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#1
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
Finally going to re-do my kitchen, but the choices and information is
overwhelming. I'm trying to avoid dealing with Home Depot and Lowes. From what I'm reading in the forums they have a poor record. Although I might still get a ballpark curiosity quote from them. I've had one quote from Sears so far for $13K, would have been $12k if we went to contract that day for a 9x11 galley kitchen, corian counter, no fancy cabs . I'm glad we didn't sign up. It was our first visit, and we knew nothing. Not saying they're bad, I just have lots more questions now then I did that night. In any event, as I'm trying to work with local companies, my problem is comparing apples to apples with the different lines they carry. Some do carry the KraftMaid and Merrilat. Others have Aristocraft, Brandom, CustomCraft, UltraCraft, Shiloh, and Medallion. I don't know any thing about these lines (not that I know anything about the others either), or how to compare them. I can't seem to locate anything on most of them. Also if, a company doesn't carry the standard big guns like KraftMaid etc., does that mean anything? I just want a decent cabinet, not top of the line. The kids are grown, so no-one is running into them, slamming or swinging from them. And the way I see it, my cheap builder-supplied ones have held up fine for 10 years (they're just ugly as heck), so anything I get should be a lot better. But I still don't want to get poor quality. Can anyone help me in comparing the quotes when they come in, and quality, what to look for etc. And if I do get a quote from Lowes or HD, any suggestions on their products to compare with. Also, after reading some comments, I decided to get a quote from a local custom-cabinet guy next week. From what I understand it may not be as expensive as I thought it would be. But, besides knowing he is listed with NKBA--which is how I found him-- I know nothing about his work. There is no show room to go in and push and pull drawers, see work etc. Any advice on this avenue would be much appreciated. I don't know many people who have re-done their kitchen using anyone but Lowe's and HD so I'm searching without recommendations. Deborah |
#2
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
wrote in message
ups.com... Finally going to re-do my kitchen, but the choices and information is overwhelming. I'm trying to avoid dealing with Home Depot and Lowes. From what I'm reading in the forums they have a poor record. Although I might still get a ballpark curiosity quote from them. I've had one quote from Sears so far for $13K, would have been $12k if we went to contract that day for a 9x11 galley kitchen, corian counter, no fancy cabs . I'm glad we didn't sign up. It was our first visit, and we knew nothing. Not saying they're bad, I just have lots more questions now then I did that night. In any event, as I'm trying to work with local companies, my problem is comparing apples to apples with the different lines they carry. Some do carry the KraftMaid and Merrilat. Others have Aristocraft, Brandom, CustomCraft, UltraCraft, Shiloh, and Medallion. I don't know any thing about these lines (not that I know anything about the others either), or how to compare them. I can't seem to locate anything on most of them. Also if, a company doesn't carry the standard big guns like KraftMaid etc., does that mean anything? I just want a decent cabinet, not top of the line. The kids are grown, so no-one is running into them, slamming or swinging from them. And the way I see it, my cheap builder-supplied ones have held up fine for 10 years (they're just ugly as heck), so anything I get should be a lot better. But I still don't want to get poor quality. Can anyone help me in comparing the quotes when they come in, and quality, what to look for etc. And if I do get a quote from Lowes or HD, any suggestions on their products to compare with. Also, after reading some comments, I decided to get a quote from a local custom-cabinet guy next week. From what I understand it may not be as expensive as I thought it would be. But, besides knowing he is listed with NKBA--which is how I found him-- I know nothing about his work. There is no show room to go in and push and pull drawers, see work etc. Any advice on this avenue would be much appreciated. I don't know many people who have re-done their kitchen using anyone but Lowe's and HD so I'm searching without recommendations. Deborah The "today only" $12k pricing will be good if you decide to call them back-- in fact, offer them $10.5 and they'll counter with $11. Take that-- if they'll agree to throw in a few of the ups/extras they tried to talk you into for an additions $2k ;-) Bob |
#3
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
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#4
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
Yet another reason to never ever ever ever do business with Sears, they
are the slimiest of the slime. People I know were quoted $8000 to put new cabinet faces on 20 ilnear feet of cabinetry. They could have replaced the cabinets twice for that much. Sears sucks. |
#5
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
SEARS shoul;d be renamed RIP OFF.
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#6
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
Our redo included cabinets from Kitchen Craft selected by a
"Certified" Kitchen Designer. Solid Hard Maple doors & drawer fronts, Aspen drawer insides and particle board carcases with plastic laminate for exposed surfaces. Particle board was the LAST thing I wanted and when my wife commented about that the Designer responded "Well it is high quality particle board" whatever that means. The water line for the refrigerator sprung a small leak, thankfully small and we spotted it fairly soon, and the cabinet side started to swell from moisture. We sold the house after 5 years with no other problems and I'm still thankful the dishwasher didn't have a problem. There was granite on top of the cabinet where the dishwasher was. I would have called the Designer "Certifiable" as the sink was under mount and the label on it said it was top mount and another model should be selected for under mount. Microwave had inadequate ventilation but it wasn't used often. Double oven and refrigerator had particle board between them and each self cleaning cycle had me quivering as the oven gets HOT. If we do that again we're going to get plywood! The designer took measurements then chose the Kitchen Craft pieces to fit, almost, the dimensions. There was a slab of solid maple to close the gap at the wall where the cabinet didn't meet. It was a big improvement over what was there and my wife enjoyed the 5 years use she got prior to the sale. On 28 Jul 2006 14:07:58 -0700, wrote: Also, after reading some comments, I decided to get a quote from a local custom-cabinet guy next week. From what I understand it may not be as expensive as I thought it would be. But, besides knowing he is listed with NKBA--which is how I found him-- I know nothing about his work. There is no show room to go in and push and pull drawers, see work etc. Any advice on this avenue would be much appreciated. I don't know many people who have re-done their kitchen using anyone but Lowe's and HD so I'm searching without recommendations. |
#7
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
Thanks for the ideas so far. I did forget one question I had. Any
opinions on frameless vs. framed? Seems to me you lose some space with framed, especially if I get any roll outs. But everyone keeps saying you don't. I finally ventured into the back of the catalogs and started looking at the construction pages with the specs. Amazing what you can learn when you skip the pretty pictures! It seems if I just focus on looking at the nuts and bolts, wood thickness etc., that most of these popular brands are pretty much the same. Is that accurate? Also regarding: Particle board was the LAST thing I wanted and when my wife commented about that the Designer responded "Well it is high quality particle board" whatever that means. This is also confusing me. I am hearing from many people that the new particle board they use now--they're calling it engineered wood--is not the poor quality stuff from years ago. I'm told it's very sturdy and reliable, and not worth the extra expense to upgrade if it's not in my budget. They say plywood as its problems too. With regards to Sears charging someone $8000 for refacing when they could have had all new cabinets for just a little more; I have to say, I intended to do a reface when Sears came out, and she told me that it would be almost as expensive as replacing. So she was honest in that respect. Deborah |
#8
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
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#9
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
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#10
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Kitchen Cabinet Choices
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