Kraftmaid

Never Again. This is what was written by one of your other readers who bought and reviewed their Kraftmaid cabinets. I completely understand that sentiment and will never again order anything from Kraftmaid. I originally decided to buy Kraftmaid because they had one of the only black cabinets that was a bit glossy but not lacquered. Everyone else had some form of gray black or brown and black combination. I will give them 1 star for the fact that my cabinets are completely beautiful. I have to take away the other 4 stars because the company has absolutely no pride in their product or any ability to complete basic customer service needs.

We bought cabinets for a 10 x 10 kitchen and a much smaller washroom. The total cost was about $16K. The first shipment of kitchen cabinets had a return rate of about 50 percent and Kraftmaid sent the wrong type of doors. We checked the order and the doors they sent were ordered correctly on the store’s end. Then of the remaining cabinets and doors about half were turned back due to problems with the finish. Dimples, dents, scuffs, scratches here and there throughout. My kitchen was held up for a further three weeks as the replacements were ordered. Once again, some of those had imperfections that were noticeable. There is also a set of cabinets that were sent with no drawer fronts. These finally came in but we had to put them on ourselves. We would get three shipments for the kitchen before Kraftmaid got it correct. Then, the garage door type hinges for two of the cabinets never worked. The company was quick to say that they had replaced these with a new type of hinge that would work better. This was amusing. Clearly they know that there is a problem with the old hinges but they are still selling them. The Kraftmaid representative for this area said he would come out and bring the new hinges but we have had the store representative call him three times now and he still has yet to contact us even though its been months.

The kitchen and the washroom are within sight of each other and so we wanted the washroom cabinets to match the kitchen cabinets. Round two with Kraftmaid began. Or if we count all the repeated shipments round four. Just as with the first shipment the cabinets and doors that were ordered came beaten up with factory indents, dimples, scuffs and scratches. We re-ordered and the second time we just decided to keep the replacements and put the defects in the top upper corners and just ignore them. Kraftmaid had broken our spirit with regard to re-ordering and holding up the remodeling process.

My thoughts for all of you out there determining who to use when remodeling your kitchen, washroom or bathroom? Find another cabinet maker. Kraftmaid may have once taken pride in their work but their production standards have lowered considerably and they will hold up your project by having to try several times to get it right.

We remodeled our kitchen with Kraftmaid and I regret it. Doors all shipped seperatley, once installed some touch and rub. Colors are noticeably off. They sent someone to repaint the cabinets after installation which did not help. He just created more work for us by removing his over spray off of the floor and appliances. Sooo disappointed with the appearance of our kitchen. Should have sent the entire mess back and went with a different company. Don't make the same mistake we did. Customer service department in Kraftmaid is not interested in solving any of our problems.

We ordered all-plywood units (redoing a kitchen with water damage)and they arrived four weeks later. We haven't had to go the warranty route (yet), since the cabinets went in well, despite the need for me to "reinforce" the large (36-inch) sink cabinet. The joints on both large cabinets were poorly connected (3/8-inch gaps held together with long staples and 'hot glue').

The 'Thermofoil' finish was good, the drawers and doors nice, although several nylon stops were missing (ya know, the little pads that cushion the façade when it bumps against the face of the cabinet).

We have not yet installed the marble countertops, so stay tuned for an additional review if the notable weight of stone changes the base cabinet performance.

These cabinets (bought though XXXX), seem better than off-the-shelf but are basically mass-produced.

I'm unsure if I would buy more KraftMaid in future.