Cabinet Comparison

I get a lot of questions from clients about the differences between different cabinet lines. Most people want to know the difference between what we are offring and what they had "so & so" price out down the street. Clients want to know what makes you different than "so & so", and more importantly what makes the cabinets different. To be totally honest, my major concern is the client that DOESN'T ask. When comparing cabinet manufacturs, it is rarely easy to compare apples to apples.

Most box stores (ie: Lowes, Home Depot, 84 Lumber) have different lines of cabinets, but will not have them in stock because of the wide variation in sizes and color. So you are looking at a 4-6 week lead time, which in all fairness, is an industry standard.

Beyond availability is quality. Believe it or not, Lowe's and Home Depot can get away with charging 50-60% more for solid wood cabinets because customers firmly believe that they are offering the lowest price in the industry. Think about it...How may adds did you see when these stores went in telling you to shop and compare?...How many do you see now?

They have established themselves as the lowest price around, so customers are comfortable not double checking their price. They are not always the lowest price around anymore.

To make a fair comparison in price what you really want to look at is:

Construction (plywood vs. particle board)
Door Material (solid wood center panel vs. veneer)
Delivery (boxed vs. flat packed DIY)
Lead Time (10-12 weeks vs. 2-3 weeks)
Drawer Boxes (dovetail vs. stapled)
Drawer Glides (undermount full extention smoothclose vs. 3/4 extention standard close)

Charts like these are helpful:

Courtesy of www.highlandsdesigns.com

As you can see it is hard to get a fair comparison based on just looking at a cabinet door and liking the style and color.

If you are doing your kitchen, you owe it to yourself to look at the quality of the cabinets as well as the look. This is a job you are not going to re-do anytime soon, so you want to get the best you can while staying in your budget. If you are going to go to a box store, ALWAYS get a second opinion. You could end up getting a quote for a higher quality cabinet that is similar to a particle board cabinet, and you would have never known.

http://www.hicksdistributors.com/
Designing kitchens in the Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Counties!