Pre Fab Cabinets Or Custom Cabinets

williefb

We are building spec homes that are all brick with a lot of trim, hardwood and tile. We have been installing custom cabinets / vanities that are very nice.

Is anyone using cabinets from Lowes, Home Depot, etc. I think that these would save us quite a bit in cost but several people have told me that they are nice on the outside but really not a good product.

This is a fairly large development (at least for me) and we are building all of the houses. I need to keep a good name and put out a quality product from top to bottom.

Your thoughts?

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Willie

firemike

From my experiance, the in-stock cabinets at the big boxes are fine for the typical homeowner that is happy with the MDF/particle board quality and is mainly shopping price. They are not something I would put in my home or a clients that didn't insist on it. The selections are limited, as are the options and trim too.

An option might be to order real kitchen cabinets through them, but it is always a crapshoot if the order will be right. I have done a few installs for clients that ordered cabinets through Lowes or HD to save a few bucks, and the problem either starts with the poor design, or starts when the cabinets come in and one is damaged (it is never their fault, always yours so guess who they want to pay for it) or there are parts missing or wrong, and the person that designed or ordered the job is no longer there and nobody else knows anyting about it.

It took me almost a year to get one project straigtened out, wasted dozens of hours, nobody admitted responsibility, couldn't backcharge anybody for the time, customer was furious at them, (at least they understood that it was not my fault) and wished they had gone to a real kitchen designer in the first place.

It might pay for you to shop around with different suppliers and see who can give you the best service and pricing. These days the competiton is pretty good so many are willing to negotiate, especially in your situation where you can lierally hand them dozens of houses to supply if they are willing to work with you. Even if you have to go 25 or 50 miles away to find what you need, the savings might be well worth it.

My kitchen designer/supplier is 23 miles from my house, but I have been doing business with them for 10 years. There are probably a dozen places closer, but I get good pricing from them, excellent service, they treat my clients well, and if I ever have a problem, a phone call usually takes care of it.

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-Mike-

williefb

Thanks for the info. That's been my opinion all along as well. Just wanted to hear it from someone else.

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Willie

Scott Young

i am facing installing some prefabs. i just placed a bid on a new build where the customer wants kraft cabinets. HD and Lowes carries them. i looked at another distributor that is independent. i am going to order them from the independent dealer if i get this job. hopefully i won't have the typical problems one gets from prefabs.

it has been since the mid-nineties that i installed prefabs. my last experience was so horrible that i went to building them all myself.

when i placed the bid, i did a straight bid for all int. trim, and a seperate one for cabinet installation. i went straight time on the install to cover my behind from the problems associated with prefabs.