When buying top-quality and high-end cabinets, what should you look for? This guide will help.
Unlike custom cabinets, which are made to the specifications of a particular order, stock cabinets are manufactured in standard sizes. The manufacturer holds them in inventory or ships them to regional distributors or dealers who sell them at retail.
Just as a handcrafted chair costs more than a mass-produced one, custom cabinets cost more than stock. Whether you have custom cabinets made in a local cabinet shop or by a large custom manufacturer, you pay for the time and talents of experienced cabinetmakers.
Custom cabinets require a lot of personal attention and time because they’re designed and built from scratch. A 6-to-12-week waiting period is typical. Of course, for high-end kitchens or those requiring special cabinet sizes, configurations, or finishes, the premium is usually well worth it.
Price and delivery time are the strongest advantages of stock cabinets. These cabinets benefit from the economies of mass production, so they tend to cost from one-third to two-thirds less than similar-looking custom cabinets. Instead of paying $300 to $1,200 per lineal foot for custom cabinets, you’re looking at between $75 and $250 per lineal foot for stock.
Delivery time varies, depending on availability and the company’s distribution methods, but it rarely exceeds two or three weeks. Cabinets warehoused locally may be available the same day, and ready-to-assemble (RTA) knock-down cabinets sold ove the counter are often cash-and-carry.
There is sometimes a fine line between custom and stock cabinetry. Many large custom manufacturers simplify ordering and manufacturing by offering a wide range of standard sizes and finishes with literally thousands of options. They can modify these by altering size, customizing finishes or colors, adding accessories, or changing configurations.
Even small cabinet-making shops often buy pre-manufactured parts—doors and drawer fronts, for example, that they integrate into custom cabinets.
Judging Kitchen Cabinet QualityThough production cabinets may not rival the quality of handmade cabinets, they do offer consistency. Many stock cabinets are manufactured with demanding tolerances to ensure quality. In fact, because of the sophisticated equipment used in today’s cabinet manufacturing, the quality of machining may be superior to what most small cabinet shops can offer.
One of the advantages of buying stock cabinets is that you can inspect them before you buy. If you shop around, you’ll discover that some are more “shlock” than stock.
Heavily discounted cabinets offered through lumberyards are highly suspect. Beware of photo-simulated wood grain, paper-thin laminates, low-quality or mismatched woods, and haphazard joinery.
The first place to look when checking quality is a drawer. Study how it’s made—the detailing of the joinery, the quality of the inner surfaces, the fit of the pieces, and how well it glides in its tracks. Is it on high-quality ball-bearing extensions, moderate-quality rollers, or cheap plastic runners? Check to see how far the drawer extends out.
Then check a cabinet door for proper fit and ease of action. Check any edge banding around the perimeter for workmanship. Note whether the hinges are adjustable and how far the door will swing open.
When buying stock cabinets, you usually pay upfront, which is why a thorough inspection is critical. Once you get them home and installed, you’ll have little recourse if you then discover that there are flaws in the design or workmanship.
High-End Kitchen Cabinets
Have you fallen in love with some of the European cabinets you’ve seen in home decorating magazines? If you’re considering imported cabinets, have your checkbook ready. Allmilmo, SieMatic, Poggenpohl, and a few other European manufacturers offer cabinets that are truly beautiful and clearly for high-end kitchens.
Most average about $30,000 per kitchen, and some far exceed that. Also be prepared to wait from 6 to 16 weeks, depending on the company and your order.
Because highly individualized kitchens may be created from imported cabinets, they’re referred to as “custom.” Actually, some cabinet widths can be modified and you can order some special cabinets, but, for the most part, you order within a wide range of standard sizes and finishes.
The German company Allmilmo, for example, offers about 120 different looks, with surfaces that include laminates, wood veneers, lacquer finishes, and hardwoods such as maple, spruce, mahogany, and beech. All have frameless, melamine-laminated carcasses. The drawers are high-grade “Meta-Box” drawer systems with metal sides, integrated full-extension slides, and melamine bottoms.
SieMatic, with lines made in Germany and Canada and with some doors made domestically, also markets a wide range of standard sizes in styles from country hardwood cabinets to high-gloss, lacquered contemporary models.
In addition, SieMatic distributes Smallbone Handmade English Cabinetry, a line of beautifully made wood cabinets, including the very popular “unfitted” cabinets. Unlike typical cabinets, which are installed in runs, these are made more like individual furniture pieces. Installed and handpainted on site by specially trained craftspersons, these cabinets push the upper limits of price, averaging from $45,000 to $60,000 and topping out well over $100,000.
With Poggenpohl cabinetry, a German line, you work with predetermined sizes and fronts to create a system with a highly custom look. Of the European-style contemporary products on the market, Poggenpohl cabinets are considered some of the highest quality and are also among the highest priced.
