Kitchen cabinets - buy or build?

[frank shic]

beautiful job, jeff. how long did the corner cabs take you? would you build them again?

[fRED mCnEILL]

We redid our kitchen 6 years ago. It included taking out a 1/2 wall between the kitchen and a small family room(to create a bigger kitchen/great room.We also put in hardwood floors and new lighting. I built all the cabinets before hand over the winter and as they were finished we stored them in the living room/dining room. When they were ready we started demo on the old kitchen. Had the neighbor boys tear up the old floor-took a couple of hours. Also had a friend spend a couple of days helping to remove the wall and put in the hardwood floor. etc. Had an electrician do a couple of days work and a drywall guy do a days work. The rest I did myself. The kitchen was out of commission for exactly one month. We used a temporary countertop for a couple of weeks while waiting for granite counter tops. The cabinets were plywood boxes with 3/4 overlay doors. I sprayed the inside with lacquer. I bought the birch hardwood from a local sawmill ($1 per b/f)WE SAVED A TON!! I compared the cost to Ikea and mine were WAY cheaper but way better. Full extension blum undermount drawers, solid apple drawers, toe-kick drawers and a host of other one of a kind unique things that you don't usually find even in the highest end kitchens. Asked my wife today if she still loves her kitchen as much and she still raves about it. The one thing we didn't do at the time was get an induction cooktop(already bought an electric ) but we fixed that a couple of months ago.

[Phil Gaudio]

I built a set about 10 years ago: I do remember saying something like "I'll never do that again". Having said that, it is doable. I decided I would have to build a prototype cabinet first, which would allow me to prove to myself that I had the skills to produce a respectable end product. My prototype later became my router table. I chose euro style cabinets, as I thought they would be easier for an amateur, and I am glad I did. The other thing I did was standardize the design of the cabs. to the extent possible: I made 4 identical base cabinet modules that housed 3 identical drawers each: improves efficiency when you can get into more of a "production mode" and create multiple copies, rather than having each assembly be unique. Then I built the cabinets in what I called campaigns: one campaign was the identical base cabinets, one was the drawer boxes, one was the drawer fronts, etc. It can be done, but you definitely need a strategy, and it helps tremendously if you are "organized". Here is pic of my prototype:

996912-m-0.jpg

[Bill Dufour]

I have to ask why does everyone say build new cabinet cases these days? I understand the time appeal of rip out the old and drop the new boxes in place. But in say 1960 or earlier the cabinets would have been built in a shop and assembled on site and half the structure would be the existing walls. All they really are is a face frame and some dividing plywood front to back. Is there something wrong with that method of construction? Seems like separate cases require about 50% more plywood. Or is it just because a house walls are so out of square.
Of course I do think it looks cheap when the back of a cabinet is just a painted plaster wall instead of wood.

[Mel Fulks]

Bill, my thinking is that the old cabinets that you described will be back when TV screens return to oval shape. I also think metal cabinets will soon be hot again.

[Bill Dufour]

Bill, my thinking is that the old cabinets that you described will be back when TV screens return to oval shape. I also think metal cabinets will soon be hot again.

Hey I lived in a duplex with sheet metal cabinets. They were in pretty good shape for being 50 years old. But the sheet metal slides wore out on the most used drawers and no easy way to replace.
Bill D

[Brian Holcombe]

Work everything out style wise with everyone whose input matters long before you get started. Design on the fly is super difficult and adds a lot of stress to a project. So plan every inch before you take anything apart or buy materials.

[Brad Shipton]

2011 thread.

[Peter Kelly]

Hit and run one-time spam poster.