My new cabinets

[Cheri]

Geez, that's terrible. I hope you didn't pay him up front.

Cheri

[harryagain]

All depends on how much you paid/intend to pay. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. If you are paying top whack you should get top class work. This is clearly not top class work.

Are not kitchen/bedroom cabinets standardised in America? All my kitchen cabinets are of standard dimensions. When they need new parts/renewal I can get them cheaply. Doors, drawers, hinges, shelves worktops etc. Kitchen appliances are sized to fit these dimensions too.

[jannereeves]

[missingchild]

I'm not a carpenter, just a guy who does some occasional stuff around the house. If my molding were too short I'd cut another piece of molding. I'd never install something with a gap like that. (and I've installed a lot of molding)

[trader4]

house. If my molding were too short I'd cut another piece of molding. I'd = never install something with a gap like that. (and I've installed a lot of = molding)

I think those that pointed out the mistake of hiring a CARPENTER to do a CABINET BUILDER'S job were spot on. Still it doesn't excuse it. Hopefully only a portion of the money has been paid. I would not pay the rest, unless the problems are fully rectified, which I agree with others too, this guy is incapable of doing.

I would try to give him a chance though. Unlikely he can make it any worse. At the end, the OP can call in a couple of cabinet shops to give quotes on what it takes to make it right. They will likely say it has to be done over. I'd get that in writing from them and why. Take lots of pics. Then he can sue the jerk in small claims. He'll likely win, but good luck collecting. Unless the guy has a real job somewhere or a house, etc. These shyster guys have usually been through this before and have all their assets well hidden.

Out of curiousity, did the OP ever see any of his other work? References? It's hard to believe someone who does this kind of work would not have it showing in other kitchen jobs he did.

[Home Guy]

That's because you have a shit-load of "carpenters" in the US who don't have any homes to build and are looking for work. So they're re-branding themselves as cabinet-makers.

This puts the lie to the idea that your home-building market has bottomed.

[dadiOH]

Not in my opinion. Heck, you didn't even complain about things like the wood being insufficiently prepped for the finish. For example, the last photo that shows fuzz at the end of the shelf and dings and/or stuff stuck in the finish; the joints between rails and stiles on both the face frame and doors. Those are really wierd face frames, BTW...it looks like he eithre cut down the width of the stiles or added a piece at the corners to accommodate too short rails.

Your complaints are not unreasonable, the cabinets are poor in the extreme.

[Norminn]

constructed by a local carpenter. Perhaps the experts here would be able to give me some words of wisdom or consolation.

With a little luck, you live where there is a licensing board and the guy has a licence...take pix, get estimates for a redo, and then make a complaint against his license (after trying to get him to address the issues).

[Bill]

and that is the source of the problem. So may I rephrase my question the following way: Are any of my complaints captured in the photos unreasonable? If I get answers here, I will show the thread to my carpenter.

That "work" is lousy and unacceptable. Simply compare it to cabinets for sale at home depot. Or the woodworking done on ANY furniture for sale in a furniture store.

FYI - I hired a young (20's) guy to help me remodel my house. He nailed in a vertical stud for a window opening which was 3/4 inch further to the left at the bottom than at the top. I told him we needed to correct that as the window would be slanted when installed...

He argued with me that this was perfectly acceptable work these days, everybody does work like that now, etc.

He also offered to make some cabinets for me! (I think I will pass...)