Anyone with advice on finding new kitchen cabinets? Regrets, anyone?? (China: home, unemployment)

[Karoe]

I am trying to decide whether to buy cabinets from Cabinets to go, or Surplus store versus paying for custom cabinets to save money on my kitchen remodel. Has anyone used off-the-shelf cabinets and are they good quality? If you had to do it over again (kitchen remodel), what would you do differently?

[desertsun41]

Cabinets-to-go are made in China. They are infested with formaldehyde, sulfur and lead. Enough to kill a small child with existing asthma problems. Why do you think you can buy a whole new cherry all wood kitchen with China made for $895.00 and every major brand cost 4 times that? Good reason indeed.

The reason these are so cheap is in America we have the DEP or EPA which regulate poisonous emissions from consumer products which are known to cause cancer or other health problems. In China they have no such government agencies. The thing that will make you scratch your head is America allows the importing of dangerous goods yet American companies are forbidden to produce them here. It cost money to build safe products. Thus the reason for more costly products here. This goes for toys too which always make the news.

If you go way back to Science class in high school you may remember Formaldehyde dissolves glue. And China uses plenty of dangerous formaldehyde in the manufacturer of their products. Call it what you wish. Plywood, particle board, fiber board.....whatever the material used, it all uses glue. These wood panels will come apart in just a few years due to the formaldehyde dissolving the glues and resins that hold it together. The levels of formaldehyde will give you instant headaches and coughing even if you are a healthy person. There are several documented deaths due to Chinese cabinet exposure.

The following is another reason Chinese cabinets are so cheap: (now tell me if you want to support this crap)

China steals the trees due to a bureaucratic disaster created in a treaty from back in the 1940s. China owns a large forest inside of Russia called Suifenhe which they owned since the 1940s. All the outgoing trains leave Suifenhe with just one valuable commodity.... wood, and lots of it. No machinery is used. 6 Chinese men each carry a log to the train to ship to a China mill. In the factories they have huge CNC machines that cut out all the components that make up the various sized cabinet boxes. When one buys a cabinet they come in a box of pieces that the consumer has to assemble at home. This is not a strong box. Cam locks hold the box together. This and the labor paid to Chinese peasants make these parts is laughable and allows China to sell cabinets so cheap. If you ever get a splinter with Chinese wood, GET IT OUT INSTANTLY!!!!!!!! You don't want that in your blood stream.

Also, there are never ever any warranties with China cabinets. If something goes wrong or you break a door, you can not buy just the door replacement, you have to buy the entire cabinet. And you have to order it and wait 6 months for the next overseas shipment comes in. Another issue is there are only limited sizes and box types available. Only a few colors are available and usually only 2 door styles.

I have published several articles on this issue as well as others in trade journals. Please don't ask where as I don't advertise here. This is for educational purposes to help you make an informed decision and not be scammed by such a cheap tempting price. This has been very condensed from it's original version but I hope I made my point to help you make a decision.

Finally.......I must add the following. During these economic depression times where the construction industry has been devastated with 50% plus unemployment, do you really want to support a foreign country who don't even like us? Support AMERICAN JOBS PEOPLE!!!

Good luck to you my friend

[desertsun41]

I also need to add something important. Do your own research. But in the end, if you do not see the KCMA sticker on the door or box or someplace it will be displayed, DO NOT BUY THAT CABINET.


KCMA is the Consumer Reports of the cabinet industry. It's a NON profit, NON government agency who tests kitchen cabinets of all kinds and rates them. If it can not pass some basic endurance tests then it will not be KCMA certified. You will never ever ever find a KCMA sticker on a China made cabinet.

Recently KCMA started certifying green. This will be the standard KCMA blue sticker but it will be colored in green. This means it has safe emission levels and the manufacturing process meets every safety standard.

Again, good luck

[ChocolateBabz]

When we bought our home we upgraded our cabinets. The builder had used kentmore. When we wanted to remodel our laundry we wanted matching cabinets. We were pleasantly surprised by the cost so it might be worth getting a quote from them. We also installed handles. What's with all the handleless cabinets over here?

[Johnhw2]

Is it the cabinets you need to replace or just the cabinet doors? I havent seem many cabinets in such shape to warrant full on replacement when the door replacement made them look like new.

We considered doing cabinets but ended up refinishing our cabinet doors whick was incredible and made all the difference in look. Our 1976 builder cabinets were fine!

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

Is it the cabinets you need to replace or just the cabinet doors? I havent seem many cabinets in such shape to warrant full on replacement when the door replacement made them look like new.

We considered doing cabinets but ended up refinishing our cabinet doors whick was incredible and made all the difference in look. Our 1976 builder cabinets were fine!

John, refinishing or refacing or just replacing doors is like putting a nice clean pressed suit on a dirty man with soiled underwear and worn out shoes. And your pockets are still dirty.

Refacing is more expensive then replacing, any day, any time, any place.

[Karoe]

Thanks for the great information. I did some checking on-line and viewed numerous complaints from these to-go cheap cabinet companies--damaged cabinets, poor customer service, and especially long waits for delivery (coming from China). It appears to me that if I want cabinets for the renovation within a couple of weeks, I will have to purchase local custom cabinets. I will check Angie's List for a few cabinet-makers in the area. I was hoping I had found a great deal for less money and quick delivery. Once again I suppose, you get what you pay for! If anyone has recommendations, I would appreciate the input. Thanks!

[astrohip]

Your best value is to buy from a local cabinet distributor. Someone who sells a name-brand manufactured cabinet. They will almost certainly be KCMA (desertsun41 is correct, you want KCMA), and they will usually be excellent quality for a good price. Two that come to mind are Gulf & Basco (in business for years) and J-Kraft.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

John, refinishing or refacing or just replacing doors is like putting a nice clean pressed suit on a dirty man with soiled underwear and worn out shoes. And your pockets are still dirty.

Refacing is more expensive then replacing, any day, any time, any place.

What on earth do you put in your cabinets and do you not cleam and replace the shelving paper you put down? It wasnt more expensive to refinish my cabinets than it would have been to replace them. Absolute's dont work as simple as that would make life for you.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by astrohip

Your best value is to buy from a local cabinet distributor. Someone who sells a name-brand manufactured cabinet. They will almost certainly be KCMA (desertsun41 is correct, you want KCMA), and they will usually be excellent quality for a good price. Two that come to mind are Gulf & Basco (in business for years) and J-Kraft.

You are right and wrong. Gulf and Basco is not a brand, it's a lumber yard and dealer who sells Cardell, Medallion and Kitchen Craft brands of cabinet. J-Kraft is not really a brand but rather a local company who makes their own cabinets.

There are only 3 types of cabinets, full custom, semi custom and stock. But in Texas there is a 4th. It is very incorrectly called custom cabinets. Keep in mind the word "custom" has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the product. Custom means it's built to fit as opposed to buying stock sizes and using fillers to fill an end space. Yet you hear Texans bragging they have custom cabinets. No they do not have custom cabinets, They likely are just painted wooden boxes.

In the great state of Texas the word custom refers to clowns with a tool box and a pick up truck who build painted wooden boxes from plywood bought at Home Junkpo. The slang term for this is job built or site built or garage built. They are junk, trash. They are NOT cabinets, certainly not custom cabinets. They are painted wooden boxes. They come with no warranty and most times these clowns do not offer finishing because they don't know how. They will usually tell the poor unsuspecting homeowner they can hire a painter to finish them. Who wants a painted cabinet anyway? This is 2012. Everyone will point and laugh.

Most often when the word "cabinet" is spoken, dollar signs can be seen in place of pupils in ones eyes. Why? Because most people thinking of a new kitchen run to the big orange who only wants your little green. The big orange or big blue charge FULL LIST PRICE or MSRP or LIST PRICE. You would not pay sticker price on the window of your new car would you? No one does. Most all small dealers discount heavy from list price. Do your homework friends.