KITCHEN DISASTER!!!!! Need Help!!!

[Silkie Sue]

Hi Guys,
I know you haven't heard much from me these last 10 weeks, that is because we have been renovating our Kitchen/Dining Room.
I will post pics later, i just really need some help from anyone living near an Amish or Mennonite community that builds kitchen cabinets.,
Short story.. long... We have done most of the work ourselves and pretty much rebuilt the south half of the house, we hired out the kitchen cabinet making to a local cabinet maker who we thought ( although he had never done a project this big) was up to the task, he assured us he was able to build us our kitchen. We wanted a country look.. solid pine with face frames so we could have hinges on the outside and we just wanted them clear coated to bring out the natural look of the wood.
after all was measured and drawn up to exact specifications we thought we were good to go... after 9 weeks of building the cabinets we picked them up 2 days ago all excited to mount them and order our counter top and be able to a a functional kitchen again, not that i don't LOVE doing dishes in the tub...
NONE OF THE CABINETS FIT RIGHT!!!!! some have mitered corniers, some have butt joints. some have solid look backs and some have ship lap ( which i love) the bottom shelves are not flush with the face frame so there is a ledge on all the bottoms of the shelves and the list goes on and on

So..... here we are... we are done licking our wounds.. and bottom line is we need a kitchen
Option #1 try to fix them... very time consuming and hobbling them together will decrease the integrity and they will fall apart in 5 years
Option # go to Sarnia Cabinets and settle for run of the mill pressboard, euopean stlye hinge..... not anything like we wanted
and here is where you come in....
Option #3 eat the $6000 we just spent and get EXPERIENCED cabinet makers to start all over
all i can say is

[Robbie]

Oh nooo!!! Silke Sue, take a deep breath, have a relaxing hot cup of some soothing liquid, and post lots of pics.
In the meantime, absolutely, Forget option 2. Those will fall apart in 2 years.

[WaupoosCowgirl]

maybe you could merge option 1 and 3 maybe an experienced cabinet maker could salvage at least some of the old ones and make new where needed?

[TomK]

Damn..its tough to be so far away...but i agree with Robbie in part...option 2 is not a good idea although i know for a fact that well made particle core cabinet boxes will last a lifetime if you don't abuse them or have water leakage issues...the guy should have made the boxes separate from the faces, hung the boxes and then custom finished the faces with the doors...it's just time consuming but a good cabinet maker should have no issues at all...if you have questions, gimme a PM...i used to sell kitchen cabinets, and still install kitchens altho selling at retail really sucks..lol

[SandyM]

Sue!! This is so frustrating. Not that this will be comforting, but this isn't uncommon with renovations. We have a custom kitchen cabinet shop and I can not tell you how many people come and need the second kitchen 'done right'.

If there is one thing I would recommend, do not settle on what you truly want. Even if it costs you double. If you settle that loss of 'want' will always be a burden because you still don't have what you wanted, despite additional funds. And we all know, all the action is in the kitchen, and if you don't have what you want, that frustration will take even longer (if ever, depending on your personailty) to disburse.

If you have to pay again for what you absolutely want ... In the end, yes it costed you more money but the key factor, you have what you want. For me, big difference long term.

(Of course working within budgets are always key)

I will talk to Lou later when he gets home and see if he can recommend a cabinet maker out your way.

Keep your chin up ... Renovations are just as stressful if not more than moving, but you have options. Not all people do. Don't lose sight of that.

Congrats on doing the renovations yourself!! It's so rewarding when your own sweat and blood goes into your home.

Cheers

Sandy

[Silkie Sue]

Thankyou for your replies and we agree with everything you guys said... if we could salvage these somehow that would be ideal but after a couple days of weighing our options starting over seems to be the answer... We have contacted Country Line Furniture in Listowel and they sound hopeful... i will keep you updated when i am not ripping my hair out..... Bright Side--- my hens are gonna have the best looking nest boxes on the planet

[Silkie Sue]

Here are some pics.... LOVE MY NEW FLOOR AND BIG WINDOWS

[Jaye]

Sue, talked to my hubby about this, and he says that a good cabinetmaker may be able to salvage. Take pics of the best and the worst, and go see a good cabinet maker. He will be able to tell you what is possible. And cry a lot - cabinet makers hate tears.
Bottom line is that if you have a good idea of what you really want, any competent cabinet maker should be able to fix it for you.

[Killerbunny]

That floor looks gorgeous!

[Ontario Chick]

Poor Sue, it does look solid and country, just not much like a kitchen.
The floor is a beauty!
Not sure if it will make you feel better, but friends just spent $ 35 000 on a new kitchen, not a solid piece of wood anywhere on it, beautiful countertop and the rest of it has gaps you could drive a small truck thru.