Me too, though they're better than the not-much-above-contractor-grade stuff in this house. The thing that impresses me about Kraftmade is the thought that goes into, um, "gadgets". Some are neat, some useless. Why would I want built-in spice racks? OTOH, some of the pan storage is quite well thought out.
I think they look cheap, even from a distance. Maybe they're "too perfect", like plastic. I'm also not a fan of plastic components. I've had a fifteen year old kitchen when these pieces start to dry out and break.
Isn't it illegal to sell a house more than once? ;-)
BTW, we took a half-day to go through the Ikea in Atlanta a while back. THeir stuff makes Kraftmade look great. What a pile of plastic junk! ...wouldn't last five years.
Depends on how often you go through your spices and/or if they're exposed to light. Spices deteriorate very quickly (taste wise) when exposed to light over even a few months. The cure is such things as your built in spice rack in a drawer or some other light blocking method.
I agree with your comments. When I started working for my Dad, back in the 1950's, cabinets came from 3 sources: 1) from a local cabinet shop, 2) from the lumber yard in a box or 3) were built on-site by the trim carpenters. The high end homes were always from the local cabinet shop. The typical homes were built on-site and the homes just slightly better than trailers were built using lumber yard box cabinets.
Naturally, that's changed over the years with shifts in wages, availability and even customer expectations.
I now live in Las Vegas, where most homes in most subdivisions are built by national contractors based on 4-6 floor plans per neighborhood. The homes may be built on spec, but if a customer buys during construction, they can pick colors etc. I'd say that
99.9% of all these houses are built using cabinets built somewhere else and shipped to the wholesaler in boxes. The choices are usually either white Melamine or wood/vinyl veneer over particle board/plywood in some wood color. This is common in even homes costing $300k to $500k or more. "Wood" cabinetry is a term the RE agents use here to mark the difference between Melamine and stained Birch or Oak veneer cabinets. I don't ever recall any agent even commenting whether cabinets were custom made and not from a box.
In the more expensive homes, the cabinets are still from a box, but "quality," means that the rails and styles of doors, along with face framing, is from solids and not particle board with a wood veneer. You also find that the more upscale homes, while still having box cabinets, have more fancy things like appliance garages, swing-up appliance shelves in lower cabinets, lazy susans in corner cabinets, pantry, microwave shelves and rolling pan shelves.
I also absolutely, totally, agree with the sentiment of others about cabinets that are custom built (job site) inside the home- usually by trim carpenters, being junk. I don't think that I've ever seen ones that last nearly as long as even inexpensive box cabinets and they almost always have a crappy finish. The best cabinets, IMHO, are still the ones where a cabinet maker comes to the house, measures and returns with cabinets he's made and finished in the controlled conditions of his shop. The best installs I've seen are almost always where the cabinet maker himself does the installation of his cabinets.
I don't know where you are from, but here in Las Vegas, the big thing is granite for kitchens and marble for baths in the upscale homes, and granite for kitchens and ceramic tile on bath counter tops for the middle grade ones. Occasionally, if money is tight, a buyer will have the default tops of 4X4 ceramic installed, and have plans to remove it eventually and replace it with granite. Corian, Silestone and similar synthetics are almost nonexistent here and laminate tops are equally scarce for some reason.
While off the subject of cabinets, flooring here is subtly different than it was in NC, IN or other places I've lived. Here, carpet is used in low traffic areas and where sound control is needed like a bedroom, but the general living area of a middle-upscale house is typically ceramic or clay tile, laid with a 3/8" grout line, or Travertine laid with a 0 grout line. Where I grew up, you might have a small tile area by the front door or garage entrance, but then wall to wall carpet elsewhere. I'm not sure if that's a sign of the times or what.
I guess I just don't consider spice racks to be furniture, which cabinetry is. I'd rather buy a spice rack to go *in* the cabinet than being held hostage to a stupid spice rack.
Here, mostly hardwood's throughout, with slate, or some other natural stone, in the master baths, with same or travertine in the guest and other baths. Lots of natural stone outside ... porches, breezeways, sidewalks, etc. Rarely see concrete flatwork in these areas. Rarely see carpet anywhere in the main house, but quite common in MIL/maid quarters.
With the exception of bathrooms and closets, which are the all 'full monte' cabinet ammenities you can generally cram in, I tend to leave about 70% of the built-ins (entertainment centers, books cases, etc.) left to the imagination of the buyer on a spec house, that way we can build/trim out exactly what they want ... lately I'm surprised at the number of folks wanting full bookcases again ... for years they were out of favor. Same goes with wainscoting on dining room and den walls. Some folks love it, others hate it.
Then again, there is always someone who will love the house, no matter what its got in it, where it is (on the railroad tracks), and in spite of all the agonizing over color schemes, and what "features" will or won't sell, in the design stage. :)
Speaking of bookcases, something I always wanted in a home was a loft library. Ideally, a rectangular great room would have 18' to the lower part of a cathedral ceiling, with a 4-sided open loft about 9' up, scabbed onto the wall, with a width of about 5' on two sides, 6' on a third and 10' or so on the outside wall end of the great room. On the inside opposite end would be a spiral staircase between the loft and great room; the loft would have 4 turned wood columns to support the interior opening and railing all around. The loft on the exterior end of the great room would have the second of a double fireplace, matching the one below in the great room. All walls would have book shelves, while the end loft would have couches and chairs/TV etc.
Outside of the woodwork, I don't think it'd cost as much to build as the rest of the home. Framing would be pretty standard, with the exterior walls and 4 columns taking the load. The loft would double as a stiffener for the great room walls, preventing bowing from the roof load. If I was doing it for myself, I'd use prefinished hardwood floors, with inlaid carpet runners.
Thanks to everyone for the advice but I won't be buying premade cabinets and have already started building my own. The only bummer is that my shop is too small for full sheets of plywood so I have to pare them down with a circular saw. Maybe my first project should have been a panel saw.
That plan assumes that you can trust the factory edge. This is the problem with all of these guides; getting the straight edge straight. I have a set of Emerson clamp guides that work well up to 50" (though they don't self-position like the above guide). I have aluminum guides for that, but they're a PITA to use (making sure the joint is straight).
Irwins are great light duty clamps. I have a few XPs that are great for assembling stuff before the glue dries, too.
On 18 May 2010 08:11:59 GMT, Mac Cool wrote the following:
I'd be willing to bet the the Festeringtool trio would say that you have a Festerless problem, Mac.
Here's one solution:
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-- Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. -- John Adams, December 1770 'Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials'
On Tue, 18 May 2010 05:30:54 -0400, "J. Clarke" wrote the following:
I might just build one of those, too. I'm using an aluminum sectional straightedge now, like
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, and it requires an offset to be scribed in each time. A "drop 'n go" guide would be quicker, easier, and give better edge support to reduce splintering.
"Works a treat" has been going around lately. Where's it from? Is i' a new Pomicism, mate?
-- Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. -- John Adams, December 1770 'Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials'
I have a sheet of 4' X 8' Styrofoam, I put down on the floor for cutting plywood. After 10 years, mine is looking a bit ragged. One nice thing about this is after the first cut, I am often kneeling on the foam which is softer than concrete.
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