I recently had a gray, distressed wood cabinet delivered from Wayfair, and they did the same thing with black filler.

WTH????  Couldn't they have "buffed"? it in to make it less noticable?

Ummm wtf. Are they being painted? If not, I can't imagine anyone who isn't in the throes of drug addiction or mental illness thinking that is acceptable. I mean that seriously. It looks like someone smeared peanut butter on these cabinets.

Wonder when "custom" became synonymous with "ugly up / just for you".

Do over.

This time? Sit him down in person, explain.........which is a bit hard to believe you or anyone did the first time?

No technician is EVER your designer. Failure to convey every single detail, will lead someone to assume....or decide, or . You will get their "vision", not yours. His vision leaves much to be desired.

That is HORRIBLE and completely unacceptable. Agree with Jan -- a do-over. At his expense.

They are not being painted. I thought maybe if the knots were rough that he would at the very worst fill them with clear apoxy but the knots add to the beauty imo. i am just sick over it.

Cabinet makers also do that in my area. I don't understand why since it looks awful. I know someone with this and it was also like that on their end panels which were veneer. One spot was so large and in such a prominent place I would have raised a fuss but they didn't notice/care so I didn't say anything.

A "custom guy" is often in the dark ages. Doesn't mean he isn't a craftsman.

The point?

Unless you were buying hickory "select".......unless you were using a veneer , unless anything, really -

attend to every possible detail.

So..........don't get mad here. You're "sick over it" and we all get that. However ? This is on both of you. He didn't ask, and you did not tell. Sucks, huh?

Gosh it would never occur to me that you would have to say not to do this ahead of time - ugh so sorry this happened

Knots are typically filled in cabinets. It would be rare and likely expensive to leave unfilled knots in cabinets.

Most knots are filled with black epoxy. Clear will not look any better than this. Is that the finished product or is this before finishing? What exactly is the filler?

I'd be disappointed too. I always thought dark knots were supposed to be filled with dark material so it blends in. I suppose it might be different if it looked like round knots sometimes do with a light center- but that is for sure not that kind of knot.

https://maconhardwood.com/support/wood-flooring-grades/hickory-grades

Hickory like all woods is purchased by 'grade'. The better the grade the more it costs. Knots are prevalent in a cheaper grade of wood.

“Hickory like all woods is purchased by 'grade'. The better the grade the more it costs. Knots are prevalent in a cheaper grade of wood.”

Flooring grades are different than hardwood grades, which are different from plywood/veneer grades. Hardwood and softwood furniture grades are FAS, F1S, and select. Select and better would be suitable for making clear cabinets. There are three common grades that could also be used for cabinets without knots but with significantly more waste.

In hickory cabinets the knots are usually intentional. It is hard to figure out scope in these pictures but this is just not a really attractive piece of wood for other reasons, but without a larger perspective it is difficult to comment.

Yes thats the finished product, i hand picked the wood from the amish. i wanted some knots to go with my rustic home not just clear hickory. i believe its just regular wood filler. I will get a photo of the whole kitchen. looks like polka dots 😕 i have seen the filler used on wood floors. never non-painted cabinets

Definitely in the "what were they thinking" category. An Amish cabinetmaker helps to explain, he gave you a functional solution to a problem. Wood finishing 101 would dictate that you match the filler to the surrounding color (filling knots is certainly the norm except in more "artistic" pieces), but you got whatever filler was sitting on the shelf. It would not have occurred to me to specify the fill color, but I suspect that a good look at this persons previous work would have revealed the need. Probably isn't the first time he's donethis. It does look like peanut butter.

Drill it out and redo with a black epoxy.

Does anyone know if sanding off the varnish and staining the filler would work?

OOOf. no idea on answer to your question. we recently recieved custom made amish hutch and it was very dark brown wood filler in areas of the oak (we did not pay for higher grade although did not fully understand what this would mean - understand we should have asked whoops!). It's too dark for the surrounding wood, but our color would look great in yours! :)

I had custom hickory cabinets in a one of my homes and the knots were not filled. Seems reasonable that an experienced wood worker would ask for preference if thinking of doing this. I also find funny because custom guys generally like the look of wood and wouldn't like this look. Best of luck. Hopefully he will fix it, but also remember the kitchen is a whole, not one spot...but I get it.

If knots are a feature of the wood naturally, that the homeowner was aware of, and specifically choose, then asking how a visible and desired knot would be handled/finished by the cabinet maker is reasonable. It is also reasonable that a cabinet maker would mention to his client how/the process in which he finishes wood with irregularities such as knots. Asking questions is the buyers job, not asking isn’t a free pass.

But to the OP, I’d get some wood filler, the brand the maker used, and play around with stain to see if you could live with the outcome, because I’d guess what the cabinetmaker sees as a good match or solution and what you see will be a little different.

If she chose wood with knots, WHY would she ask the cabinet maker if/how he would fill the knots? That's crazy! Apparently, she wanted the knots. It is not reasonable to expect her to know they would be filled at all. The expectation would be that the pro would create cabinets from that wood and if there was an unacceptable knot, he'd work around it, reject that piece of wood or at least consult with his customer about options.

Yes!! IT DOES suck! But it happens all the time.

The fact that you definitely need conversations with all involved that may seem so obvious as to be insulting to that tech? Yes.....you have to do that.

So as we ask who on earth would putty those knots to total ugliness? Someone did. That is exactly the point behind it s.u.ck.s.

Or you can skip the conversation and expect.....the UNEXPECTED. Yes, Olychick, the unexpected trail of tears sickening cabinet fronts.

Sorry. Show and tell. All involved.

Poster above ........

"Gosh it would never occur to me that you would have to say not to do this ahead of time -"

I feel the pain. But it occurred to him to FILL the darn things: ) S*#@* absolutely happens

To answer the staining filler question NO it will not take stain. Drilling out/black epoxy is the easiest fix. That or have the maker start over. The divots should not have been left in cabinetry, so he SHOULD have asked. Perhaps he decided not to have that argument and just 'fixed' the issue. Sadly he's color blind.

This is not on the OP. It is not the OP's responsibility to learn and explain the processes that any competent professional should know. Likewise, you don't need to understand hardwood, plywood, and veneer grading systems to order cabinets.

I understand the sentiment but it is unrealistic. I don't mean to call anyone out here, but the fact that some people think the knot shouldn't be filled before they even know what they are looking at is a great example of the problem. What is this? Is this a solid wood piece, a veneer, or a plywood? You can't leave a hole unfilled in plywood or veneer. On solid wood pieces knots will compromise the finish, which is why they are typically filled with epoxy. The epoxy literally creates a mechanical bond with the surrounding wood to keep seasonal expansion from compromising the finish. Wood filler doesn't do that so well.

It doesn't appear to be stainable wood filler to me, but it could be. I need a bigger picture or more information before I really know what to advise. If we are looking at a veneer or plywood then there is no harm in having the cabinetmaker attempt to color it... I would try to dye it.

Kgrand - I’m sorry this has happened to you…And for the mean spirited responses saying it sucks you should have asked, or you should have known. Well, maybe ultimately it will be your “fault” but when a person spends a lot of money and gets an unexpected result, a simple “I’m sorry this happened and here’s a suggestion” would be nice. And it does look like many people have tried to help. I made bad mistakes because I didn’t know what to ask. I didn’t even know I needed to ask!! That’s the thing. You don’t know what you don’t know. Anyway, I am sorry this happened and hope you can find a solution.

I do not like hickory but to me the choice is because of how it looks so to do what he did is beyond horrible . I agree with Jan that in my experience you treat every person who does work as if they are a bit stupid so explain every single thing and get it in writing or live to regret it .Now hopefully he can either fix this or it is a do over and no more money paid until you get what you want

I would have him do one to see how staining will look then go from there.

The idea that a consumer is going to inform themselves enough to guide my more than 30 years of woodworking is beyond preposterous. Most here can't tell a knot from a pitch pocket from decay, and you certainly are not going to be able to tell me how to deal with it.

One of the reasons that I asked for perspective and more information, is because I am not sure what the cabinetmaker actually did. This is what rustic hickory sheet goods look like...

Typically in hickory the pitch pockets are brown and the knots are matched to sapwood. How decay is handled is a more difficult discussion and it depends on the overall project and the prevalence of decay defects in the project. If there is only one spot like this I too would be hesitant to blacken it. However, if there are plenty of similar character marks then I would likely blacken all of them. Treating this as a knot rather than a pitch pocket seems a bit ridiculous to me, but again... we don't really have perspective.

What does the entire door look like? What does the entire kitchen look like? How were other defects handled?

Did they give you a sample door before ordering? And if so, does your order / contract specify the same type of wood and finish that you saw with the sample? I'm hoping that the answers are yes, and that you can show the contract to them and tell them that's what you ordered and what you expected.

ETA I'm sorry this happened to you. As non-professionals, most of us (inc. me) don't know what we don't know, so we don't know what to ask for.

Kgrand - I should have not used the words your “fault.” It’s probably ultimately your problem, but not fault. Sorry I misspoke.

I did see a test door. this is my butlers pantry. it did not have any fill. i am going to visit the cabinet maker tomorrow to see what the stained filler looks like. i will attach photos of that and the whole kitchen and other filled knots. I really appreciate everyones comments and you all taking the time to help me

The knots in my hickory flooring were filled with dark epoxy. I should have cleaned the floors prior to taking the close-up photo, but that is one of the things I adore about hickory is that dirt and scratches are camoflagued.

Cabinet maker was able to chisel the filler out of the knots. what is the best thing to use to fill in the knots? epoxy? wood filler?

Didn't he accidently damage the door, too ?

Did you ask him how to best get the look you’re after? I know he messed this up, but the cabinets look beautiful, so he must know what he’s doing. Now that you know what you don’t want, perhaps have a conversation with him about how best to fix it beyond the removal of the filler.

He said that he wasnt sure if wood filler or epoxy was better. he may have slightly damaged the drawer front, im not sure, i didnt notice it. i think hes afraid to do anything without my 100% approval. This is the drawer before the filler was removed. what color do i want? walnut or ebony?

Is this the only one he did that to? Why doesn’t he just make you a new piece on that drawer front? I hope someone with woodworking experience can help with color.

Epoxy is definitely the industry standard, it needs to be a tintable liquid epoxy. I use West systems 105 with either a 205 (fast) or 206 (slow) hardener and Transtint dyes. Total Boat epoxy is also good. Both can be ordered on Amazon and can last several years.

Typically this is done earlier in the process because the dye will stain the wood, so most will apply the epoxy before dimensioning the boards. There are two options for applying epoxy at this stage: (1) use a syringe and take your time, or (2) tape off the area and use an X-acto knife to expose the areas you want to epoxy.

If he uses the Transtint dye it will likely color any small bits if wood filler that gets left.

Good luck

Frankly if all the knots look like the drawer you posted before removing the filler I would leave it as it sure looks like he did a coloured filler and tried to make them look good. I am not sure if all this was really an issue?