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Kitchen Installation Problems Lowe’s Cabinets

I had the honor of putting in a set of kitchen cabinets that were purchased from a major home service center in Florida. It’s almost comical at times how messed up things get when you try to deal with these building supply companies for your cabinetry needs. After installing for a couple of days more things became evident that were wrong as each kitchen cabinet from Lowe’s was unboxed.

When the contractor stopped by to check on the kitchen installation he asked: “are you missing any parts.” My helper and I responded with a list of things that were wrong with the order. He patiently listened as we explained all of the problems we were having. The contractor laughed as he said: “do they ever get it right the first time at Lowe’s? I honestly can’t remember anytime when they have.”

This was a kitchen that had less than twenty cabinets that got installed in the newly renovated area.

Problems to Expect When Ordering Cabinets From Lowe’s

All of the things that we encountered while installing really cost a lot of time and money. The kitchen could have been completely installed and finished in two days had there not been everything that went wrong. I always expect that there will be problems when ordering kitchen cabinets from Lowe’s. Here’s a list of the things that delayed the completion of the kitchen installation, wasted a lot of time and costs additional money in labor expenses.

Frustrations of Ordering Cabinets From Lowe’s

  1. There was not toe base stock supplied when the cabinets were delivered.
  2. The refrigerator panel had a 2”x 2” chunk broken off of the corner.
  3. One of the base cabinets was cracked on a finished end. It was so damaged that it could not be used. The imperfection was about 12” in length.
  4. The adjustable shelf holes on the glass mullion door cabinet did not line up correctly with the horizontal slats on the doors. It was necessary to drill new holes.
  5. One drawer slide was not attached properly.
  6. The pull-out trash cans slide mechanism was mounted so far out of adjustment that it had to be repositioned and secured in a different location.
  7. The wrong crown molding was delivered.

All of these problems created major delays in finalizing the kitchen cabinet installation. The design representative at Lowe’s was wonderful to work with and ordered the parts that were missing and ordered the kitchen cabinet replacement parts for the items that were damaged. The replacement parts would not be delivered for another week and a half.

Everything that went wrong created a ripple affect with all of the other subcontractors that were supposed to be installing home improvement items after the kitchen was completed. Many schedules had to be changed which in turn wasted time and money. Every problem could have been eliminated had people done their jobs efficiently.

  1. June 5th, 2009 at 23:14 | #1

    We had to reroute plumbing in kitchen from inside to outside wall, therefore must move sink, dishwasher, and cabinets and countertops that go with them. We don’t have money for new cabinets, but realize we may need new countertops. How do we detatch cabinets and move them without tearing them up? They’re cheap, stock cabinets put in by investors who flipped house before we bought it. Unsure if screwed and/or glued in. Thanks.

  2. admin
    June 7th, 2009 at 14:29 | #2

    First off, I have never seen any cabinetry glued in place when they were installed unless the cabinets were built prior to the ninteen sixties. Most cabinetry installers use screws to attach everything to the walls and together. On one occasion in twenty seven years I have had to deal with removing a kitchen that was installed using a nail gun. What a pain that was.

    Your chances are good that the cabinets are screwed together and to the walls. It will be easier to take them out than installing them again.

    Many of the houses that were built prior to the sixties had the cabinets built on the job. These kitchens are not removable because everything was nailed together and glued on the job site.

  3. June 10th, 2009 at 06:02 | #3

    I know the home supply guys mean well and try but it took me six weeks to get simple wood blinds. At least there weren’t any problems once they arrived. I can help with crown mould if you don’t like what the blue or orange box has to offer.

  4. Ken
    October 16th, 2009 at 05:03 | #4

    We are just finishing our kitchen remodel in which we used the top of the line kitchen cabinets (Schuler)from Lowes. The Schuler cost about the same price as if I would have had them custom made. However, we wanted the cabinets painted white and felt the paint quality would be better with the Schuler cabinets. First of all, I have been without a kitchen for seven weeks, because we did not receive all of my cabinets from the initial order. Lowe’s contacted Schuler to have them build me two more cabinets which took an additional five weeks to complete. Secondly, the cabinets are modular and they only can do so much with the cabinets. For example; my oven cabinet has a 10″ gap in between the oven and the bottom drawer. Third, the installer had to cut a 8′ x 3/4″ x 3″ filler in half and glue them together to make a 8′ x 3/4″ x 1 1/2″ filler. We will see how long the cabinets withstands overtime.

  5. admin
    April 15th, 2010 at 06:56 | #5

    Ken thanks for sharing. Although your story is unique to your situation, these are the types of problems that people periodically have when getting cupboards from super centers.

    I’d like to address something specifically that you shared; “Third, the installer had to cut a 8′ x 3/4″ x 3″ filler in half and glue them together to make a 8′ x 3/4″ x 1 1/2″ filler.”

    That type of craftsmanship is totally unacceptable. I do hope that they replaced this filler with a full length piece of wood.

  6. Sunny
    May 14th, 2010 at 08:56 | #6

    I can only rave about our Schuler/Lowe’s experience! Our kitchen-connection, aka, That Lowe’s Guy, totally hooked us up! We got $1500 off the order even after revising it 8 times; that was enough to cover one of the cabinets! The layout kept changing so our order kept changing. The job blossomed quite rapidly once we actually got going on the layout. Our Lowe’s Guy had the utmost patience and attention to every single detail of each revision. Did I mention he spent close to 20 hours on that computer at the store moving boxes, adding boxes, removing boxes, each time rebuilding it with the ‘extras’ to make it perfect. The full order of cabinetry arrived ahead of schedule and was complete down to pieces of filler, all mouldings and all ‘extra’ pieces. Did I mention we had multiple door styles? Oh yes, we did. Those extra pieces were added to our final order because That Lowe’s Guy since he had the expertise of knowing what ‘extras’ we would need to finish the job off beautifully. You must understand just how crude our layout drawings were. They were the equivalent of someone taking a crayon to a napkin. That crayon & napkin rendition turned out to be the most beautiful room in our entire home! There is no other room anywhere on the planet I would rather hang out! The quality of the boxes is excellent. The finish is excellent. The box contruction is superior. The color of the wood and grain is just beautiful. The mannerly delivery people were even awesome. We will use Lowe’s and Schuler again and recommend them to our closest friends & family.

  7. admin
    May 15th, 2010 at 10:16 | #7

    Sunny, this is an awesome comment. Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us. It’s good to know that some cabinet jobs from these super home centers go smoothly.

    How long did it take from start to finish before you where finished with the job?

    Most average kitchens are about twenty one LN. feet. How big was yours?

  8. D Lim
    May 11th, 2012 at 20:59 | #8

    Our problem is on installation. We recently got Kraftmaid cabinets from Lowes in Columbia, MO. The installation result is a nightmare. The problem is on the knobs and pulls. Over 80% of our cabinet doors and drawers were damaged and chipped when the installer drilled holes. My builder told me that the installer simply forced too heavily when he drilled. Many chips are maybe over 1 inch long and each hole has several chipped damages. Dealing with Lowes to resolve the problems from the incident is a frustrating experience too.

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