Comments on: Getting Cabinets-Home Depot or Lowe’s

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:51:27 +0000

We recently bought Diamond cabinets for our second house. I re-did the kitchen with fairly low-grade (cheapest available) Diamond Cabinets for the first house and we had them for 5 years until we moved without a problem.

When we got our second house, the one we intend to stay in for the long haul, we decided to spend quite a bit more money and upgrade such things as the particle board sides to plywood.

We spent approx 4 times what we had on the first house, although to be fair this kitchen is about 50% bigger.

Last time we got them through H.E.P. Sales, this time through Lowes and have had numerous problems with them. Unfortunately we had already gutted the kitchen, including tearing down a wall and completely re-wiring everything when the cabinets arrived. Had we not been living in the house while this project was going on (in my spare time) we likely would have returned the cabinets and re-ordered a different brand.

We’ve been very disappointed and I WOULD NOT recommend Diamond to anyone after this experience. Here are just a few of the problems we’ve had:

1. Hinges themselves have not yet been an issue, but the single screws that fasten each hinge to the cabinet face have broken off inside the cabinet face where I can’t remove them.

2. Cabinets were not always properly fitted and glued together and required re-enforcing.

3. Solid wood drawers arrived loose or cracked.

4. One of the doors is pulling apart at the seams.

5. Our slide out garbage-door was not properly assembled.

Many of the issues I either ignored or fixed on my own due to time constraints. But I doubt these cabinets will last as long as we planned.

Diamond and Lowes have been very good about replacing cabinets, drawers and doors, but the warrantee does not cover re-installation costs. Since I did it all myself, it just means more of my time and frequent repairs. We even had a Diamond rep drive over 2 hours to see what was going on, but all he told us was that this is very uncommon and didn’t offer us anything else

By: admin

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:56:16 +0000

Yes, I’ll send you an email address.

By: T.J.

T.J. — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:35:21 +0000

Another Update:
Replacement doors and hardware arrive 4 days after order phone call. Excellent condition and very good finish match. No one will ever know which are the replacements.
Adim: is there a way to post pictures? I’m an experienced home handyman, but never attempted anything this extensive before. I’d like to share my progress pics with others contemplating such a project.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 03:57:52 +0000

Excellent report TJ. Thanks for taking the time to share what’s going on.

By: T.J.

T.J. — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:35:23 +0000

Follow up to original post: My HD/AM Woodmark cabinets arrived May 2, 2011. Almost all in excellent condition. I had two large 24x24x90 tall cabinets. One of them had damage to the front from shipping. Called AM Woodmark, and was told to accept shipment with damage noted. Rep said would note in my file, because I wanted to unpack all and make one discrepancy report (not piecemeal). 2 weeks later, called back. Note WAS there, and rep took report of two new doors and hinges needed for tall cabinet, and one missing set of glass hardware. All is on the way UPS with no hassle. Remember, this was a BIG order, 16 cabinets, 8 with glass, and some 32 trim and accessory pieces.
I am very pleased with the finish appearance. Very consistant, cabinet to cabinet. Also pleased, overall with quality of construction and attention to detail. All plywood meant exactly that. There is no particle board, anywhere. One cabinet was obviously damaged by the packer at the factory, and shipped, anyway. The toe kick backer piece was broken off, apparently during packing, and tossed into the box on top of the cabinet. I was able to put it back in, but that was an obvious employee hiding a mistake. I intend to report that to AM Woodmark, along with a suggestion to put more packing in the boxes with large, bulky, heavy cabinets (The tall utilities.) I feel an extra piece of cardboard inside protecting the front would have prevented the damage I’m dealing with. (Niether held up project.)
The delivery went very smoothly, on time, and polite and helpful. Helped carry the big cabs inside. But, one other issue I plan to make known to AM Woodmark; none of the numbers on the boxes corresponded to the numbers on my order, so I was unable to check off what was delivered, as I had intended. I could only count cabinet boxes, and hope they were the correct ones. They were, but it would have been nice to know that.
Have installed 11 1/2 foot wall of project, and base of 2nd wall. So far, all cabs have been square and true.
Will submits pics of finished project.

By: Rosa

Rosa — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:11:16 +0000

This site has given me a lot of information. I desperately need to replace my kitchen cabinets. They are particle board and some have been water damaged. Custom cabinets are not in my budget. Living in Chicago I was told to go to HOBO or Builders Surplus. I have also seen some nice kitchen designs at IKEA. Can you tell me anything about the cabinets at any of these stores.

By: T.J.

T.J. — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:14:12 +0000

For the last month or so, I have been working with a cabinet designer at a local Home Depot on a dining room project that will have two sets of cabinets: an 11 1/2 foor long buffet with tall cabs on each end, and glass front wall cabs over the countertop, and a built in china “hutch” on an adjacent wall, 5 feet long, with all glass stacked from the top of the base cabs to 84″. First of all, I went to another Home Depot nearby, and a Lowes. I did not like what I heard from either of those cabinet “specialists”. They seemed more like sales specialists. The designer at the store I’m working with was a cabinet installer, and has been doing the cab design for 14 years. The first quote, for furniture grade Kraftmaid (no “engineered wood” ie particle board), with all the pull-outs and fancy leaded glass, was $18,000. When I came to, I told him that was a a budget buster. Since then, he has worked with me, and made a number of calls and suggestions. I have researched (with the help of this website!), learned how to router out 5 piece doors to install glass myself, and had just about decided to order unfinished AM Classic maple cabs, and do just that, (what the heck, Kraftmade particle board was still $10,000). I had it to about half that, when the designer called back this week. He said he had worked my project down to under $6000, in AM Woodmark, all plywood cabs. (I know, that’s his job.) My wife and I went in yesterday, made some adjustments (five special 18″ deep wall cabs for the hutch, etc.) and ultimately ordered our cabinets. Total bill, $7000.00. AM Woodmark all plywood, furniture grade ends on everything that will show, plain glass, but matching interior finish on all glass fronts. No hardware or pull-outs. (Have $500 budget for hardware.) I feel the answer is, find a “designer” who knows what he or she is doing, and whom you can work with. If they start to “sell” you, get up and walk away. I have been very comfortable that I was not ever preasured into making this decision, and I’m a pretty hard type to “sell”. I’ve walked out of car dealerships, and usually slap down a check with what I’ll pay, when I car shop.
I will let you know how the project comes out.

By: Ballor

Ballor — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:17:48 +0000

This is an excellent article. I really appreciate the heads-up on getting cabinets from places like Lowe’s.

I’ve been looking at their kitchens and have been feeling a little uneasy about ordering from them. I’m going to check out a smaller cabinet company and get a few estimates.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:03:31 +0000

It took several trips, over a two week period, for the installers from Home Depot to finish my kitchen cabinet remodel. They were about six hundred dollars less than a local small shop I had gotten a price from. I think I would have been better served by the little guy, but did not have the additional money to spend.

It was a frustrating experience to have to wait so long to have the kitchen finished, but overall the project went pretty well.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:15:39 +0000

I have purchased cabinets from HD, Lowes and the like in the past. I am a retired general contractor and found these places helpful for kitchen and bath remodels. Decisions are made according to the budget. I always tried to tell customers you get what you pay for. Selections at these stores range from – take them out of the box and assemble to higher end cabinetry. Now that I am retired, I enjoy making my own cabinets.