Kitchen cabinets, brand name/big box or custom made?

[AnthonyJ124]

Update, kitchen is done! For those reading from the first post, we went with rtacabinetstore cabinets and are happy with the cabinets. Final pics of the kitchen are in later posts.

Hi guys,

Maybe not so garage related, but we're starting the early planning stages of a kitchen remodel and I thought there would be a lot of good experience and opinions here. Looking to do the job on 6mo-year, so there's no rush- we're in the information gathering stage. Kitchen is a standard L-shape approx 14'x16' and we'll do a no-sink island in the open space.

The biggest question seems to be where to start with cabinets, there are so many brands, options, and even gimmicks out there that it can get a bit overwhelming quick. I've looked over the box store options pretty extensively and it seems like Kraftmaid, American Woodmark, and Shenandoah are the prevalent "better" options. We actually really liked a American Woodmark option at HD, but most makers have what we are looking for- a standard simple shaker style door in an off white finish, so falling in love can wait until we find a brand/maker that we prefer.

I'm not too worried about counter tops as we're leaning towards Quartz over granite and this options are plenty and in my head, those options are simple- just find a color/pattern and a brand name.

What are your opinions and experiences with the box store cabinet options/brands/service?

We also have two smaller cabinet makers very locally that I haven't visited, but I can't help but think that their product would be superior- even if more expensive. Is this an avenue I should entertain?

Then there are the big kitchen & bath stores that we're planning on visiting. My expectations with them are bigger prices, but probably more expertise and potentially better quality.

This isn't a flip- it's our "forever home" so we're looking to do it once/right and enjoy it for the foreseeable future. Obviously pricing matters, but if we're spending $10-15k on marginal quality cabinets, and better quality stuff is $20k, I think we could justify the spend. Demo/installation to be done by myself and an experienced friend. We have all new appliances that we bought last year in a color scheme that will go with the new color scheme, so that part is done.

Alternatively, if anyone on here is in the kitchen business in New England, feel free to reach out.

Thanks in advance!

Since everyone likes pictures. Here's where the kitchen looked like a few months ago. The weeping ceiling fan has been replaced... Twice actually since the first one died.

 

[reader2580]

For $10k to $15k you could probably get custom cabinets, or close to it.

I have a new vanity made by a local cabinet company in my bathroom. It is very nice. The same company would do cabinets for my kitchen for $8k to $10k. Your kitchen has a few more cabinets, but $15k would do it I would think.

 

[Voi]

...what we are looking for- a standard simple shaker style door in an off white finish, so falling in love can wait until we find a brand/maker that we prefer.

If you had said you wanted something like cherry, alder or hickory I would have steered you towards a custom builder as I think they'll generally take more time sorting the wood for sap wood (cherry) or for the degree of knots you might want or not want in the case of all three.

But since you want a solid color I would instead focus on price and materials used. Some things to consider:

1) Are boxes made from plywood, melamine or MDF. I don't mind melamine boxes but I would avoid MDF.

2) Are doors MDF or a paint grade wood like poplar?

3) Since you want Shaker style, will door and drawer panels be cut from 1/4" sheet stock or will they be reversed raised panel? The latter is generally preferable but worth pricing out the difference.

4) Get the overlay you want. There is a trend for full overlay in Shaker style to go with more modern looks. Many people collect pictures they like from magazines or the web and think they want Shaker style cabinets but don't realized they're ordering standard overlay. Understand the difference and get what you want. If you do want full overlay make sure you understand the difference between face frame and frameless cabinets.

Obviously you'll have hardware and drawer material choices regardless of big box or custom so I won't go into that here. The four items above are generally some of the differences between box stores and custom builders.

 

[homebuilt burner]

My wife and I have had all the same questions. After looking at trade shows and local showrooms, we decides to build our own. I have the abilities and should have the time over the winter. We plan to start our remodel next spring. Maybe think of making your own as well, take a class and buy some tooling. You will be surprised what you can do, and you actually care what it will look like in 10-20-30 years.

 

[jives]

I may sound like a bit of a heretic, but quality factory cabinets are the way to go. No, not your typical big box particle board cabinets, but something like KraftMaid or Plain&Fancy (there are more). Stable quality plywood frames, hardwood draws and doors, precise joinery, quality factory finishes that are nearly impossible in a regular cabinet shop. Fit and finish that only the finest craftsman can produce. Plus, you get to see exactly what you are paying for.

I say this even after growing up and working in my father's contracting business and cabinet shop. He had incredibly skilled cabinet makers that did exquisite custom jobs in a affluent area. But, unless you want something unusual or have a difficult fit, I'd go factory.

 

[Erampu]

Another consideration is painting the cabinets you have, and add some new hardware. They look to be in decent shape and a painted cabinet in that space might help avoid a "too much wood" look.

Add the quartz counters and it's a whole new look. Quartz is a great product. We have it in our kitchen. Zero maintenance and indestructible.

 

[reader2580]

One thing about custom cabinets is they can build them to fit your space more precisely so no filler strips needed. They can also make your cabinets in bigger sections to avoid having to line up the cabinets and you also avoid the double face frames look. My parents have custom cabinets from the late 70s that are nice because they are built in large sections. The only bad part about there cupboards is the doors are very worn and dated looking.

 

[steve308]

Has anyone had experience with the RTA store cabinet company? (Ready to Assemble) I'm not wanting the MDF Ikea stuff and after sticker shock with the local Big Box pricing a 10 x 10 kitchen out to nearly 20k I found them online. I've ordered a couple of doors for review and they look good but I'm reluctant to pull the trigger without additional input. Anyone have there product and did you install it or have a contractor put them up. Thanks

 

[reader2580]

option at HD, but most makers have what we are looking for- a standard simple shaker style door in an off white finish, so falling in love can wait until we find a brand/maker that we prefer.

Is there anything actually wrong with the cabinets? If not, why not order new doors and paint the frames? There are any number of places online that sell replacement doors in custom sizes. You could save yourself $5,000 easy.

 

[reader2580]

Has anyone had experience with the RTA store cabinet company? (Ready to Assemble) I'm not wanting the MDF Ikea stuff and after sticker shock with the local Big Box pricing a 10 x 10 kitchen out to nearly 20k I found them online. I've ordered a couple of doors for review and they look good but I'm reluctant to pull the trigger without additional input. Anyone have there product and did you install it or have a contractor put them up. Thanks

I used a local company that imports RTA cabinets from China. They are pretty good, but not custom cabinet quality. You're probably getting similar from the RTA store. I would check around locally as we have two or three different places locally that sell RTA cabinets. You might also check on the inexpensive already assembled cabinets at your local Home Depot or Menards. They can be less expensive than RTA cabinets and they are made in the USA usually. The assembled cabinets will have MDF and probably cheap drawer slides. The RTA cabinets I got have plywood and self closing drawer slides.

The cabinets in the house I bought were beyond repair. I was going to leave them for a later project for cost reasons until I found this local place with the RTA cabinets. I paid $2,500 for an entire kitchen worth of cabinets. The biggest problem I have had was two raised panels shrinking a lot after four months. The cabinet place replaced them no problem. I think the wood wasn't dry enough when they made the cabinets. I might replace the cabinets in five to ten years with ones I make myself.

 

[Scott r c]

I have never personally seen factory made cabinets on a job site that looks as good as custom made cabinets. I guess its a regional thing, because around here it seems like any half way decent project will go custom, but on the tv shows I always see store bought cabinets.

 

[JimVonBaden]

The Home Depot cabinets come in pretty high quality finishes. These are mine:

 

[rsanter]

Are you going to change the layout?
If the answer is no, then I would look at having a custom shop make new face frames and doors. This is assuming that the cabinets you currently have are good quality and in good shape.
If you are going to change the layout just a little you still can reuse some of the cabinets and go the custom route.

If you replace them all. Then the question becomes a math problem of how much verses the quality and built type

Bob

 

[Kaizen]

Are you going to change the layout?
If the answer is no, then I would look at having a custom shop make new face frames and doors. This is assuming that the cabinets you currently have are good quality and in good shape.
If you are going to change the layout just a little you still can reuse some of the cabinets and go the custom route.

If you replace them all. Then the question becomes a math problem of how much verses the quality and built type

Bob

exactly what I was thinking. I got some 20 year old cherry cabinets with 1/2 inch plywood boxes. flipped the door over filled a couple holes and a few passes on the table saw and bam inset door cabinets with flat panel.
If you are moving the sink and all that then go with all plywood and solid doors from hd or the like. esp for a basic door I wouldn't have custom built. personally I'd not talk to anyone at the store. get the dimensions of the line of cabinets that are stock and build your kitchen around them. only restrictions are doors and windows. island is just a bunch of stock cabinets screwed together.
get a good carpenter to install them or learn yourself. THAT is where I see a nice kitchen vs not. also make sure you see if fancy drawer slides are worth it. I know building these they are often more then the whole cabinet.

 

[rsieracki]

for what its worth back in 06 when i did a kitchen in a condo i use to own i shopped Menard's, home depot and IKEA and i found the IKEA cabinets to be the nicest and best quality at the price point so those of you looking for a cheaper option don't arbitrarily pass IKEA... not everything they sell is ****

 

[mobiledynamics]

I suppose labor is regional....

Good cabinets brands like plain n fancy , Omega, etc start at around $600+ per liner foot on average. This does not include install. I would start here.

If you know of a good cabinetmaker, they can come out cheaper or more , depending on how wild/mild you go. Having a good architect help you draw it up, pull outs, etc --- it's all in the details, goes a LONG way towards usefullness. We cook in our kitchen almost every night, and every little detail has paid for itself on the design

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Yep, it's a full menagerie of styles, colors, options, as well as manufacturers.

Layout, design, and options are such a personal taste- I don't ever steer someone in that direction. But I will say, look for a kitchen and bath cabinet shop/designer (certified NKBA).
Stay away from the Big Box Stores- their prices are generally full retail and they rely on some questionable subcontractors.

 

[white6589]

http://www.lilyanncabinets.com/kitchen-cabinets.html

Worked for me, better by far over the big box store. Had to assemble but it went together well and looked great. Service was good too, had a drawer slide that was finicky, they had it replaced with a new pair in two days.

 

[travisd]

I'll echo the comment two posts above about steering clear of the Big Box Stores. When we did our kitchen a few years ago, we were luck to find a local lumberyard/hardware store with a design center attached. The designer worked with us, and we were able to get semi-custom cabinets for a much better price than the big stores.

Also, it seems like it's not uncommon for cabinet companies to offer free upgrades - usually drawer construction it seems. It was not much of a delta we found when we did ours to get the full plywood boxes (no 'cabinet board') and full extension dovetail construction drawers with the soft-close hardware.

They also made an easy referral to a countertop fabricator (granite), and were willing to deal a bit on the sink when I found the one I wanted cheaper online. (I didn't make them beat the price, just get close).

 

[sixty4]

I used a company called Mills Pride. Funny thing is they sell these at HD so I got the price. I found out they are made a few towns over from me so I stopped in. Really glad I did, it was actually cheaper. We rent that house out now, and they still look great, I would not hesitate to buy again (and will be doing so again within the next two years).

 

[jade97]

We just had a custom ranch built (2900 sq ft). Our builder used custom built cabinets. He said there wasn't much difference in the cost vs box store cabinets & the quality is much higher. Our bathroom vanities were also custom made by the same shop. All our cabinets and drawers have the soft closers as well!

 

[AnthonyJ124]

Awesome points and info across the board. Definitely some great guidance. Thanks!

JVB, that kitchen looks really good. Do you recall which brand you used?

Regarding re-facing, existing is all low end mdf contractor grade cabinetry and we do have a bit of damage and/or wear on/in a few cabinets, and a few doors that are coming apart. Not to mention bowed shelving. When we first decided to go with white, we really looked into painting what's there and maybe new doors- it's cheap & easy, but at the end of the day we'd still have almost 30 year old clapped out cabinets. I could see spending all that time painting/refacing and then doing a kitchen in a year anyway. If the quality of the existing were better- or even if the exposed sides of the cabinets weren't mdf- I would be all for using what's there, but it is ready to be retired.

We were actually at IKEA yesterday and looked over the kitchens. Cool stuff with interesting functionality, and definitely priced attractively, but just not what we're looking for. I would entertain their stuff for my rental property for sure though.

I think on our list of rainy day stops will be the local guys and then a bigger kitchen store and weigh out some of the options further.

Thanks again, I'm really glad I posted.

 

[finn]

We just built a new kitchen and found that custom cabinets from a local shop cost the same as those from a large builder of "stock" cabinets. We looked at suppliers represented by 2 local lumber yards and the higher end cabinets from Menards and Lowes.

Since they employ locals in their 10 man shop, we went with the custom jobs and are happy so far.

Also found that granite was pretty competitive cost wise. We're waiting for the slabs to be shipped from the distributor to our "local" (100 miles away from our house) fabricator.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Hi Anthony, it was this one: http://www.homedepot.com/b/Kitchen-...binets/Medium-Brown-Wood/N-5yc1vZary9Z1z0tsld

We bought the house built, but found out that much of the interior was Home Depot stuff. Not bad quality and a good price. I highly doubt, in the Northern VA area, that we could find custom cabinets as inexpensive.

 

[oldberkeley]

Anthony- My wife and I are just finishing up a total kitchen gut and remodel. After a lot of research and looking, we went with Wellborn Cabinets, made in Ashland, Alabama. Got them through our local Andersons store (not sure if that's a national chain or not) and I'm sure they're available through other dealers.

Lot's of options, styles, hardware choices, finishes, price points. Generally well-made, reasonable cost. We're happy with them.

 

[tcianci]

I'm a remodeling contractor and as such, I get the same questions as you guys are asking. A few things may help here:

First of all box construction, many manufacturers offer several levels of cabinet box construction, and to correct one of the early posts in this thread, melamine boxes are MDF boxes. Melamine is simply the finish. Melamine is in fact the same plastic resin that is used in the manufacture of Formica and other laminates. In the case of cabinet boxes, the melamine is less than paper thin and fused to the surface of the MDF when the panel material is manufactured.
In addition to MDF boxes, there are particleboard boxes and plywood boxes. The particleboard boxes are the ones least likely to survive a rough ride from the warehouse to your house. The material and construction is not overly robust and doesn't take well to side loading or racking, but, truth be told, once properly installed, fastened and shimmed, you can get a decent service life out of a particleboard box.
One of the dead give-aways of a cheap cabinet is the side panels of the box. A low end particle board cabinet will have a veneer finish on the sides, the veneer of the cheapies is usually a vinyl, not unlike old fashioned "Contact Paper". Again, the veneer is stupid thin and the texture of the particle board telegraphs through the vinyl surface. There is often an option on wood grain cabinets to upgrade to a wood veneer on the side panels.

What's considered top of the line is a plywood box. They're strong, stable and whether stained or painted finish, the veneers are wood.

Also note that most painted finish cabinets are actually made from Maple, not Poplar, although in some places, Poplar is popular

The next part of the box, regardless of the material is the frame or lack thereof. The frame is comprised of the rails and styles that wrap the front of the box and provide the mounting surface for the hinges and drawer slides. If you're choosing a frame type cabinet, you have the option choosing the overlay of the doors and drawer fronts. This determines how much of the frame shows when the doors is closed. In the case of a frameless cabinet, the resultant look is the same as a "full overlay" cabinet where the door is the same size as the box it's attached to. Many of the "Euro" style cabinets are frameless full overlay design. The frameless design also necessitates hinges that allow the door to swing fully open within the confines of the width of the cabinet box. These are your typical "Blum" style articulated hinges, the ones with about 470 links, pivots and adjustment screws. Be aware that although this type of hinge look pretty high tech, the cheap versions of them are nothing but trouble, the multiple parts, links and pivot points tend to wear and cause sag and misalignment early in the life of the cabinet.

Now onto drawers: The drawer box itself is usually a dovetailed construction or a simple box construction. In your cheapest cabinets, the drawers are stapled together from woodgrained particleboard. Put a 30 lb silverware tray in a drawer like that and you will see why soft close drawer glides are the best thing since sliced bread. Cheap drawers simply don't stand up to the loads applied to them in normal use and are often the first part of the cabinet to take a dump.
Drawer fronts can be part of the drawer box, or attached with screws or other drawer front fasteners that allow for aligning the drawer fronts once the install is completed. We typically install the cabinets, align the doors and drawers and then utilize the drawer hardware screws to fix the position of the drawer front once it's been aligned.

Door construction varies as well in cheap to good cabinets. One "cheapie" thing that I was really blown away by is the "veneered" raised panel doors. In a typical raised panel door construction, individual boards are glued up and milled into the shape of the required panel and assembled into the rails and styles of the door. In a veneered door panel, someone figured out how to make a veneer so freakin thin that it can be applied to the surface of a raised panel that's typically milled from MDF. The veneer even follows the "compound curve" area of the panel as the panel profile makes the transition from the rail feature to the style feature of the panel. This type of panel door would only have a minimum of features in the panel design, as the manufacturer needs to make that veneer follow the panel profile.

Typical door frame construction utilizes rails and styles that are machined to match each other by use of cutters called "coping" cutters. These cutters "cope" the profile of the adjacent frame piece into the end grain of that piece. Typically this yields a strong door frame assembly that exhibits little change with seasonal moisture and temperature shifts and gives a very traditional cabinetmaker style look. A very popular door construction technique is now to use a mitered door frame. Traditionally this was a weaker type of construction and the doors would exhibit movement in the miters with temperature and humidity changes. The past few years though, the mitered doors seem to be holding their own as far as construction quality in cabinets offered from top line manufacturers.

Soft close hinges and self closing drawer slides are pretty standard from almost every manufacturer and besides giving a quality feel to the product, they keep stuff from slamming around and that never hurts the life of a cabinet.

Finishes: My gut feel is that you would be hard pressed to get a more uniform and rugged finish than what is offered from the big manufacturers vs. the local cabinet shop. The reason is the big guys have multiple step processes that ensure uniformity of tone and color despite grain features and differences in the pieces of wood that assembled into the cabinet. Their finishes are also catalyzed and often baked as well. They put on a tougher coating than it typically possible from the small guy down the street.

A custom cabinet shop shines where there are difficult features and oddball sizes needed to make a kitchen look right but a top of the line cabinet manufacturer offers full and semi custom design services that are hard to beat, except maybe for the price.

Hope this helps

 

[Playwme]

Our recent remodel included a full kitchen relocation and we went with a bigger custom company with their own factory and design consultants. We were able to use the maximum possible amount of space that we had, adapt things to fit the appliances right where we wanted them, and the quality of both the finish and solidity of the components is awesome compared to box store stuff I've used elsewhere.

Pricing may not be comparable to your area but the kitchen component of our build cost around $22k. That included the most expensive range of engineered Ceaserstone bench tops. The company sent one older guy to install it and he had the whole thing done in about a day and a half. Nice gaps, everything square, and not a blemish to be seen.

The wife loves it, all her friends love it, in fact nearly everyone who walks into the house comments on it.

 

[dogdog]

Check out Ikea's kitchen cabinets... they are pretty modern looking and very easy to install and DIY it. comes with a pretty good easy to level hanging brackets system as well. Only one down side, it's not real wood wood but for me, don't matter as long as it is durable.

 

[ptgb]

Has anyone had experience with the RTA store cabinet company? (Ready to Assemble) I'm not wanting the MDF Ikea stuff and after sticker shock with the local Big Box pricing a 10 x 10 kitchen out to nearly 20k I found them online. I've ordered a couple of doors for review and they look good but I'm reluctant to pull the trigger without additional input. Anyone have there product and did you install it or have a contractor put them up. Thanks

Myself and the wife just redid (actually still doing) our kitchen using RTA Java Shaker cabinets.

We were on a limited budget, so looking for the best quality within that budget.

The RTA's are very nice for the price ($4000) in our opinion. Plywood boxes, solid maple fronts (full overlay), and dovetail drawers. We ended up with one front face that was scratched up, but they replaced it very quickly (within a week).

The hardware (hinges, drawer slides, etc) was top quality with soft close.

Putting them together, while a chore, was pretty easy and they are very solid and heavy. Use wood glue at all the joints for added strength.

The RTA company itself, they were a bit difficult to deal with, played phone tag with them a few times and their customer service lady can sometimes be less than attentive. We chalked this up to a busy office without enough people and the fact that we were buying budget cabinets.

We drove to Philly (about 4 hours) and picked them up because shipping to Ohio was expensive ($450).

Would I buy them again..... yes! For the price, they are very good quality. We saved over $2500 from the next lowest quote, and that next quote, the cabinets did not have all the features of the RTAs.

If you want any further info.... feel free to contact me.

 

[Angelfire]

Tagging this as I'll be re-doing the kitchen eventually!

Although I'm actually considering making the cabinets myself, this thread is good for inspiration etc....

Cheers.

 

[AnthonyJ124]

Tcianci, thank you for putting your time and expertise into your response. That is a LOT of great info. I think even after looking at a few options, we were absolutely sold on full plywood construction. Probably because what we have is so bad- exaggerated by the massive pantry on the left of the kitchen with sticker veneer on it.

Next time I see the previous owner/builder (he lives local and is at Dunkin every day) I'll find a way to politely ask if he saved money on the kitchen so he could put more money elsewhere. He upgraded so many things in the house- bigger Anderson windows throughout than the plans called for, and a full log constructed full-width former on the rear which would have stud constructed with log siding on the original plan. He spent considerable extra everywhere, but seemingly went cheap in the kitchen... I don't really mind, as we bought the house knowing we would do a kitchen and the price was adjusted right accordingly. The better news is that in the year we've lived here, a few other homes in the neighborhood have sold for considerably more, and we refinanced a month ago- only to learn that our appraisal went up almost exactly the same amount that we have put into the house (including a new garage roof, appliances, water heater, furnace, finished another 1/4 of the basement, and plenty of other little clean ups/fixes). Not that we're worried about selling any time soon, but it sure is nice to know we bought right and our dollars are going to good- and we're still under comp pricing.

Ptgb, thanks for the details and pics on RTA. That could very well be a viable option. Your kitchen looks great! That style door is really what we've decided on, just with more conservative hardware. How is the shelving quality??

Thanks again to everyone. I feel like I've gained a few months of information in a day.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Well, I was going to mention refacing like a few others did until I read your comment about the current cabinets. I'd definetly check out the local builders and see what they can do for you.

Just make sure to take the old ones out in one piece, they'll be great in the garage or somebody else's garage.

ptgb, I never thought black cabinets would look good in a kitchen, I was wrong, looks damn nice.

 

[cobra7]

I second Lilyanncabinets.com for new cabinets. Also, if you go the new door route, use Barkerdoor.com. Both have great quality for the investment.

 

[Kaizen]

Tagging this as I'll be re-doing the kitchen eventually!

Although I'm actually considering making the cabinets myself, this thread is good for inspiration etc....

Cheers.

norm did a great couple of shows on cabinet making that is on you tube. def a great thing to watch if you want to build your own

 

[reader2580]

Those cabinets from the RTA store look exactly the same as the ones I got from GEC Cabinet Depot here in Minneapolis. (www.geccabinetdepot.com) The drawer slides and drawers seem to be the same. They are middle of the road cabinets with decent self closing drawer slides. They are made from plywood. The biggest issue I had was one of the face frames was perfectly square yet the drawers didn't fit quite right. By doing some shimming of the drawer slides I was able to get the drawers level and spaced properly.

 

[Voi]

To correct one of the early posts in this thread, melamine boxes are MDF boxes. Melamine is simply the finish.

I'm assuming that was my post. It is correct that melamine is the finish but not necessarily correct to say that melamine boxes are MDF boxes. In my area at least it is very rare to see a melamine finish over anything other than a particle board substrate at thicknesses of 3/8" or greater -- even from the companies that mass produce cabinets. I have purchased several hundred if not thousands of sheets of melamine over the last 20 years over several states in the Midwest and never once had to specify particle board interior and never once came home with MDF interior.

But some of the larger cabinet companies do spec the melamine coated MDF and this is something important to find out when shopping cabinets at the big box stores or company direct.

 

[Steves32]

We did our kitchen 10 years ago & went with custom cabinets. It was stupid expensive.
The old track home cabinets were dated- oak veneer fronts & particle board construction. I didn't want particle board or melamine construction of any kind. Ours was all 3/4 birch plywood & finished inside & out. All drawers full extension, dove tail construction & thick drawer bottoms. Now many of the box stores have cabinet upgrades that include full plywood construction so if I was doing kitchen today- I would go that route to save money.

 

[PugetDude]

I ordered a houseful of cabinets from Accent Building Products- went with the upgraded plywood boxes, dovetail drawers, full extension slides.
Did a custom kitchen, dining room, four bathrooms, kitchenette, laundry, butlers pantry (No, we don't have a butler...) Really happy with the finished product.

 

[steve308]

ptgb -----Thanks for the info and pictures of your RTA install --- I have the area RTA install contractor coming to do measurements on Friday. We have soffits to remove so that we can use taller cabinets and realizing my skill and patience level we will most likely order our cabinets in white, pre assembled and have the contractor do the dirty work. I'm at the point in life when my applied labor is limited to swiping the credit card or writing the check.

 

[AnthonyJ124]

Decided to have the HD guy come and do his measurements and let them show us a plan. Figured for $49, we'll at least get decent drawings and build from there.

Where are people buying RTA cabinets? Seems like a few online retailers out there.