4 Secrets to Buying Cheap Kitchen Cabinets
June 17, 2008 · Print This Article
1. Go Independent
The best way to get cheap kitchen cabinets is to choose an independent cabinet store that doesn’t merely carry brand names. Do you want to pay brand name prices for the same cabinet? Chances are, many independent cabinet stores are can get you a great price, sometimes as little as 20% the price of Kraftsmaid or Mill’s Pride cabinets. You can, many times, haggle at these stores and get close to their wholesale price, so definitely try to get a better deal.
2. Know Your Quality
The main thing to look for is the cabinet box. Although Kraftsmaid offers 100% wood cabinets at an high cost, most cabinets have the wood frame and door, while the rest of the box is 1/2″ plywood (aka “5-ply”). Avoid getting MDF, a type of compressed wood backing for the cabinets, since these can sag after a while.
Some cabinets come from China, but the wood is still top quality because it’s gathered from their respective countries and is shipped to China for manufacturing. Many of these cabinet factories keep up-to-date on the latest innovations by Kraftsmaid, such as soft-close or fully extend-able drawers. Be sure to check them out and see what things they use, such as their new hinges or dove tails.
3. Ask for a Discount
Discount kitchen cabinets are usually shipped in containers and require assembly. The cabinet stores will assemble them before they sell or install them, but some stores will give you a discount if they sell you the cabinet before assembly. An experienced contractor can put these cabinets together.
4. Find These Stores
Look at the classifieds, the Yellow Pages, or a local advertising paper. “The Advertiser” is a popular advertising journal in San Francisco.
If you aren’t sure of the kitchen you want, head over to our gallery to learn about cabinet styles and other accessories you can get.
In Malaysia kitchen cabinet makers are mushrooming everywhere and everyone promises low prices, great finishing and ontime installation. But I’ve been cheated before and it really stings whenever I see a nice kitchen in a home and wistfully think I could have a better kitchen. The previous contractors that did my kitchen up kept on charging me for additional stuff like ducting, plumbing and said some really stupid things like pipes not being properly aligned by the housing developer. What hog wash!
I’ve learnt to rely on word of mouth and if you happen to be in a friend’s house and see a kitchen you like, best to ask for referrals from a friend. Then you’ll get a good referral, also ask about things like pricing and how far your can push the contractor during bargaining. Do ask for freebies and best to qualify if plumbing and ducting for your kitchen hood and hob will incur more charges. Learned my lesson there!
Anyway, if a Malaysian so happens to be reading this blog, I’ll like to recommend the company that made my kitchen cabinet, they’re J.S. Cabinets Industry and located in Gombak, but has a lot of branches all over. They’re pretty honest and workmanship is quite top class. Their web site is http://www.jscabinets.com.my, do check it out!
Alex, I definitely agree referrals from friends are a great way to find quality contractors. You can see their work first hand in your friend’s kitchen, and you don’t have to shop around, assuming your friend did their legwork.
I just redid my kitchen and am still searching online about kitchen remodeling. I was excited to find advice that was exactly what I did! I certainly felt smart and at the same time it validated my excitement about my way of getting my new kitchen!
I like independant companies that manufactures in China using top quality wood. Their cabs are all-wood as opposed to ply. The cabs I got have soft close doors that are a pleasure. You get it discounted because you are buying direct unassembled cabs. I had my contractor put them together but I could have done it myself had I been braver.
I spent so much time surfing online until I found this site with top quality and lowest priced cabs. I almost bought cabs that would have made my kitchen cost just about double so I want to pass on my savings and success.
Thanks Flora!
The quality has definitely improved regarding kitchen cabinets from China. You can see the craftsmanship improve over these past few years.
I hope you enjoy your new kitchen!
the store I went to was pretty upfront about their quality
they had mdf, but those were the cheap brands and it’s just another option if you’re on a budget or if you’re remodeling for a rental
Our experience with Kraftmaid has been awful in regards to their surface finishes.
- Doors recevied with nail holes
- Doors received with extra circular cuts on the back side
- Panel trim received which is off color from the cabinet doors
- Panel trim received with hairline separations in the material
- Back panels of cabinets recevied with sligh wood separation
- Incorrect size doors sent
- Warped doors sent
- A door was sent which had been crushed prior to shipping resulting in 1/8″ deformation and wood splitting
- Doors were sent which were been missing paint in edge surfaces and can’t be repainted sinze glaze put on afterwards
- Doors had either hair (e.g., eyelashes) or other thin line material embedded in the paint which can’t be removed due to glaze
- Doors had either dirt and/or wood dust embedded in the paint which can’t be removed due to glaze
- Doors had black marks on the edges which could not be removed
- Back panels of doors had noticeable separation from surrounding frame
- Separation of door back panels and surrounding frame was variable between doors and even on the same door
- Doors had inconsistant smoothing of rough wood surfaces
- Doors had variable absorption of color due to inconsistant smoothing of wood surfaces
- Doors had variable amount of color, especially around crevices and corners
- Contrary to documentation, all draswer did not have soft-close spring mechanism
- Company repeatedly sent bad doors after bad doors
Wow, Kraftmaid’s service for Anonymous was pretty poor.
With a smaller company, you can work with a real person, instead of a mob of salesman.
Hey, good advice!
Even being in the field (in Dallas, TX) I learned something from it. Keep them coming!
I am looking for cheap yet durable kitchen cabinets for my new condo. Any recommendations?
There are many grades of particle board used in the construction of the cabient boxes. Make sure you are getting a cabinet with a good grade of particle board.
One easy way to see if you are getting a low quality cabinet is look at the end skins. Most “cheap” cabinets have paper covered fiberboard for the end skins. Look for a Veneer type end skin.
When my mom redid her kitchen, we just bought off the shelf cabinets from Home Depot and assembled them myself. Then she paid a contractor to rip out the old ones and install the new ones. Pretty cheap, and looks nice.
cheap cabinets are one way to go for sure! I prefer elegant and custom kitchen cabinets though, and worry about the price later! hehe
Well after reading all these opinions, comment and ideas pitched in by everyone here, i personally think if you’re financially capable, go for branded kitchens. Not just some superficially branded cabinets, i’m talking about reputable brands like Bofi or Signature. These brands offer warranty periods for at least 2 - 5 years on manufacturing defects.
From what i read, majority of the people here complains about the design, workmanship, quality, finishing and durability. You won’t face these problems with high end branded kitchens that uses top of the line materials (some fully imported)…their reputation and image’s at stake.
I mean there might be a few cases where a few unlucky ones may face slight problems, but it’s extremely minimal and besides they would clean up their mess in no time.
Just study and compare between local carpenters and branded kitchens to gain more insight. Some might argue otherwise, but well like i said branded is only applicable if you’re financially capable but anyway..it’s a lengthy discussion.
Over a period of say, 4-5 years, 90% of local carpentered kitchen owners that i see, end up having complains which they were 100% sure they won’t face when they first got them.
As the locals would put it in direct dialect translations:
beautiful+fast=expensive
beautiful+cheap=slow
fast+cheap=not beautiful
Welcome to the world of local carpenters.