[markley]

Hi all..I have been trying to figure out whether to reface or replace my kitchen cabinets and am now considering "ready to assemble" cabinets.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a good online company?

Thanks!

 

[DannyT]

i can't say how they are now, but 2 years ago i had great luck at www.cabinetsdirectrta.com. they were having a 40% off sale on the cabinets we wanted so we lucked out. as with any online company you decide on make sure to look for reviews on the company before purchasing, don't read reviews that are on that companies website tho.

 

[markley]

Thanks for the quick reply Danny! I'll have to check them out.

 

[Fix'n it]

i can't say how they are now, but 2 years ago i had great luck at www.cabinetsdirectrta.com. they were having a 40% off sale on the cabinets we wanted so we lucked out. as with any online company you decide on make sure to look for reviews on the company before purchasing, don't read reviews that are on that companies website tho.

so. how is the quality ?

 

[DannyT]

these had the best finish of all the sample doors we ordered, nice and smooth. cabinets are all plywood with solid fronts and doors and had self closing drawers. assembly instructions were not helpful if you call 4 small pictures helpful but were not difficult to assemble. i glued and clamped them because i could but they were solid enough just assembled but i dont plan on buying cabinets again. if we ever need to redo the kitchen we have good solid boxes now so it would just be a refinish job anyway. wife is really happy with the cabinets. we had priced cabinets at lowes, they wanted 6800.00 for particle board and 8200.00 for all plywood and solid wood. we did the whole kitchen for under 7000.00 including cabinets, floor tile, and the granite pieces for the counters and the stainless backsplash tile which was the only splurge. i do remember reading a couple of bad reviews about this company but we had no trouble at all. the fridge panel came damaged and i took photos and emailed them to show the damage and had a new one in 3 days and got to keep the damaged one.

 

[Fix'n it]

sounds good. i am going to be cabinet shopping here pretty soon. i will need about 30' of them.

 

[bradfordw]

I've used www.kitchenspro.com before. I ordered these for a rental property and liked them quite a bit. Cabinets were good quality. All plywood boxes but they were just 1/2" instead of 3/4". But the face frames and door were solid maple. I glued them up in conjunction with the cam lock system that they use. They helped my design the kitchen when I sent them the measurements and then shipped to the local shipping depot. I inspected and picked them up there.

Overall I would do it again. You can get nicer cabinets but you'll also pay 3x more for them.

Will

 

[funfool]

I have only installed them once before. I was not very excited about them when found out customer ordered rta.
At the end of installing them, I thought they were a decent cabinet. I wish I thought of using glue also, but just followed the directions and was pretty simple to assemble.
I also would have no complaint on using them again, although I do not know particular brand name the customer ordered .... would have to have the office look up the invoice.

 

[DIY-Her]

has anyone heard of or used http://www.barkercabinets.com ?
While reading this thread, I saw their Google ad above and decided to click on it. Looks like they are made in the USA unlike rtacabinets.com

 

[md2lgyk]

In my opinion (for what it's worth), RTA cabinets are mostly junk. I used them in one reno but would never do it again. But if that's all you can afford. . . . .

 

[DIY-Her]

actually the barker cabinets aren't cheap in price. They can be made to your specs by I think half inch increments with all different options.
Some of the other RTA's I have seen, even in person, if you look closer at all the displays, you see how some haven't even held up to customers opening and closing drawers, doors every so often.

 

[Fix'n it]

Some of the other RTA's I have seen, even in person, if you look closer at all the displays, you see how some haven't even held up to customers opening and closing drawers, doors every so often.

i am not defending rta cabinets. but i can tell you, from experience with display units. displays get ABUSED. you just can't fully judge by the display unit. sure, the display will tell you some things. but poorly assembled and them customer abused does not necessarily make for a bad product.

not only that. if the unit is made of good(enough) quality materials. that mods can be done to make it even better.

ymmv

 

[DIY-Her]

you're right, sometimes you can't judge a product by the display.
But, if they are trying to sell their product, they should darn well make sure the display is shown at it's best.

About 20 years ago while we were looking at new developments, one we looked at and walked through had so many obvious problems just in the display model. We skipped looking more into that builder and looked further down the road at another builder and bought there.

About 2-3 years after moving into our house, the development across the way that we didn't buy, homes started having problems where in a simple not so bad wind storm, siding was blowing off, rain gutters fell off, roofs leaking.
That stuck in my mind and is why I always be sure a display model is quality built

 

[av1611]

actually the barker cabinets aren't cheap in price. They can be made to your specs by I think half inch increments with all different options.
Some of the other RTA's I have seen, even in person, if you look closer at all the displays, you see how some haven't even held up to customers opening and closing drawers, doors every so often.

Barker cabinets are all that their web site says they are.
We purchased ours from them they are high quality. We
had one hole that was not drilled and were minus one slide
other than that every thing was very precise.

 

[TarheelTerp]

In my opinion (for what it's worth), RTA cabinets are mostly junk.

There are several rather decent fully assembled cabinet makers who sell at a rather modest price point. Find one.

The one I've found:
http://www.kitchenkompact.com/

 

[DIY-Her]

thanks for that link. I'll check them out.
The Barker cabinets did look well put together. My only problem was how the fronts were put together. It only seemed to be the door going to the edges of the cabinets. I'm not buying all new cabinets, can't afford it.
I have to buy cabinets under my kitchen sink and the 2 next to them unfinished so I can stain them like I did the rest of my cabinets.
That was why I originally liked Barker, because you can buy them unfinished.

 

[Fix'n it]

There are several rather decent fully assembled cabinet makers who sell at a rather modest price point. Find one.

The one I've found:
http://www.kitchenkompact.com/

anything else ? they don't have my style.

 

[TarheelTerp]

anything else ? they don't have my style.

Focus on the steak and not the sizzle.
This is especially prudent when bargain shopping.

 

[user1007]

The only problem I have with quality RTA cabinetry is the cabinets come from the factory square. Nobody measured for them and they end up looking goofy in renovation projects.

There is much to be said for the real cabinet makers that worked for me and carried measuring devices that worked in fractions of inches. They owned levels and squares too.

At the end of the day, once into discussion of nice wood to start? A custom cabinet maker was no more expensive than guys trying to fit RTA boxes into place.

 

[Fix'n it]

The only problem I have with quality RTA cabinetry is the cabinets come from the factory square. Nobody measured for them and they end up looking goofy in renovation projects.

what ? that makes no sense. square cabinets look goofy in an old house :confused1:

At the end of the day, once into discussion of nice wood to start? A custom cabinet maker was no more expensive than guys trying to fit RTA boxes into place.

so, i can get nice wood, not oak, for $100 a foot ?