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Ah ha.........and just this week Armstrong got out of the cabinet business for good too. Things are a changin in dem dare hills
Just saw this. I am in the middle of a kitchen (and bathroom, etc) reno--the home renovation from hell that has been dragging on for more than 6 months. The place my contractor sent me to just the other day (February 2013) only carries Armstrong cabinets. What's the deal--Should I run the other way?
And while I'm on the topic, since I'm new at this and since my contractor is giving me zero help--what do I look for in cabinets? What brands are good/bad/ugly?
Just saw this. I am in the middle of a kitchen (and bathroom, etc) reno--the home renovation from hell that has been dragging on for more than 6 months. The place my contractor sent me to just the other day (February 2013) only carries Armstrong cabinets. What's the deal--Should I run the other way?
And while I'm on the topic, since I'm new at this and since my contractor is giving me zero help--what do I look for in cabinets? What brands are good/bad/ugly?
Thanks for your help!!
I have thousands of posts explaining the good and the bad and where to buy. It seems irrelevant to do it again since you said you already bought your cabinets. Armstrong decided to get out of the rather difficult and cut throat business of cabinets and focus more on it's core product that made them famous and great. Flooring and ceilings. They simply sold their cabinet division to a private equity firm which to date has never been announced.......at least that I read in any trade journal.
Armstrong has always been a good product. They always focused more on multi family sales. They had a whole line of cabinets made from the rubber wood tree from Brazil and these were heavy and durable. Tenants are usually brutal on the property they rent but these rubber wood doors were virtually indestructible.
I worked for this company quite some time ago when I was installing full time. These were some heavy cabinets.
Don't be afraid of these cabinets. They are simply changing owners. Sorry to hear about your contractor who apparently are a bunch of clowns who make a bad name for all of us.
Sorry I just reread and see you did not purchase yet. I'd stay away from the place your contractor sent you because it sounds like he works with them meaning he gets a cut, meaning you will pay more. Instead get the drawing and shop it at other places. I grew up in your area but can't recommend anyone since due to the economic depression so very many construction related businesses closed the curtains forever. The only last piece of advice to you is DO NOT fall for those entire all cherry wood kitchens for $895. They are made in China and are infested with enough formaldehyde, lead and sulfur to kill a small child and they will give the average adult asthma. There are several documented deaths from Chinese cabinets as well as Chinese sheetrock and even kids toys.
Oh and stay far far away from the big orange and big blue store who charge full list price or MSRP. You will be raped. Go to several small kitchen and bath stores instead.
Oh and stay far far away from the big orange and big blue store who charge full list price or MSRP. You will be raped. Go to several small kitchen and bath stores instead.
You will not be sexually violated if you buy from the big box stores and they do not sell at list. I do however reccomend that you go to a smaller dealer that has several different lines for you to choose from. Most dealers have a range of cabinets to pick from and in this scenario you are ore likely to find something you like and it fits your budget as well.
Oh and stay far far away from the big orange and big blue store who charge full list price or MSRP. You will be raped. Go to several small kitchen and bath stores instead.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! DesertSun, you usually offer a wealth of great info, BUT you keep telling people this despite many of us telling you from our own personal experience that Home Depot's prices were something like 50-55% off list, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE'S. When I did my kitchen remodel back in the summer of '09, Home Depot's prices were the lowest, and I checked several places.
Maybe where YOU live they charge full list price (although that would be totally bizarre to me), but they definitely don't where I live. You can hate Home Depot for other reasons, but NOT because they charge full MSRP, because they DON'T.
Last edited by karen_in_nh_2012; 02-05-2013 at 10:27 AM..
Where he lives is the same place I own a kitchen and bath showroom. They do not sell for list here. If they did it would be a cake walk selling against them. I see home depot estimates all the time.
Knitpunk,
The other reason and main reason to go to a small kitchen and bath place is customer service!
MCS1, he's been around for quite awhile and usually has some great advice to offer, but his bashing of Home Depot (I don't know Lowe's, there isn't one near me) is incredibly tiresome. Many of us (including you I think) have told him over and over and over that HD's prices offer HUGE discounts off list, just like all the other dealers'. (Honestly, how else would they sell so many kitchens?!! For me HD was the cheapest.) Yet he keeps saying they charge full list price. I would really like to see a price list from where he lives because it makes no sense to me at all that in his neighborhood they would somehow charge list.
I did NOT use HD for installation, since they are really just a referral service and they take a cut. (Now there IS where there would likely be a price difference.) I was not impressed at all with the contractor they referred -- my kitchen's ceiling height was 7' as it had soffits, and I wanted to find out about getting rid of the soffits, and they told me without even taking a look at the attic right above that it would likely cost an extra $10,000. Um, no thanks. My contractor installed the kitchen (including removing the soffit -- he had to raise a heating vent and that was about it!) AND 2 bathrooms AND hall and bedroom built-ins for less than $10,000.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! DesertSun, you usually offer a wealth of great info, BUT you keep telling people this despite many of us telling you from our own personal experience that Home Depot's prices were something like 50-55% off list, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE'S. When I did my kitchen remodel back in the summer of '09, Home Depot's prices were the lowest, and I checked several places.
Maybe where YOU live they charge full list price (although that would be totally bizarre to me), but they definitely don't where I live. You can hate Home Depot for other reasons, but NOT because they charge full MSRP, because they DON'T.
Your big orange never ever ever has and never will sell their cabinets at 50% off. Why would you even think that or say it when you know it's a lie?
The OP of this thread started it because he wondered why Big orange has shrunk their kitchen departments all across America. Well it's because they can't compete with the little guy. I was a little guy dealer for Kraftmaid and I bought for the same exact multiplier as they did. So why could I sell at 50% off and laugh my way to the bank with a 21% profit? I also was able to deliver your cabinets in 5 weeks when they tell you 8 but take 10 to 14. And when you do get them, 90% of the time pieces (usually trim) is missing. Because the clowns that work there never installed a cabinet in their life and don't even know what crown and toe skin is.
I don't know what you bought or if you are even comparing apples to apples. I have heard so many many times someone telling me they bought cabinets cheaper then another store bid but what they didn't tell you is the high bid was an expensive brand and they bought some cheap brand. They are unaware of the fact that there are different brands.
You don't have to believe me which you obviously don't, that's your loss. Just google Home Depot complaints and your computer screen will light up the night sky and may even blind Pilots in jetliners. Are they all lying? Case closed.
I have to disagree as i have a friend who has been a custom cabinet maker for 40 eyars. he said in exminig some of cabinets at Lowes that they are good for wehat is being charged.he said for mnay they will last as long as his custom cabinets. Not the same overall but you getting a good price for what is sold.He said if you want custom then you pay the price and no ready amde will be the same as custom overall.Its just a matter of what you can afford and want to pay .Some are cheap but they alos seel well made cabinets and the price reflects it.
I have to disagree as i have a friend who has been a custom cabinet maker for 40 eyars. he said in exminig some of cabinets at Lowes that they are good for wehat is being charged.he said for mnay they will last as long as his custom cabinets. Not the same overall but you getting a good price for what is sold.He said if you want custom then you pay the price and no ready amde will be the same as custom overall.Its just a matter of what you can afford and want to pay .Some are cheap but they alos seel well made cabinets and the price reflects it.
Your big orange never ever ever has and never will sell their cabinets at 50% off. Why would you even think that or say it when you know it's a lie?
The OP of this thread started it because he wondered why Big orange has shrunk their kitchen departments all across America. Well it's because they can't compete with the little guy. I was a little guy dealer for Kraftmaid and I bought for the same exact multiplier as they did. So why could I sell at 50% off and laugh my way to the bank with a 21% profit? I also was able to deliver your cabinets in 5 weeks when they tell you 8 but take 10 to 14. And when you do get them, 90% of the time pieces (usually trim) is missing. Because the clowns that work there never installed a cabinet in their life and don't even know what crown and toe skin is.
I don't know what you bought or if you are even comparing apples to apples. I have heard so many many times someone telling me they bought cabinets cheaper then another store bid but what they didn't tell you is the high bid was an expensive brand and they bought some cheap brand. They are unaware of the fact that there are different brands.
You don't have to believe me which you obviously don't, that's your loss. Just google Home Depot complaints and your computer screen will light up the night sky and may even blind Pilots in jetliners. Are they all lying? Case closed.
DesertSun, seriously? When I remodeled my kitchen I got quotes from several different places including Home Depot. EVERYONE told me what their percentage off list was -- in ALL cases (including Home Depot's) it was gigantic, 50% or more (can't remember the details as it's been almost 4 years now, but they were all such huge discounts that it made it clear that NO ONE sells for list price). I went with Home Depot because they were the cheapest -- they also had several special deals going on, like extra 10% off or extra cabinets or an upgrade in finish or a certain percentage off granite countertops or whatever -- as I said I don't remember exactly. These were Kraftmaid cabinets in maple with a glazed finish.
Why would I have gone with them if they sold at list when everyone else was half-list?
I have said the same thing over and over every time I have seen that you told someone that Home Depot charges full list price. They don't, in my area. It seems very bizarre to me that they would in your area. I am not calling you a liar, I am just saying that makes no sense at all.)
I am sure that there are a lot of complaints about HD -- as there are about other huge retailers. As I wrote, I did not use them for installation, but in my area at the time that I bought, they were the cheapest. (IIRC I checked with one last place just before I placed my order, and they were 1% lower or something without extra incentives, but HD matched their prices after I brought in their price list.)
Several of us have told you FROM OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that HD was the lowest in our area. I can't figure out why you choose not to believe us. Why on earth would we make that up?!
And my Home Depot has not shrunk their kitchen department -- at least not as of the last time I was there a few weeks ago.
As I also said, you often give great info & advice on cabinets ... it's only your constant HD-charges-full-list that makes me crazy.
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