Cardell Cabinets Closing (home, buying, bankruptcy)

[Solere]

I ordered Cardell Cabinets and have mentioned in other threads my frustration and disappointment in their quality control. I even emailed the company, but received no response in relation to drawer box fronts not matching color wise on the other sides of the drawers. I am probably out of luck on getting replacement parts in the future. I would like to know from former workers whether the poor quality control was the result of management cutting back/using inferior parts or worker unsatisfaction, pressure to meet deadlines etc. I had to wait 6 weeks for my cabinets and items were still backordered.

[TrapperL]

Obviously I don't work at Cardell but they were the cabinet of choice for me. I have them in my own home. I'm kinda surprised you have the issue considered Cardells cabinets are not stained and varnished but varnish stained. The difference being the Cardell process puts the color on top of the wood like an opaque paint rather than a stain that's actually in the wood with a varnish over it. The latter has always been an issue for cabinet makers since wood will absorb the oil stain at a different rate from piece to piece which means a lot of variation in the color. Varnish stain limited the issue. Cardell for years bought their varnish stains in large quantities which means it's fairly easy to match from lot to lot. Unless you have something in a light color, like maple or hickory, the color should be fairly close but it's not going to be exact. Maple and hickory are going to vary a lot even with varnish stain. Regardless, Cardell uses real wood on their box fronts. Wood is obviously not a man made item and there are going to be variances in the color. Considering you didn't post pics, it would be hard to judge if your cabinets are really off or maybe your expectations were just different than what you received. Up until yesterday I never had any home owner issues with any I've installed for folks. Now I'm having to look for another decent cabinet. Hopefully, for you and me, Cardell just has to reorganize and I get to keep using them and you can get someone from Cardell to do an inspection.

[Solere]

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Obviously I don't work at Cardell but they were the cabinet of choice for me. I have them in my own home. I'm kinda surprised you have the issue considered Cardells cabinets are not stained and varnished but varnish stained. The difference being the Cardell process puts the color on top of the wood like an opaque paint rather than a stain that's actually in the wood with a varnish over it. The latter has always been an issue for cabinet makers since wood will absorb the oil stain at a different rate from piece to piece which means a lot of variation in the color. Varnish stain limited the issue. Cardell for years bought their varnish stains in large quantities which means it's fairly easy to match from lot to lot. Unless you have something in a light color, like maple or hickory, the color should be fairly close but it's not going to be exact. Maple and hickory are going to vary a lot even with varnish stain. Regardless, Cardell uses real wood on their box fronts. Wood is obviously not a man made item and there are going to be variances in the color. Considering you didn't post pics, it would be hard to judge if your cabinets are really off or maybe your expectations were just different than what you received. Up until yesterday I never had any home owner issues with any I've installed for folks. Now I'm having to look for another decent cabinet. Hopefully, for you and me, Cardell just has to reorganize and I get to keep using them and you can get someone from Cardell to do an inspection.

Please read my ordeal with Cardell cabinets here:

Kitchen Cabinet Flaws

Here are pictures of the drawer box issue. Notice how the smaller bathroom cabinets are perfect, while the ones in the kitchen don't have matching drawer box sides (the front piece is off). I called another showroom today and the person working there told me his Cardell cabinets in the showroom had all the drawer box sides matching and that it's clearly odd why mine aren't matching. I'm not buying the fact that there are variations when my bathroom ones are perfect. The factory rep and dealer claim there are variations. That's not what was promoted or advertised. At this point I am frustrated and confused on what to do because I have not received a response from the company about this issue. The factory rep ordered replacement drawer boxes that had rough fronts but now if the replacement ones are also rough and have crap pieces of wood, how am I going to get a replacement? I don't know whether to keep emailing Cardell or file a claim with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors or get another dealer or independent people in the industry to write a statement that the color not matching is a defect. I came on here to ask about working conditions at Cardell and if the cabinet quality that I experienced is the norm from the top (CEO) or just bad/lazy workers and inspectors. I feel sorry for the workers who are out of a job, but none of the articles I have read online give any advice or information about how customers are going to be made whole.

Bad drawer box pictures.

193H1BUU/HII2 - ClasPics

[pr57001]

Originally Posted by Happs

Please read my ordeal with Cardell cabinets here:
I feel sorry for the workers who are out of a job, but none of the articles I have read online give any advice or information about how customers are going to be made whole.

Sorry to state the obvious, but you are not going to be made whole. They are going out of business and that puts you, others and (more importantly) the employees out of luck. If the cabinets were as bad as you describe (the limited amount I read), it's no surprise either.

[Solere]

Originally Posted by pr57001

Sorry to state the obvious, but you are not going to be made whole. They are going out of business and that puts you, others and (more importantly) the employees out of luck. If the cabinets were as bad as you describe (the limited amount I read), it's no surprise either.

So basically I have worthless cabinets now that I can't get any replacement parts for them? If the replacement drawers that the factory rep ordered are bad, what recovery do I have? Do I have any warranty on the cabinets? if the company doesn't respond to my requests and the dealer doesn't agree with my on the color variations of the drawer box fronts, how should I pursue this case?

[TexasRedneck]

Dude - they filed bankruptcy......guess you could file a claim w/the court and hope for 10 cents on the dollar.......eventually.

[Pancho-Villa]

Have to agree with Redneck..sounds like you're screwed. Sorry.

[TexasRedneck]

Also - be willing to bet that you could find a good local cabinet shop that can match things up for you.

[TrapperL]

Uh, no, they were not going to do anything about it anyway even if they were in business. The front block on the drawers is a natural hardwood. It's used as it's a lot harder wood for the screws to get a bit on. It's considered a construction component of the drawer. They make no attempt to make it match the drawer sides. That you have some in the bath and not in the kitchen is pure random selection. Here's the typical Cardell dove tail joint in my own cabinets and they are just like many others I've installed over the decades. Sorry your expectations were not met but you ended up with a stronger built drawer box than most production cabinets.

[Solere]

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Uh, no, they were not going to do anything about it anyway even if they were in business. The front block on the drawers is a natural hardwood. It's used as it's a lot harder wood for the screws to get a bit on. It's considered a construction component of the drawer. They make no attempt to make it match the drawer sides. That you have some in the bath and not in the kitchen is pure random selection. Here's the typical Cardell dove tail joint in my own cabinets and they are just like many others I've installed over the decades. Sorry your expectations were not met but you ended up with a stronger built drawer box than most production cabinets.

How do you explain why my friend's Aristokraft kitchen cabinet have the front block on the drawer box matching the other sides of the drawer box perfectly? They also don't appear to be any stronger or weaker than the Cardell drawer boxes. Even the competitor showroom I called agreed with me. Not trying to be argumentative, but rather find answers. Can a cabinet maker, carpenter, etc find and install a matching color "hardwood" drawer box front piece?