Fair disclosure: this one-star rating is the average between the cabinet work (five stars) and everything else (run!). Hire CabinetCraft for cabinets; but be careful with everything else that they may sign on to do--that risks ruining the impression.
If cabinets are all you need done, CabinetCraft is a top choice. Victor (the installer) was punctual, reliable, and efficient. Bravo! I cannot say enough good words about that part of the project. The final product looks great and seems durable--all at a reasonable price.
Unfortunately, cabinets are not always the only thing you need done. In our kitchen project, we also needed new countertops. This is where it got interesting.
One concern was about what seemed like a waste of time. You see, Barry (designer/salesman--and apparent owner) doesn't travel with samples in his trunk. He wants you to go see Anne (his wife--and apparent manager-owner) in the showroom. There, you can look at a few small squares of countertop material (which could easily fit in a carry-on) and pick one color. My wife and I did. However, I ended up not finding that color at the tile & stone store (Arizona Tile), where CabinetCraft sent us next. What was the point of that showroom visit?
At Arizona Tile, we selected another granite color pattern that was on display. I coordinated with Anne (who, in turn, coordinated with JDS Surfaces, the fabricator) to ensure that this change went into the paperwork, which I signed when making a 50% deposit on the countertops. The next step: going back-and-forth with Arizona Tile about actually "tagging" some slabs for the project. You see: if something was on display, it was not necessarily available to us. A week later after a few frantic phone calls (including us, Arizona Tile, and Anne), we had our slabs lined up. That was the first step to get the countertop part of the project started.
The second step was to get the measurements for countertop fabrication. Since the fabricator was a different entity (JDS), precise coordination with them did not seem to be CabinetCraft's job. So, a JDS guy showed up unannounced--but, at least, on the day when he was supposed to show up. Well, okay. I rushed home from work to make sure we discussed what needed to happen.
The third step was the wait for the countertops to be fabricated. From the get-go, Anne communicated that it might take a week or so--her own recent experience was twelve days without a kitchen. Well, okay again. Our installation ended up scheduled for Day 11 of the project--although nobody called to make sure that it was a convenient day.
Day 11 was inconvenient, but I settled for what it was. I then got excited when a call came from JDS on Day 10: they had an opening, and could complete the installation--the fourth step--earlier than expected. That was great news! Until it wasn't.
The window of time for the countertop installation had to be pushed an hour or two--there was a hold up at the shop with some piece requiring last-minute work. Well, okay for the third time; my schedule obviously was less important. Finally, the crew called me with a 30-minute ETA and arrived 40 minutes later.
When I looked at the truck, I knew something was wrong. The granite slab delivered was not what we picked out at Arizona Tile. The paperwork accompanying the load confirmed that (so did a call to Arizona Tile--our slabs were still there). Whoa! Not okay.
That made me pretty mad and dismayed. What now? I got on the phone with CabinetCraft (inside the house), the JDS guy got on the phone with whomever (outside the house). Then the JDS guy marched in through the door without knocking with some sort of an update. No knocking? No conversation. Without any profanity, but in a firm and elevated voice, I instructed the "intruder" to leave. And so he did.
We were now looking at nine more days without a kitchen.
The clear problem here was that nobody actually "owned" the project. CabinetCraft did our cabinets and "pawned" us off to JDS for the countertops. We became "hostages" to JDS: after the demolition of the existing countertop, we were without a kitchen and at the mercy of the fabricator. If something went wrong--and something did--there was no real accountability. Did anybody ensure that the right slab went into fabrication? Probably not. I would have to confirm with Anne. When she is back from vacation.
What about other stuff? Well, CabinetCraft could sell us a Karran sink. Anne gave us a brochure with a quote. I found the same sink at Home Depot for about half of that. Reconnecting the plumbing? No.
Backsplashes? No. We got a one-pager with a short list of handyman references. I spoke with a couple of those handymen. Some were not licensed. Some sounded expensive. I ended up taking care of the work myself. Be prepared to do the same. That is unless cabinets are all you need. read more