This is a question I rarely get asked. Clients who visit our showroom to look at cabinetry often are either nervous about this question, or they already have a good idea about what these things will cost. Sometimes people go into shock when they hear me tell them what they might like to budget for the cabinetry portion of the project. This can vary wildly in what percentage of the overall cost of entire project runs. I have seen cabinetry exceeding half of the entire budget, or using only about 20% of it. This certainly is determined by the level of quality that a client is expecting and which items are priorities to the client as well as how large the room is and how many cabinets there are. If the budget is tight, but the client wants commercial grade appliances and exotic stone for the countertops, there may be only enough money left for cheaper cabinets. The truth is, people usually want better cabinetry, and many are surprised to hear that what they thought was good quality often is less so.
"Production quality" is good for many remodeling projects. This product is a money and time saver as the cabinets are produced quickly (literally 2 days in some cases) and shipped quickly. Depending on the brand, there can be many beautiful door styles and the choices in finishes continue to get nicer looking as these factories do battle with each other to get your business. The fact is though, that if you intend to stay in the house for over 5-10 years, you may want to look to one of the next levels which we call semi-custom and full custom. For the sake of today's blog entry, let's focus on the production variety.
These cabinet companies often print expensive gorgeous literature and hire excellent designers so that the visible parts of the product are great looking, mainly the doors and the drawer fronts. This is what you find in the Big Box stores in a variety of quality levels.
The least expensive has particle board in various thicknesses as the main construction material including the drawer bodies, sides, bottoms, tops, and shelves. Purchasing these cabinets for your project is a great way to save money on getting a home ready for quick sale (flipping), although due to the nature of the construction, these are more liable to suffering shipping damage.
Many production builders will use this product for either a whole house or various rooms other than the kitchen. (laundry room, baths) Their builder's guarantee for one year allows them to use cheaper materials as the homeowner is responsible for things breaking down after those 365 days are up. Typically the silverware drawer is the first to go. Sound familiar???
The levels go up from here often including upgrades like wood drawers, dovetail joinery, plywood sides option, and veneer wood ends instead of printed wood-grained vinyl. Once you have included all these upgrades, added the nice accessories like rollout shelves, pullout trash and recycle units, glass doors, nice moldings, cherry wood or paint, you are getting closer to the semi-custom price but still able to save a bit of money and receive your order in approximately 3-4 weeks.
These cabinets really work well in bathrooms, laundry rooms, family room built-ins, basement wet bars and the like. They might not get the hard use a kitchen does. They can be fine for a kitchen remodel as well, but think of it like this: These products have shorter life spans than the next level up. They were made quickly without to much thought or care or hand finishing. When your whole kitchen is completed, and you have installed beautiful new flooring, fabulous granite countertops, great sink and faucet and integrated new appliances into the plan, the last thing you want to think about is replacing the cabinetry. Those cabinets are literally trapped in between the floor and the top.
Give us call and schedule a time to drop by our Merrifield showroom and have a quick demonstration of the "piece parts" of cabinets. We are more than happy to show you the differences.
If you have a budget in mind for your project, our job is to help keep you there. We can point out some great money saving ideas to meet your comfort level.
-Julie Hendrickson
