# Cabinets - Custom vs High Quality Prefab?



## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

Was your intention to do any of the work yourself, or were you going to hire out the install of the cabinet from the big box stores?

The install is where you can really save big, I am sure the difference in the big box stores and custom is going to be the accessories you will get if you stick with the big box stores, ie lazy suzans, pull out corner cabinet solution, soft close doors and drawers, roll out shelving, grab handles and knobs.

Mark


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## FlyingHammer (Jun 22, 2009)

If pre-fab, I would most likely do the install myself. But it's a big kitchen, so it could take me a week or two to finish working part time.


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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

If you were planning to do the install yourself, there is no way a custom cabinet maker could do both fab and install for the same price as your purchase price of prefab, not without cutting some serious corners.

Mark


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## pyper (Jul 1, 2009)

Here are a few details to check into:

* hinges.
* drawer slides.
* how the drawers are jointed.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

FlyingHammer said:


> In the final planning stage of a major kitchen remodel, and just starting to think about cabinets. I went to a home show yesterday and spoke with a custom cabinet maker who *appears* to be highly skilled and someone I could work with. I'd obviously have to do a bit more investigation before committing, but...
> 
> He tells me he can design, build, and install custom cabinets for "about the same price" as high end prefab cabinets from the big box stores (similar wood, hardware, and features). If true I would definitely want to go custom, but I'm skeptical. Has anyone done an in-depth comparison between custom and pre-fab cabs? What should I watch out for?


What are the cabinets made from? Particle board or cabinet grade plywood? Is the ply 1/2" or 3/4" thick.
Go onto a website of a cabinet line you're interested in and see what's what.
Most companies have 3 grades of cabinets. And as Pyper mentioned compare the hardware. Full extension undermount guides from Blum. or the 3/4 extensions from the big box. Big difference in price.
You need to find one orange before you can compare it to the other.
Ron


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

I was told something similar but the difference turned out to be about 6000. If you met this cabinet maker at a home show you must have seen a sample of his work. You should have him give you an estimate and then compare to say Kraftmaid cabinets.


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## distcab (Feb 22, 2011)

*proceed with caution*

I own my own cabinet shop and customers always want to compare premade prices to the price of custom cabinets. Unless the cabinet maker got a tremendous deal on wood, it's unlikely that he can produce high quality cabinets for less than what it costs for premade cabinets... proceed with caution.


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## RedHelix (Sep 15, 2010)

FlyingHammer said:


> He tells me he can design, build, and install custom cabinets for "about the same price" as high end prefab cabinets from the big box stores (similar wood, hardware, and features). If true I would definitely want to go custom, but I'm skeptical. Has anyone done an in-depth comparison between custom and pre-fab cabs? What should I watch out for?


My wife is a CAD jockey for a design firm that does a lot of jobs with Premier CB. (Not to be confused with home depot brand... six-figure kitchens, man.)

I'll ask her for some info, as they bounce between pre-fab and custom jobs all the time. But I can say right now that one of her questions will be what that dude was smoking.


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## JCarsten (Jul 6, 2010)

For all my jobs, I tell the customer to look at what they want in the finished look. 

Box cabinets can produce a great product, but have little flexibility (most lines). If you need 19 1/2 inches, they'll give you 18 inches and a filler strip. Custom cabinets will give you 19 1/2 inches. 

Box cabinets come prefinished. Custom cabinets can come either unfinished or finished. In most cases, the finish on box cabinets is better.

Painted cabinets versus stained cabinets- Box cabinets will have to be face nailed for items like crown or other mouldings. You will never completely hide nail holes, unless you completely paint over the entire cabinet. Stained cabinets are easier to hide nail holes, but are still visible on a prefinished cabinet.

Some people do not like fillers and seeing nail holes. Then we go custom.
Some people never look at the details and want the price to be lower. Then we go box.
When you factor in finishing, good custom cabinets are always more expensive than box.

Depends on how picky you are.

Jason Myrlie
www.jcarstenhomes.com


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

FlyingHammer said:


> as high end prefab cabinets from the big box stores (similar wood, hardware, and features). If true I would definitely want to go custom, but I'm skeptical. Has anyone done an in-depth comparison between custom and pre-fab cabs? What should I watch out for?


First lets clear up the misconception that box stores sell high end pre-fab cabinets. They don't. They are not awful unless we are talking the Swedish place but they don't come close to the quality of what you will find at a kitchen cabinet supplier. And no offense to the ones that are good and just need work right now but most contractors those places hire would not be allowed on a restoration project of mine.

"Look level enough! Screw it in place Gus! What do you mean we missed the stud? Ah the H with it, the screws in the other two will hold it all up!"

Obviously a custom cabinet maker, or even a real semi-custom one with a team that can REALLY measure and install is going to give you a better kitchen. And you get to pick the wood, hinges, pull handles and other bells and whistles. Mine would never put me in a situation of having to explain why a piece has to be cut to cover a one inch gap or something like I see with box store installations. 

Custom cabinet makers are hungry too these days and slowly finding their businesses challenged by box store crap. If you found a good one with checked out references I don't really have to sum up my opinion I hope? Even if he or she is 20-40 percent more you will be happier. And any real estate agent will tell you, at least in the recent past, any money you put in a nice kitchen comes back to you at least once over. 

All that said? If you are not going to live in the house for long? If you can find a box store person who can measure to the 1/6th or 1/32nd in all the important places? And shows up with a Stanley or Lufkin tape and not the ones HD does for $3 and it is marked in fractions? Go with the bulk frefab things. The argument to prefab cabinets is that under factory conditions they can be built with better joints, made more square, etc. Any cabinet maker can acccomplish the same and the problem is walls, floors and ceilings in homes, especially older ones, are seldom level and square. Only a cabinet maker can make it look like it doesn't matter.


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## FlyingHammer (Jun 22, 2009)

Thanks to all who replied. I truely appreciate all your insights. 

After doing a thorough apples-to-apples comparison we decided to go custom. We could have actually saved a few bucks with pre-fab, but only because we would have been able to stack several discounts. Even with all the discounts, pre-fab was only about 8% less than the cabinet maker. And that didn't include installation (or any of the fillers we forgot to include) so it was pretty much a wash price-wise. I still find it hard to believe.

The cabinet guy has already been to the house twice to measure, make templates, and review plans/drawings. He hasn't started installing anything yet, but I am absolutely certain we made the right decision. There is no way we would have been able to work in so many custom features with the pre-fab cabs.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Your post was a good one and I am sure you will be pleased with the results. Let us know how it turns out and post some pics if you feel like it?


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## mv2rwc (Apr 20, 2011)

Flyinghammer,

Please let us know how it goes.

We are in a middle of a remodel and are looking at cabinet options as well.

So far we looked at big box cabinet option (HD - craftmaid) and the ready to assemble internet firm (RTA Cabinet).

We did not look at the custom option yet mainly because I thought the cost would extremely high.

Thanks!


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## katandmouse (Sep 21, 2016)

I come from a cabinet making family and I can't imagine getting anything prefab. There really are important differences in quality and choices. Custom also lasts forever. At least they have for me. Not so with prefab. For example, I have a friend who decided to save a few bucks and bought high-end prefab cabinets. The looked beautiful at first, but within a year, joints were splitting and doors were hanging crooked. 

From the choice of glue to the quality of wood and hardware to how they join their corners, everything matters to a master cabinet maker. Their intention is to produce a work of art. Pre-fab cabinet manufacturers intent is to give you a decent piece of furniture and also make a big profit. To do that, they have to use inferior materials and labor.


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

For those considering building their own cabinets. I built my own kitchen cabinets, ten of them. I used 3/4 inch double maple veneered plywood, high end blum hinges and slides, and I made rail and style doors with walnut inlay. They came out very nice, which is the good news. It took me several years to finish them all, that is the bad news. I am not a cabinet maker by trade, making cabinets is far more difficult than it looks when a skilled cabinet maker is working, since they make it look easy (Norm on This Old House). 

By the time I got done throwing out pieces I cut incorrectly, or templated wrong, I probably wasted 25 percent of my lumber, which I suppose is par for the course for an amateur. And I had to build a router table to do the rails and styles, and several jigs for specialized work. I suppose I "saved" some money over buying custom cabinets, but only if I value my time at zero. Mostly I enjoyed the process, I like working with wood, gets me to the basement where I belong. And I got exactly what I wanted, except for the enormous time lag between start and finish.

Conclusion: Unless you really enjoy the work, and have lots of time, better off allowing a professional cabinet maker to build your kitchen than DIY. If time is no obstacle, and you want to learn, consider building your own.


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## carpdad (Oct 11, 2010)

As a layman or even amateur diy, apple to apple comparison is a bit of illusion. It is about the same as buying a car. We can't even begin to know the hidden costs. Factory made has many middleman costs that add up and oneman business would have that less cost. Seems the op made the decision best suited. All we can do is look at the finish product and trust we can see the difference between good build and a garbage.
Use of staples, missing, rough or inconsistent finish, glue marks, misaligned joints, loose hardware, difficult installation, material too thin (drawer bottoms, eg) or missing - signs of cheap products.
I'm adding that this may be the sign of our times, that as middle class income stayed as it is, not many can afford to search for quality. Not even the japanese can afford to do this anymore.


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