened them, the original holes were visible (image of me smacking my forehead). They ordered new ones... that took like 6 weeks. When the 2 new doors were delivered, the installer did not bring the linen closet door. I called to remind them of that. The answer was, "Huh? What door?" They searched the warehouse, but could not find it anywhere...and THEN the manufacturer could not find my order to make a new one (it has been too long for me to remember why...), so the local kitchen dealer had to pay a local cabinet maker to make a new door (and it was gorgeous - the finish was slightly nicer than that of the rest of the cabinets). I'd love to know who this local guy is, because I'd hire him. LOL. I only did a vanity and a linen closet, but they were very expensive cabinets, They were built perfectly. That was my first project... many other things went wrong in that bathroom. It put me into the mindset of "problem prevention" with subsequent projects. I try very hard to ask a million questions and take measures to prevent problems, but it's impossible. I don't have a crystal ball. Just about everything I've had done after that has had issues, too... :( The important part, as others have commented, is how the contractor corrects the problem. The only thing I would have done differently today would be: Drive to the kitchen showroom myself on day one and say, "Please give me my door." Still wondering how a door disappeared, and what good it did anyone. :) Did it accidentally end up in the trash? Did someone later find it, take it home, and make a tabletop out of it? :) My only request: Could you please post photos of your beautiful Barker kitchen? :) Thanks!

I used to work for CTG in kitchen design sales and I would not use them unless it is a small project like a vanity or something simple. They are RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets and are similar quality-wise to others on the market, but overpriced compared to others. Customer service has improved in 2023 but has a LONG way to go. We were told they come from Vietnam or Malaysia. Some companies get them from China and send them to Vietnam and Malaysia to be packaged so they can avoid the Chinese tariffs. I don’t know if this is the case with CTG but can tell you the owner used to own Lumber Liquidators and had to sell it after getting into major hot water years ago. (Check out the old 60 Minutes investigation on YouTube with Anderson Cooper) The one thing I will suggest is do not buy anything that does not have plywood boxes (the sides and back of the cabinet) and at least CTG does use plywood. Many cabinets out there have particle wood boxes which are horrible quality. It could be called MDF or other names but if it is not specifically called plywood, then it is not. They may look gorgeous but if the box gets wet (from a leak etc) it will warp from expansion and contraction and cannot be fixed. A great indicator of particle board boxes is the pricing. If it is considerably less than a plywood box cabinet, it is likely particle board. This is the case with IKEA. They look fantastic but are sub-par quality wise. If you want quality cabinets they will come with a higher price tag no matter where you get them from. In cabinets the old saying is true: you really do get what you pay for.

Just to be fair, I am not sure that this is a gimmick so much as a niche created by the market. They are essentially selling transparency in an industry that is notoriously opaque. How many threads have we seen about surprise charges and questionable markups? The real meat of this system is that they tell you the builder's profit upfront and they don't increase that amount. They don't add the builder's percentage to materials, they don't charge for change orders, etc. The profit they reveal upfront is their total job profit. The rest seems like a typical cost plus arrangement. Just because they are letting you pick subs doesn't mean they abandon you during that process. I mean with a competitive bidding cost plus contract you do that anyway. Control over subs is why cost plus started in the first place, to decorrelate high profit and low quality. ---- Having said all that, the real value of transparency is questionable. In the end, the contractor has to make his living and the quality of that living is still largely set by the market. So the builder is just allocating profit in a different way and probably asking a small premium for transparency. Let's put it like this. Suppose two people are building the exact same house. One person is led to believe the house will cost $225,000 but after change orders and upgrades actually spends $300,000. The other person is told $325,000 but actually only spends $320,000. It is very likely that the latter will be happier with the builder than the former, but in the end they still paid more for the same house.