IKEA vs. Semihandmade vs. Depends upon your location and the features you're looking for. So yes, you should check out the custom makers. Lowes cabinets look cheaper at first, but custom builders will often get you better features for a similar price. I didn't have any custom inserts, or pull outs. Lowe's was great to work with, and the cabinets are nice.
You can look at my link below and see how many cabinets I have. In my area lowes has been almost double any one else's. They do none of their own work but bid as though they did on top of their subs bid That was my feeling. I am going to get a few custom cabinet guys to give me estimated then pull the trigger once I finalize my bids. It depends on where you are, how many custom places you have in your area, and what exactly you are looking for. We have Shenandoah from Lowes and it was the best value compared to the few custom places we have in the area.
We also got one year with no interest to pay. All our custom places were higher. I was told there are very few left as many have gone out of business. You may find a firm with better pricing, better products and better service. I personally found our local "custom" quality to be a bit lacking and not to the level of what you could get, say, in Amish or Mennonite country.
I wouldn't expect any quote in a true mid grade line to be all that much cheaper given the design that you show and the amount of cabinets. You'd need to tweak the design first. An actual cabinet design firm has lower multipliers than a box store though, because they make less mstakes that the company has to absorb.
Beware of ''custom'' cabinet makers who are anything but. Many just put together jigsaw puzzles of ordering boxes and doors from different companies and don't make anything. Then there's the whole finishing issue. Lots of guys use actual paint. What you want is someone who uses a high solids catalyzed lacquer, sprayed in a clean room.
And you want a sample, so that you can perform as many of the KCMA tests on it as you can yourself. You're the one that has to perform your due dilligence on ''custom'' guys. The co-opted label itself means zilch without the work that goes into truly earning it. I was quoted 14k for Diamond cabinets from Lowes, 19k for Medallion Silverline from the local home improvement store and ended up going custom and getting whole house kitchen, laundry, two bathrooms and 3 built ins for less than our initial Diamond quote from Lowes that was just for the kitchen.
Our cabinet maker also came out to the house for rough-in plumbing to make sure sink pipes were properly placed.
He had all the big cabinet making machinery. It was also nice to stop by his shop and see what was going on. I am in South Louisiana. Funny thing is, my jaw hit the floor with that first quote and I was scrambling to figure out how to get good cabinets for less. Site built and finished is the cheapest ''custom'' snowjob going. It should be avoided like the plague as it's the least durable and most problematic construction wise. It flourishes for some reason in TX where hackery and unlicensed contractors do scads of questionable builds every yearproudly proclaiming that they don't need to meet national building codes.
It's a wierd scary little almost self contained world down there that sometimes bleeds over into adjacent states. Truly beware any ''custom'' quote that is significantly cheaper. There IS a reason. Figure out that reason. And it's not that someone has such pride in workmanship that they do it as a hobby, not to make money, which is a beyond ridiculous idea I've seen thrown out around here. Cheap is cheaply made and finished. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Indem Sie weiterhin auf der Website surfen bzw.
Mehr erfahren. You are starting at a disadvantage by having worked extensively with one company and wanting to buy your cabinets from another. I would send us your design just to see if we see problems arising before selecting a designer and dealer to work with. We review plans Fridays pm EST free of charge. This Friday I am on. Call our main number or my cell directly at and email the drawings to info MainLineKitchenDesign.
We hired an acquaintance who does kitchen renovations. This made things uncomfortable and I politely requested an explanation. So thank you. That could make a home center the best choice for you.
Doing something wrong in your search might not seem obvious to you. For example, my sister is one of the smartest and nicest people I know, but when she was trying to get an estimate for installing her kitchen none of the contractors she brought in retuned a quote. I quizzed her because I suspected she was doing something wrong. It turned out that because I had told her to get three estimates she felt bad having contractors work on giving her an estimate when she would only be selecting one to work with.
She thought she was being sensitive to the contractors and honest by apologizing and telling them she was getting three quotes. Contractors perceived the warning as threatening and telling them that they better give her a good price. Once she stopped doing this she instantly got bids and better input from the nest three contractors. Customers could instantly turn off kitchen designers by seeming like know-it-alls or cost driven and not respecting the designers time and expertise.
Designers will suspect customers are difficult to work with if they say things like:. Not wanting to pay a small deposit to have the designer measure their home, create a design, and go over it with them. Or by wanting a designer to quote a design from somewhere else, of one they did themselves. Kitchen designer are interviewing potential customers just as customers are interviewing kitchen designers. Seems to me to be a bit biased.
Hi Damon, I would agree that when you work with a home center you know that even though you will most likely be working with less experienced people you are assured that the job gets completed even if individual contractors or people quit, get injured or go bankrupt.
However doing a good job researching the reviews of independent kitchen places is probably safe and you will get a more professional result.
Since the creativeness and ability of the kitchen designer determines to a large extent the value of your home, working with a less qualified designer could cost you a fortune in lost resale value. There are pros and cons to utilizing big box stores for home remodeling projects. One benefit is I know where I can complain and raise hell if something goes wrong or is delayed. It protects themselves from looky-loos and comparison shoppers. There are many better made, less expensive and better looking painted cabinet choices then Schrock.
If you are getting a painted white shaker style door from Schroch you are wasting your money. Any upper tier import will make an off white shaker door far better. Fabuwood would be one of the best choices: All plywood construction, every upgrade available as standard construction, including solid wood dovetail drawers and soft close drawers and hinges.
A better style shaker door with an attractive bevel and a wider door frame. And finally a smoother nicer finish. All costing less than Schrock.
We sell mid priced US Lines ourselves but would never sell a painted white shaker door in Legacy Presidential or Bishop. Fabuwood does that style and color better for less.
It is in the stains, different wood species that the mid priced US lines are worth the money. Most custom lines do everything well and their stains are like fine furniture, but they are much more than all these choices. We are remodeling a kitchen in an older home. We are on a budget but want to make an informed decision. We met a Schrock representative at a local cabinet store.
She suggested the Entra line Ingalis door, painted. What are your thoughts about this line of Schrock versus Trademark. She also did not feel it was necessary to upgrade from furniture board to partial plywood. Entra also has a full plywood box. Thank you and we appreciate your thoughts. Hi Victor, I disagree. Giving you a detailed estimate requires about 8 hours of the person measuring and the designers time. Homeowners take an incredible amount of peoples time without consequence when kitchen design professionals measure for free.
Valuing our time and expertise is important to the working relationship between us and our customers. Just like customers are shopping for designers and cabinet dealers we are shopping for what will be good customers. Home depot charges 99 dollars to just come out and measure space. This should be free to be able to get an estimate. Hi Sara, First we would only recommend frameless cabinetry for modern slab door styles. Is that what you are considering.
Thomasville Nouvell is terribly constructed so we would never recommend that line, and Chrystal Encore IS a very expensive custom frameless line, so maybe you need better help in selecting a cabinet line in the type of door style you like. There will be less expensive lines with the same construction though. What is the door style you are looking for? Can you pls provide your opinion? Hi Johnny, Glad your managerial skills allowed you to catch a typo.
Assuming that the finishing work is done as meticulously as the install was my plumber even commented on how the quality of the work and he is TOUGH , I could not be any happier. I am sorry that your experience has been so different, and that your store steps up to the plate to solve your issues for you. I appreciate the support and well wishing!
I was really mad yesterday borderline meltdown as a coworker had to give me a couple of her Xanax to calm me down! My biggest problem with this whole mess is the fact that they claim to be a one stop east no worries kind of deal.
That has proven so far to from the truth. I really wished that I had ordered from one of the online sources. I would probably not be in this situation as this is the only thing I have not done myself. Everything else has come out perfect!
Including my amazing burnished "clay plastered" walls. What bothered me about the first delay is that the installers rescheduled the entire install due to one small cabinet that went over the range. I understand that they probably didn't want to come to my home twice.
I guess my fault there was not complaining to Lowe's at that point The rest of the issues are completely unacceptable to me! Especially the KD not owning up to her mistakes. I do stand behind my title of this post. I wished I had done more research on the mistakes the big box stores make! Oh yeah almost forgot to tell you guys the my kitchen is very small and simple! Galley kitchen in townhouse that is only about 14 yrs old. I really had no fear of semicustom cabinets from Lowe's I also had a good experience with Lowe's.
I didn't pay much attention to their hype about taking care of everything. I triple checked all the measurements after the order was printed. The installer came out and measured before installing too. I would have considered it my fault if my fridge didn't fit because I measured it myself after the plans were made.
The key for me was the KD. I talked to probably 5 people before I found one who obviously had a brain and experience. I made friends with the KD, and she made sure I got the best installer they have.
We had a few problems, mostly with the cabinet supplier, but nothing that was any different from what almost everyone else here has. I'd go back to Lowe's again - if the same KD is there.
Oh yeah another thing she never asked me about was my sink!!! I never thought to tell her!!! Could that be a problem??? I'm going to go dig it out right now and check. I think my sink base is 36"??? If you already have your sink and didn't check to see if it would fit your cabinet, that's your fault. That's a pretty basic thing there and you should have given your sink specs to your KD. Don't blame Lowe's.
On the other hand, a KD that doesn't even think a sink is part of a kitchen has no business calling themself a KD. A 36" base will probably be fine. If you have a smaller sink, you might have a few inches slightly less useful as they'll be under the sink cabinet, but it's not the worse thing. I do agree that the main issue is that they made you think they were covering everything, and they just don't.
There's no sign saying "Warning: must know all basics of kitchen design before using our services because we may or may not have competent people". Should you have known this stuff ahead of time? One of my mother's mottoes is to never accept "no" from someone who is not authorized to say "yes. I don't understand how any of this can be my fault since they pretend to be this one stop kitchen place.
So I know how to put an estimate together! I'm sure when you take your car in for repairs you don't know the specifics or the depth of most repairs. All you know is, your whatever is not doing what your whatever is supposed to. That is my job to let you know what is required and what is going to cost before the repairs are even made. Also even what to expect if there is anything to expect break in of new brakes etc If something goes wrong it is entirely my fault or my shops fault not yours.
If there is a delay there is always some sort of freebie or discount, unless I'm working for a Nazi! I didn't expect this as a result.
They promise smooth and simple. My only fault is that I didn't complain when they pushed the first install date back due to the shipping issue. I'm over it at this point. Whatever will be will be This has been a great learning experience! I now know what to expect when you remodel. Next summer is bathrooms. Oh yeah, what is this talk of standard dimensions for refrigerators?
From what I've seen with the fridge it can be all over the place. So yeah it was her responsibility to ask for specs. Especially since we had a talk about our appliances at one point. She wanted me to get a part time job selling theirs! More mistakes! The installers came to finish up the island that they were not able to initially install. I made the appropriate plumbing repairs. After the cabinet went in they realized the back panels for island were incorrect. So another order was put in.
Not too frustrated at this point as I am now able to get my granite templates done and I'm already waiting for my other replacement that goes over the fridge. After they left I noticed that the hole they cut into the sink base for the plumbing is huge!
My cat could jump under the sink base and have a litter of kittens!!! I could lose my cleansing products in this black hole!
Dramatics aside the hole is like 12"x10" when in reality it could have been 6"x4". Then I noticed the hole they cut into the back of my cabinet over the range, I think they used a chisel.
Very jagged and splintered. Two of the doors don't close properly as they are not adjusted properly and hit the trim at the top of the cabinets. The giant hole is the main gripe as that is completely unacceptable.
The manager offered to have the sink base replaced. Money back on the install??? The manager is coming over to view tomorrow morning. On a better note, we went to the local appliance store as we changed our minds on the dishwasher. Our salesman let us know about a rebate on Jennair appliances and offered to void or current ticket and rebill so that we could get a rebate! We had no idea about the rebate and we had paid for the appliances way back in April!
If you can get the new cabinet ordered NOW, it might be delivered inbetween templating and install. If it turns out that you can't swap out the cabinet without screwing up the granite install, then I would want the cabinet installer to cut a new piece of wood in the proper wood finish to use to line the inside of the cabinet so that it LOOKS as if the hole is the right size, and so the cut edge is smooth.
Are you also getting your granite through Lowes? For what its worth, I would want a new cabinet. I think it is good that the manager recognizes that there is a problem, is coming out to look at it and is already willing to do a replacement. That says a lot about his willingness to work with you. Believe me, not all places are like that! I like the idea of a peice of wood to line the bottom of the cabinet. I'm really not feeling good about anymore install work from the cabinet guys. I will probably resolve the hole myself.
At this point I just want some money back. I have lost all faith in these guys! Heck no am I getting my granite from Lowe's!!! If I was it would be canceled at this point.
Verde Fire!!! I will post picks when this mess is over! You guys will love my walls! The clay plaster finish came out much better then I could have ever imagined! We ordered Diamond cabinets from Lowes in April. My husband is a DIY guy and did all the demo and installation himself. We had all the specs for our new appliances with us when ordering and had no problems at all.
With that said my mom had a countertop bought and installed from Home Depot- it was a nightmare and my husband ended up fixing their botched job. I think Home Depot and Lowe's are good if you can DIY- if not go to a Kitchen place that will offer help with design and install to hold your hand through it all. I feel good about the sizing, color so forth but what have they forgotten to twell me.
Does the toe kicks come with Diamond brand. Small Kitchen. They assure me it will. I will doulbe check out the installer before they start and all the pieces. I will not tear out old till that is done. The stronger the company, the more likely you are to have everything either done correctly the first time or resolved properly and to your satisfaction.
A big company like Lowe's will have the financial resources to take care of your problem through to the end. IMHO, if you work with the manager and treat them respectfully you will likely end up satisfied in the end.
Again, just my honest and experienced opinion. Having said that, it is true that you may deal with a less experienced KD at the larger places from time to time -- but isn't that also true of small shops? Everybody has to start their career somewhere. However, I will say that just because you have a poor experience at one Lowe's, doesn't mean everyone else will too. They have how many stores?
I think one explanation for the difference in experience is the difference in expectations. I went in thinking that the person I worked with was a cabinet salesperson, not a KD. I had decided to act as my own general contractor. I don't remember them representing themselves as a KD or GC. I had lowe ha expectations, and they exceeded my expectations by quite a margin.
Re: "This is the biggest one for me. I'm not sure how several discussions regarding a new dishwasher ends up communicating to the KD that you also are getting a new refrigerator. I agree with "janwad" Often times those that have problems with the big box stores come in thinking that they are dealing with custom shops and will get all the hand holding necessary. Never have I felt Lowes to be, as "dflood75" claimed, "one stop One stop shopping means you don't have to go to five different suppliers to get what you need to complete a project, not "We do it all.
I'm sorry you're having this problem - so frustrating. The KD at Lowes makes all the difference in the world. We had an outstanding KD who not only stayed on top of our order, but selected the installer Lowes has a list of installers and KDs often rotate, but ours knew which were best and stuck with those.
Hopefully your problems will be ironed out soon. We had an excellent experience with Lowes - I wish you did too. That is sort of an inside joke between me and my partner on how this whole kitchen remodel got started. We initially went to buy a new dishwasher which turned into all new appliances which in turn became new counters, etc We shared this silly story with the kd at lowe's.
So she was aware of the new appliances. No she did not come the house to measure. I don't think they can leave the store. The installers did the measuring.
To the statement of do it yourself with Lowe's bla bla. When the person who sells you cabinets calls themselves a "kitchen designer" what else should I expect??? I didn't want to be held to her bosom and coddled! All I wanted was professionalism and if mistakes are made, accountability! Yes I'm sure we will get some money back, but I would rather have enjoyed my cabinet purchase rather then have a discount.
The latest is they want to replace the sink base and they want to coordinate with the granite people. Yes thats right I found out the company I bought the granite from is one of their installers!!! At this point I am terrified! Sorry about the sarcasm but I am sick of defending myself on this forum I just want my experience to be known. If had read something like this I probably would have been more savy about my cabinet purchase.
I got one custom quote and about fainted. Should have looked around more or ordered online. Thought sometimes you can't go wrong with corporate outfits. Figured they do this so much and have been, for a while I really didn't find any major nightmare stories concerning cabinets and lowe's on this forum.
Oh yeah, lately I have heard from quite a few locals about install nightmares from Lowe's in Albuquerque. Maybe its a local thing, as people in this state tend to be less customer service driven and sometimes actually very incompetent, Born and raised so I can say that!
Take a deep breath and realize that your cabinet install only began 20 days ago! A lot has happened during that time, and you sound a bit overwhelmed by it all. Try to relax and give Lowe's a chance to get your job done right. Let that manager earn his paycheck. Yeah but its a total of 9 cabinets!!!
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