RTA (Ready to Assemble) Cabinets
I just closed on my first home less than two weeks ago. The seller was doing a lot of work on it but ran out of money, and it was sold as is, so there is currently no kitchen. I know that kitchen cabinets are some of the most expensive components of a renovation, and I'd like to not spend too much but don't want junk either. For reference, I have a more or less 10x10' L-shaped kitchen space to work with, and I'll be the only person living in the house once the work is done.
I want to buy stock cabinets to save some cash and since I don't need anything fancy, and I'm highly considering RTA cabinets since they are much cheaper and easier to ship than pre-assembled cabinets, and can be assembled on site. I'd rather pay my contractor to assemble them (or maybe even do it myself) than pay extra shipping costs, especially because from my experience working in transportation, most carriers doing residential deliveries won't bring the items into the house for liability purposes.
However, I also want cabinets made without thermofoil, particleboard, MDF, or HDF, which I'm aware limits my options and may increase costs. I have a pale yellow wall and I would consider cabinets in white, oak/"natural", and maybe off-white or even cinnamon. Of course I would get a sample door before buying a whole set. Here's the color of my wall and my ceramic tiles, for reference:
I got a kitchen design at the Home Depot and they quoted me over $9000 for stock all-wood cabinets whereas I could pay less than half of that if I were to get all-wood RTA cabinets. That quote doesn't include shipping, installation, appliances, or even countertops! Not to worry for the Home Depot, though. They'll still be getting my money for other materials.
Although I know that online stores sell sample doors, I'd rather buy a brand available at a local dealer. I've been to one showroom locally that sells Forevermark, Fabuwood, and Adornus, but the latter two brands must be requested unassembled. They also have Wellborn but I think those only come pre-assembled. I know that some Forevermark cabinets are made with MDF/HDF and some aren't.
Anyone know if these brands are good, or would suggest any others? I'll see if anywhere else in my area sells them. I know another showroom in my town sells J&K Cabinetry.
Comments (13)
larecoltante Z6b NoVa
4 years agoRelated Discussions
RTA (ready to assemble) vanities: any experience good, bad or ?
Comments (10)Thanks everyone. Well, I found out that J & K cabinets (a large RTA cabinet distributor) had a local dealer not too far from me, (Global Home Products in Beltsville, MD) so I called them and they actually had the size and color vanity I wanted in stock. The price was $199, and assembly was only $10, for an all wood, painted white shaker style vanity. Even the center panel on the doors was solid wood --a true reverse raised panel (almost every RTA cabinet seems to use MDF for the center panel!) The cheapest, similar, special order cabinet from Home Depot or Lowes would have been between $300-400 (American Woodmark or Kraftmaid, etc.) I checked with Barker cabinets (an American made semi-custom RTA cabinet) and they were quite expensive in comparison. When I got to the dealer, I was surprised to see what a large showroom they had and how busy they were, even on a weekday afternoon. I believe that all their cabinet lines were RTA, and they had very good prices. The display kitchens and vanities looked very nice. The place seemed to be run mainly by Chinese people, ( a little hard to understand their accents, but very nice and helpful) so I imagine they don't have any problems communicating directly with those factories that make their cabinets over in China if they need to! Anyway--I'm glad that I had them put the cabinet together, as when they opened the box there was some minor damage to the face frame part. So they used the face frame off the identical vanity that was on their showroom floor and were able to assemble my vanity. It does look gorgeous--esp. the doors. Even the back is solid plywood with wood bracing. I suppose that makes it more sturdy, but it will be more work for my husband to drill holes for the plumbing. Hope this helps someone else who might be wondering about RTA cabinets....See MoreAssemble Your own Cabinets
Comments (4)Because we were living in CA and remodeling in FL, we couldn't use a local custom guy, nor did we find what we wanted in the traditional cabinet companies (30" deep lower cabs with 27" Blum soft-close). And the Kitchens forum led us to Scherrs and we couldn't be happier. After reading all the nightmares on this forum, one of the best things about them is that they did all that KD stuff to ensure that cabinets wouldn't bang together and that the refrigerator doors would open all the way - in other words, they calculated all the spacing and fillers and stuff like that. We just sent them the overall layout, specs for each cabinet, and model numbers of the appliances we had chosen. They came back to us with beautiful 3D CAD drawings and super detailed instructions to put everything together. We did get the mixed-hardwood drawer boxes complete (it's an option to put them together yourself, but as I recall, it only saves you a few bucks and not worth the aggravation as I have no idea how to put dovetail pieces together). Even with shipping from ND to FL, it would have cost us twice as much to get the customized Omega cabinets, for example. I've been thinking about these guys because they were so great to work with and if you saw the national news last night, Minot is being evacuated for flooding. Here is a link that might be useful: Scherrs...See MoreCabinet Emergency!
Comments (21)To clarify on the timing: We have already started construction. Everything is framed, electrical is all updated, most of the plumbing is being finished up today.... The timeline we had set with the contractor had us completing everything mid- to late January. I know things happen, but so far aside from the cabinet issue everything is on schedule. So if we go with one of the cabinet options that is going to have 8+ weeks lead time not only will we be living without a kitchen for that much longer but we will also be putting our contractors in a tough position waiting around. I haven't asked them yet, but I'm assuming there is also a cost for a delay like that. We aren't trying to hit a particular date, and if we hadn't started construction already I'd have no problem delaying. We had made arrangements with the cabinetmaker who flaked months ago, and would have liked the chance to do the same with whoever we ultimately use. But the situation is what it is, so... I agree with all of your advice that it's better to wait a few more weeks for something that would make us happy than settle for something mediocre and fast or overpay for something quality and fast. Though I am also hoping to find an option that makes us happy and minimizes the wait a little bit. I love the options you guys have come up with so far - I will keep you updated on how they play out! For anyone else interested in the InnerMost option... They have slab doors and they have painted white doors, but they can't do painted slab doors (even though they do that exact door for Lowe's). So scratched off the list....See MoreRTA (Ready to Assemble) cabinets: imported vs made-in-USA
Comments (6)If budget is an issue, check out Habitat for Humanity Re-Stores and other salvage companies in your area. We have found some amazing stuff in like-new condition at those places. Particularly in the stores located near wealthier areas. It is definitely worth it to travel a bit to check the out. Even if you have to rent a small trailer or van to transport the items home, the savings could be totally worth the effort....See MoreUser
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoMichelle
4 years agolarecoltante Z6b NoVa
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoMichelle
4 years ago
iamtiramisu
4 years ago
salex
4 years agoartistsharonva
4 years ago
P McG
4 years agoMichelle
4 years agoP McG
4 years ago
RCKsinks Inc.