It was brought to my attention that, in my earlier post about cabinet options, I failed to mention the in-stock cabients that some home centers and other stores offer.
Quite so. My bad. For the budget-conscious remodeler, these cabinetry lines may offer a very viable alternative. But again, which product to use?
The in-stock products that I've seen are usually of two types. First, the stores offer fully-assembled unfinished oak or maple cabinets that the homeowner (these poducts are typically targeted toward the DIY, or do-it-yourself, consumer) would take home, install, stain, and finish.
The other type of cabinets you might see in a store's stock will be RTA (ready-to-assemble)cabinets. Don't be put off. There are advantages to the RTA product.
Firstly, you may find a wider selection of door styles in the RTA line. Some stores have what they call a multi-pack program, where the consumer selects the sizes and types of cabinets wanted or needed for their project, then selects the doors, which are packaged separately, to fit the selected cabinets.
While the store may offer one or two door styles or wood species in their fully assembled cabinet line, you may find three, four, or more door styles available in the RTA product. You may find a wider selection and a door style that better suits your taste by looking at the RTA cabinets.
Additionally, the RTA product will offer a wider selection of in-stock cabinet sizes since the boxes are smaller. The fully-assembled unfinished cabinets are, well, fully assembled cabinets and take up more room on the store's shelves, so the store carries fewer sizes.
But what about the quality?
Let's talk about the finish. You would take the unfinished cabinets home, install them, apply a stain to the doors and frames, then apply a finish coat like polyurethane. Okay. What about the RTA? RTA cabinet doors are made by cabinet manufacturers who have access to the same types of technology and equipment used by cabinet manufacturers whose products you would order, and the warranty will reflect that. Yes, don't forget the warranty. RTA cabinet manufacturers will typically offer a warrantly on the hardware (hinges and drawer glides) as well as on the door finish.
Warranty on the unfinished cabinets? It depends on where you buy them. Better ask the store.
But, yes, I know; you have to assemble the RTA cabinets. True, but it's really not that bad, and when you consider that you have to stain and finish the unfinished cabinets, hey, it might even be a wash. The assembly instructions are usually pretty easy to understand if you read through them first, and once you've done one or two it gets even easier.
If you still have doubts, a good source of first-hand information about RTA cabinets and other great advice for planning a DIY kitchen project, check out;
www.aguidetoikeakitchens.com
The author has been through the process and offers a useful guide to avoiding potential pitfalls along the way.
