My concern is you know what the genuine highlighted finish from Crystal looks like. At most you will get a sample door done by the "craftsman". If you like it you can take the chance that the rest will turn out the same. Right now someone is eating two of the incorrect cabinets if you stop and return the rest and wait for the correct cabinets. If you agree to have all these cabinets altered onsite and you don't like the way they look you don't really have any recourse because you agreed to it.

They are already balking about doing something about ordering the wrong cabinets to some extent. Wait and see how cooperative they will be if you are not happy with the finish result.

I would also expect that altering the finish to such an extent will void the warranty? You will have to check.

Without pictures of what you ordered and what you got, it's hard to know whether you have a happy accident or a disaster in the making.

Some people on Houzz are very anti-glaze, saying that it makes the cabinets look dirty. In some colors, that is true. So it could be a happy accident that you didn't get what you ordered.

I would be worried about their master craftsman applying the glaze. it doesn't seem like it can be done as well as it would be in the factory. What kind of warranty on the finish will you have, and from whom? It won't be the cabinet manufacturer any more, because it's not the finish they put on the cabinet.

I think you have to make a hard decision: are willing to take the 10 week delay that comes with the glaze you want, or are you willing to take a hefty discount to install what was delivered?

Please post pictures of what you have. You might have something that is beautiful, or maybe even better than what you had imagined. It could just be the emotions of dealing with "wrong" that are keeping you from seeing that.

I agree, it's possible that the plain finish is fine, just different from what you originally wanted. I would probably consider that before having someone try to glaze them onsite.

Also ten weeks is a long time now but what is it to the twenty years you may have this kitchen.

Post photos of what you received vs what you thought you wanted. Include floor and counter too in the photos.

In general, glaze is dated, but not seeing what you chose, it may not be the case. If it’s glaze on stain, then that can be beautiful and I would think it would be fine to have a truly experienced craftsman apply it. However, it may void any cabinet warranty you have. If it’s glaze on paint, then I would rethink it and be happy for the mistake.

And what is that field applied finish going to look like in 2 years, 5 years? I would have very serious qualms about how well a glaze layered over factory finish is going to bond to the finish and how well it will survive being in a kitchen and the need for regular cleaning. (For those reasons, I would have avoided a glaze in the first place.)

Which makes this a happy accident with the added bonus that you should be able to negotiate a significant discount IF you can live with what was delivered.

In my admittedly limited experience, the wait for replacement cabinets due to defects and mistakes on the part of the GC or manufacturer is far shorter than the time it takes to receive the initial order.

And honestly, I would not want my family/pets/plants exposed to the chemicals in those finishes.

You deserve what you paid for-you traded your time/life/other opportunities to earn the funds for the cabinets. I agree with Susie, this might also void your warranty. So if the on-site fix actually fails, you might have not further recourse. I'm sorry that you are in this situation. It will work out!

The biggest problem is that this type of thing will typically void the warranty, so if that is the case, you should still insist on a good discount.

What is the actual coating? Pictures of what you have versus what you are trying to achieve would be helpful.

Despite popular belief, there really isn’t a significant quality advantage to shop applied coatings, largely it is just a lot easier for cabinetmakers. However, because most coatings are designed to be sprayed in a cabinetmaker’s shop, they are usually much more toxic than you would want sprayed in an occupied home. If you can provide the actual product they are using, I would be happy to give an opinion.

Agree w @bry911 "there isn't a significant quality advantage"

Some of their special finishes are brushed/rubbed on per their site.

With a factory product, some instruction and onsite sampling, a good artist/painter should be able to get this.

If you want to that route, have him take a door to the shop and produce a finished sample. If you approve, I would have them take everything to the cabinetmakers shop and finish there.

Have the master craftsman prepare a sample for your approval please.

Wouldn't a glaze usually go on and then some sealant on top of this? A clear coat?

I am pretty sure I would not want THAT dont on site.

I would get a sample and then try wiping it down / off, etc - torture it for a while and see if it holds up.

Forget this 'fix'. This type of finish is art. The level of skill is what you pay more for. The artist is at the Crystal factory. If you can be happy with the cabinets 'as is' You can offer to take them with a price refund from the contractor of 90% of what he'll pay to replace them.

I'd wait the 10 weeks and get the art work you can enjoy for many years to come.

The OP noted, "It's essentially a glaze that creates a completely different color (and loads of depth)."

It sounds like the OP is referring to a glaze coat, which this community often refers to as a toner coating. This is a small amount of a colorant added to the top coat that is usually applied to add depth. When done well it can create really interesting color effects.

It can typically be applied as a final coating and doesn't usually need to be top-coated. However, the OP needs to contact the manufacturer about how this will affect the warranty. If this voids the entire warranty then I would only do it if offered a pretty significant discount. If it only voids the coating warranty then I would still want some discount but maybe not as much. If the manufacturer is willing to stand behind the coating still (which I doubt) then I wouldn't have a problem with it so long as the sprayer is decent.

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ETA: As a clarification, spraying a toner coating takes a steady hand and the knowledge to set up the equipment appropriately, but it is not really that difficult.

I would return them and get what you paid for. The delay stinks, but 3 months from now you will be happy you waited.

I'd like to add. A skilled craftsman with a specific paint company's product can be a novice with another line of product. The spray equipment, pressure settings and spray booth environment are also unique. How those interact with the product is what makes the Crystal craftsman an expert at his location. No one local will match him without a learning curve you won't have.

Following

OP here. Thank you all so much for your insight. The correct cabinets are Alder with Toasted Rye stain with Brown Highlights.

What we got was Alder with Toasted Rye. We are missing the brown highlights. Without them, the finish looks like a reddish, flat stain. With them, the color is a gorgeous deep brown. I'll see if I can find pics.

Here you go...

I don't see how they can apply the glaze on top of those cabinets without sanding them? I would think the final coat to protect the cabinets is normally put on AFTER the glaze.

Hopefully some woodworkers can confirm or tell me I'm wrong.

I am sorry for being a broken record, but this does look like a toner coat, although it may be a rubbed out "flooded" coat, it really doesn't look like highlights so if it is some type of hand rubbed coating, they certainly let it dry a lot before rubbing it out. Toner is just paint, it isn't super special and it isn't super hard to do... it is just paint. Anyone who can evenly spray paint, can spray toner. Paint has a lot of pigment in order to achieve opacity and toner has little pigment in order to limit opacity... that is it.

Without knowing what product they are using it is impossible to know whether or not it needs a top coat, but most modern industrial coatings don't require an additional top coat over a tinted top coat. What do people think white top coat is? It is literally just top coat with color added (usually titanium dioxide). Most modern coatings will crosslink fine with a rather significant amount of color added to them and so it is going to be just as durable as any painted top coat is.

On some items, such as exterior doors and table tops, many let the tinted top coat partially cure and add another top coat to it that doesn't "melt in" to the tinted coating. This gives you a scratch coating that is designed to take scratches without scratching through the color coating, but the effectiveness of that is debatable and really only needed for things like scratches from moving plates and glasses around a table. Most things that will scratch a top coat are going to scratch through all coatings.

And again with the broken record... the main problem for the OP is not the quality of the coating but what will happen with the warranty. I would be amazed if the cabinet company will stand behind their factory coating after someone sprays a tinted top coat over it. Coating problems are not so rare that the factory warranty doesn't add value so even if the coating is 100% as durable and 100% as good there is still the loss of value that comes from the assurance of the coating warranty. I understand saving time but unless someone out there is willing to match the entire cabinet company warranty then there needs to be a cash kicker in this deal.

@Nova 2020 Have you called Crystal and asked them if this is doable? That's where I would start.

@cheri127 Yep. We're reaching out to Crystal. Wanted to first get a sense of what to ask. We're new to this.

@bry911 Thank you! I so appreciate your insight - You're not being a broken record at all. I am very concerned about warranty, and durability. The product they're using is the actual Crystal product itself.

At the end of the day, the Current line from Crystal is a semi-custom line. This puts it at roughly $400 per LF - and that's before the contractor markup. So it isn't a cheap investment. Warranty matters. Getting exactly what we wanted matters. Still having exactly what we wanted 5 years from now also matters. Not killing ourselves, our family and our pets with noxious fumes also matters.