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Thread: RTA Cabinet Reviews?

  1. #1
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    RTA Cabinet Reviews?

    Not sure which subforum this would fit in, but does anyone have any feedback- good bad or otherwise- On ready to assemble cabinets?
    Not looking for custom quality or price at this time, but would like something that would hold up to 10yrs or so of use.
    Unless I’m not looking in the right spots, there just isn’t that many independent reviews out there.
    Most places I’ve looked so far, 1/2 hardwood ply, dovetailed drawers, soft close hinges and slides all seem to be standard.
    Most of the companies I’ve considered, assemble with cam locks and optional glue (I’d definitely glue).

    Thanks in advance!
    Adam
    Last edited by Adam Grund; 02-12-2020 at 10:37 AM.

  2. #2
    I've purchased cabinets from Barker Cabinets 3 times (my own master bath, a plant break room @ work, a neighbor's bar). I have been super pleased every time. Two times I bought sapelle veneered product, and finished it myself. For work, we bought some prefinished in white.

    Instructions, plywood, dovetails, slides, hinges are all well made.

    You don't need the glue. The cam locks work fine.

    I've bought the drawers in ply as well as alder.

    Shelves were all 3/4", but I believe the drawers are 5/8" not 1/2".

  3. #3
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    For the times I wanted RTA cabinets...I went to Ikea. Nicely designed and great Blum hardware including the metal drawer system and soft-stop hinges. My singular issue with them is that the doors/drawers are not necessarily "inspiring" because as for most RTA solutions, they don't take as much care in color/grain matching as I do for scratch building.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
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    Do any of these RTA sources offer the boxes alone? The idea would be to buy the casework and drawer boxes, and build the doors and drawer fronts.

  5. #5
    I would check with Barker. Ironically, I know you can just buy the doors, but I am not sure if you can just buy the carcasses and drawers.

    BTW, these are all frameless, so you have to like that... I'm still trying not to be prejudiced against non-face-frame cabs.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    For the times I wanted RTA cabinets...I went to Ikea. Nicely designed and great Blum hardware including the metal drawer system and soft-stop hinges. My singular issue with them is that the doors/drawers are not necessarily "inspiring" because as for most RTA solutions, they don't take as much care in color/grain matching as I do for scratch building.
    I had checked them out because of so many times of reading how great their cabs actually are. While I have not seen any in person, looking online they just didn’t do it for me. They seem to be slightly cheaper than other rta solutions, but for me not enough to swallow not being in love with them.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Do any of these RTA sources offer the boxes alone? The idea would be to buy the casework and drawer boxes, and build the doors and drawer fronts.
    the whole motivation behind looking in to rta is trying to come up with solutions to complete a halfway decent kitchen without breaking the bank until i can afford the kitchen I’d want financially and putting in the time. Heavy emphasis on the time. My budget kitchen “rearrangement” has sat half done for 2.5 years, and the wife has said its time to do something. Which I can’t blame her. But, I don’t want to give up the family time to get building the doors and drawer fronts, stain, ect that I need to do currently, and I’m essentially brand new to woodworking so everything takes me 3 times as long with 20 more mistakes. so I’m throwing up the white flag of defeat. rta seems like a decent enough balance of some work but not as much as it could be, some money but not as much as it could be.

    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    I would check with Barker. Ironically, I know you can just buy the doors, but I am not sure if you can just buy the carcasses and drawers.

    BTW, these are all frameless, so you have to like that... I'm still trying not to be prejudiced against non-face-frame cabs.
    I will check them out. Barker is where I priced buying just doors and drawer fronts. I almost like that idea better, but then I’ve spent a grand and I’m still left with my less than stellar boxes and my crappy stain job. If I could buy doors and drawers for a few hundred less I’d feel better about still having a crap base lol
    I hadn’t realized about being frameless, and that’s a bummer! I’m a little prejudiced also. Although, it looks like at least one style offering from the rta store.com is face frame.,
    Last edited by Adam Grund; 02-12-2020 at 3:46 PM.

  7. #7
    Barker will save you some money, but don't count on it being cheap. It's fairly priced, IMHO. They will pre-finish in several stains and a pretty durable finish (cannot recall if it's conversion varnish or lacquer) if you want. I would venture to say their stuff is middle to higher end in terms of cabinet quality I've seen. Really the only thing you sacrifice (as Jim correctly says) is the profiles. But the wood species are the typical variety (maple, alder, poplar, cherry, walnut, and a few slab veneer options like sapele).

    There was a 6-8 week lead time, so beware about that.

    Plywood (good plywood) is not cheap, and you'll be out a pretty penny just making the boxes yourself. That doesn't include the time spent joining, edge-banding and finishing it.

    You get what you pay for when it comes to kitchen cabinets.

    On my first order, they incorrectly sent me a box of 18" Blum slides instead of 21". Customer service promptly sent out the new slides (about 12) and did not even 'make' me return the originals. That was not a cheap mistake for them.
    Last edited by Prashun Patel; 02-12-2020 at 3:53 PM.

  8. #8
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    Yeah I had to make 2 cabinets to fit odd sizes I needed, and ultimately used Lowe’s oak prefinished ply because I didn’t want to build 2 small cabinets at greater quality than what the rest of my cabinets were, figuring they’d stick out like a sore thumb If I did that.
    But I did price out legit prefinished cabinet grade ply, at about 3x what I paid. I know good quality means $
    Just trying to search out more economical options to satisfy an immediate need, then the plan has always been hopefully revisit in a decade or so when I have more time to develope skills and devote the time to get what I want. initially I wasn’t wanting to dump a bunch of money in to the kitchen right now, but happy wife happy life?
    With a 2yr old and 8mo old spare time isn’t in my vocabulary anymore

  9. #9
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    I've purchased RTA cabinets from Cabinet Authority. Selection, quality, and service was excellent. I went with them originally because I needed to match some unusual style cabinets for a customer retrofit and they had a very close match. I've since purchased a couple more times since I was happy with them. I know you can buy doors and drawers from them separately; don't know if you can buy the boxes with no doors/drawer fronts.
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  10. #10
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    A local company here imports RTA cabinets direct from China. I bought them for a remodel of my kitchen and they are way better than the falling apart cabinets I had in the kitchen. Mine have made it five years with no real issues, but I live alone so nobody else to beat on the cabinets.

    I wouldn't be surprised if some of the RTA cabinets end up all beat to heck if a family with kids use them. In 2014 I looked at buying a house built in 2009. The finish was already worn off some of the kitchen cabinets and the bathroom vanity too.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    I've purchased RTA cabinets from Cabinet Authority. Selection, quality, and service was excellent. I went with them originally because I needed to match some unusual style cabinets for a customer retrofit and they had a very close match. I've since purchased a couple more times since I was happy with them. I know you can buy doors and drawers from them separately; don't know if you can buy the boxes with no doors/drawer fronts.
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    A local company here imports RTA cabinets direct from China. I bought them for a remodel of my kitchen and they are way better than the falling apart cabinets I had in the kitchen. Mine have made it five years with no real issues, but I live alone so nobody else to beat on the cabinets.

    I wouldn't be surprised if some of the RTA cabinets end up all beat to heck if a family with kids use them. In 2014 I looked at buying a house built in 2009. The finish was already worn off some of the kitchen cabinets and the bathroom vanity too.
    Thank you both for your feedback!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    For the times I wanted RTA cabinets...I went to Ikea. Nicely designed and great Blum hardware including the metal drawer system and soft-stop hinges. My singular issue with them is that the doors/drawers are not necessarily "inspiring" because as for most RTA solutions, they don't take as much care in color/grain matching as I do for scratch building.
    Second that: did my kitchen in '17 with their newer "Sektion" system.

    I liked the general quality so much I redid my garage storage with their cabinets (and much cheaper plain fronts). The nice bit is, because of the Euro-style hanging rail to mount to the walls, rearranging the cabs the next time I change cars will be much easier than the last couple of time I went through that exercise.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Do any of these RTA sources offer the boxes alone? The idea would be to buy the casework and drawer boxes, and build the doors and drawer fronts.
    The IKEA stuff is a "system", and all the boxes/drawers/doors/fronts/etc are available separately. In fact there are several firms doing a good business selling custom doors and draw fronts predrilled for the IKEA boxes, which are pretty much the lowest-cost parts of the system.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    BTW, these are all frameless, so you have to like that... I'm still trying not to be prejudiced against non-face-frame cabs.
    If it's the cosmetic aspects of frameless that bother you, so be it. But after a couple years of using a kitchen full of frameless stuff after 40 years of face-frame, I can tell you that frameless wins hand-down on functionality: the odd little bits of wasted space created by the face frames add up to a lot.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  14. #14
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    So im not sure if adding this is too off topic or not but take it or leave it i guess. If you use ecabs as its ment to be used you can send your design to a cnc shop and pick up Ready to assemble cabs. Fully custom and I pay about $160 per sheet on 3/4 prefin ply including the cutting and labels on each piece. I got the name of this fella from a co op forum list on this site. I can even send my guy prefinished banding stock if i want custom solid colors. Good luck with all your projects !

  15. #15
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    I have bought cabinets for a house at “Cabinets to Go.” I was quite happy with the quality for the price paid. A small kitchen and two bathrooms was 3000 dollars compared to 5000 for the same cabinets at Home Depot by Hampton Bay.

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