WOW! We were the GCs on our own kitchen remodel and worked with over a dozen contractors - Rick was way at the top of our favorites to work with. He's excellent at his craft, brings so much vision and attention to detail to his work, and vastly exceeded our expectations in timeline (other cabinet makers were quoting several months ... Rick had ours to us within a few weeks) and quality (was able to match our existing cabinetry flawlessly) We did a partial cabinet replacement due to an unfortunate kitchen leak. Though we had a vague idea of the features we wanted (dishwasher! Recycling pull-out!), we were uninformed about how to make that happen. We sent Rick a few vague ideas, and he put together an awesome plan that made great use of our small kitchen space, with some nifty storage ideas. Later, we decided we wanted to install an OTR microwave and surrounding cabinets. Rick - again - came informed about our options, read through the installation guide for the microwave we had in mind, and proposed a layout that combined both functional and aesthetic concerns. We just had them installed, and they line up perfectly with the existing upper cabinets - like they'd been there to begin with. On top of that - it was just so pleasant to work with Rick. It was so cool to walk around his workshop and see all of the amazing projects he was working on and the beautiful pieces he was putting together. I can't recommend Rick highly enough and look forward to working with him in the future. read more

Eight years ago, Rick at Rex Custom Cabinet built an incredible suite of kitchen cabinets for my partner's Montclair home. Fast forward to 2024 - the hinge plate on one of the cabinet doors broke, probably because it had come loose and I tightened it too much. One quick call to Rick and we went to his showroom - he gave us replacements for the broken plate (which holds the hinge in place) as well as a spare, and threw in a selection of screws tailored for the hinge in question. He would not take payment, and all the while provided a running commentary on the care and use of our hinges. Top marks to this long-time professional. read more

Rex Custom Cabinet Shop - Rick at Rex Custom Cabinets replaced the broken hinge plate at no cost to us. - Building Supplies Near Me - Oakland, California

Just, wow. Rex helped us make our dream bathroom a reality with his amazing product. It was an absolute breeze to work with him to determine what we needed based on what my husband and I wanted... He was quick, responsive, he communicated with our contractor, and the final product could not be any better. See for yourself!!! Thanks so much, Rex. We will definitely be coming back for all of our custom cabinetry needs, and highly recommend Rex for yours read more

Rex Custom Cabinet Shop - Building Supplies Near Me - Oakland, California

Rick! He truly goes above and beyond is great at his craft. I can't recommend him or his business enough, everyone is great!

We initially thought we would go with some ikea cabinets however, after mulling over differ configurations, we decided that the best option was to go with a custom build and I'm really glad that we did. Rick came to the house and measured out our kitchen. We spoke about different options and what we ultimately wanted to do. We had a pretty complex remodel as we planned to move the stove/oven and needed something that would allow us to maximize the storage in the space given that we live on bayfarm in alameda space is always so limited. We were really happy about the suggestions that Rick gave and the quality of the material that was used. Everything was really wood and the finish was very durable. Thanks Rick. Btw, his showroom does not do it justice so, I'm adding some photos from our kitchen. read more

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Rick and his team really know what they are doing. Not only do they take pride in doing quality work, they will work with you to problem solve. Working with real artisans is a pleasure. They delivered impeccable custom cabinets. I highly recommend working with them. read more

Rex Custom Cabinet Shop - All new custom cabinets by Rex Cabinets. Full height cabinets in paint grade wood, all base cabinets in rift sawn oak. - Building Supplies Near Me - Oakland, California

I called Rick for assistance with a small project that most other cabinetmakers should have found laughable. I was at the end of a cabinet refacing project (done by another company) when I had the bright idea that I wanted all new shelving. I called around and Rick was the most pleasant and helpful person that I encountered. He didn't make the cabinetry but he sure made them better. If I'm ever in need of custom cabinetry they'll have me add a customer. read more

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Well, I'm getting custom size cabinets, hand made locally in this shop, they'll be ready 2 weeks, ready to install. The cost 30 percent less than Home Depot! Rick Kalem is fast, efficient, provided many upgrades at no charge, with in budget! I had 3 bids, theirs was the most comprehensive and complete bid! No hidden charges!!! I'm real happy with order! Nice show room, you can see the whole process, from an idea to wood building, and finished product under the same roof!!! Much better than Home cheapo cabinets!!!! read more

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This shop built the custom cabinets in our kitchen in 1987 in a complete remodel. I finally replaced my ovens and my cooktop this year 2021, and due to the cooktop being slightly deeper and the gas connection in a different place, one of the drawers under it needed adjustment in both length and depth. I called the shop and he said to bring it in and they would fix it. I brought it over in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon. It fits perfectly -- what great service! Rex Custom Cabinet Shop takes care of their customers. read more

In a world where good customer service is no longer valued, Rick has shown me that his business values giving you top notch service. I've gone to his business twice with unusual requests and he has been able to help me on both occasions. I went into his business about a year ago looking for narrow cabinet shelving that I could not find anywhere. Ric was so helpful that he personally cut me the shelving himself. I went into his business again last week looking for kitchen cabinet hinges that I couldn't find anywhere else and Rick was able to order them for me immediately. What can I say but that Rick is resourceful, knowledgeable and helpful. He's the best! read more

I've been installing cabinets and complete kitchens built by REX CABINETS since 1992. Rick Kalem is always willing to listen to the details and issues and come up with great solutions and solid cabinets with great details and options. He has good guys for custom finishes also. He has done very high end custom kitchens for and also worked with me to come up with tight budget solutions and small modification jobs. read more

Rick returned our calls and bid on our project in a timely manner. We submitted drawings for two sets of cabinets. He submitted a bid that looked good to us. We took it to our clients and they approved with a couple minor changes. We resubmitted drawings to reflect the changes (a few drawers instead of doors) and he resubmitted a bit that was a few hundred bucks more. All was good at this point so we went in to talk in person about the finer details. This is when he alerted us to the fact that he didn't include one of the cabinets in the total cost of the bid. A $4,000 job was now a $6,000 job because he didn't have his excel spreadsheet set up correctly. Twice. Yup, he messed it up both times with us and possibly many others, who knows. After informing us of this he didn't apologize or try to help us in any way, he just said it was a minor error and that he couldn't build the cabinets for that price. Now we're up a creek without a paddle. Totally unprofessional. read more

So.. I needed to get a some custom cabinet doors made to match the existing ones in my kitchen and did quite a bit of research to get the job done at the best price that was the closest match to the current doors. NO WAY was I going to get this done at Home Depot where they just try to push you to order whatever--they just want the sale. Sure, they're cheaper at Home Depot. But will they match? Highly unlikely and you'll probably end up paying more in the end by having to get new doors that are a closer match. Rex's however, was the kind of place that takes time to work with you, to find exactly what you need. Rick was so great with planning it out and helping to match the cabinet doors as close as possible to the ones in my kitchen. He made sure to take me through each step in detail and made sure to kindly and patiently answer all my questions along the way (I had MANY). That said, I don't understand why a reviewer said Rick was rude--she was probably rude to him first is the only possibility I can think of as Rick was suuuuper nice. Totally loved the lessons about all the wood types and Rick quickly found the matching wood (Home Depot didn't even know what it was). After finishing with the plans, I wholeheartedly agreed to pay double the price I would have through Home Depot -- and completely worth it with Rick and crew btw, there's no better option. However, in the end Rick and his team managed to ACTUALLY FIX the broken doors I had! Since the frames were intact, they just needed new panels. Rick didn't even want to charge me for them as he had just fixed them rather than make them, but of course I had paid for them out of sheer joy and gratitude (a tiny fraction of the quoted price). I dropped by a couple of days later to pick up the cabinet sample I accidentally left behind plus drop off some homemade muffins for the whole team. They are that awesome!!! Thanks Rick + crew :) read more

Thank you guys for helping me find my other piece of my door. I've been looking for this cabinet door everywhere!! Thanks again!!

I just contacted this shop and briefly explained my interest in refacing my kitchen cabinets. While talking to to the phone rep, I explained that I was looking into purchasing three cabinet doors, and wanted to know the different price points per door or an "average" cost to say the least before I made a visit. Im well aware its a custom shop. His response was " I do not know how this will help you at all, this is like me looking for a car and asking someone whats the average cost of a car." First of all is analogy was completely inconsistent and irrelevant with my inquiry. I did not call to purchase a car, nor did I appreciate his ignorance. Lets get back to his analogy, if i wanted to purchase a car and I had in mind that I wanted a particular year make and model, chances are I would be able to locate the average cost as a starting point for me to negotiate. His point was invalid, and not very helpful. Im glad I contacted them before visiting. Service was terrible, and the person that picked up the phone has zero interpersonal skills and should reconsider getting an education. I encourage all customers to please consider all options before considering business with this place. read more

Shout out to these guys. I've had this on again/off again relationship with one of my kitchen cabinets. The hinge broke from fatigue and I made a valiant attempt to replace it myself. It turned out to be a bad idea. I broke the screws. I misaligned the drill holes... and within a few days the door once again fell off. With my tail between my legs and cabinet door in hand I randomly walked into Rex and asked if they could help me. Rick looked at it and told me to come back the next day and it would be ready. And it was. The broken screws were removed. The holes were re-doweled and the hinges were mounted once again. When when I asked Rick how much he said nothing.... on the house. When does that ever happen? read more

Rick is very nice. I had a problem with some store bought drawers' sides hanging out too much and they won't clear the door molding. After running around several stores, Rick offered to trim them for me for free, with no guarantee of course. The cuts came out perfectly clean. There was no visible chips to the highly glossy lacquered finish. Otherwise, I would have to buy whole new cabinets. Rick saved the day. I am so relieved. read more

Outrageously rude owner, Rick. I drove down to purchase hinges and was told unequivocally that his time was too valuable to assist a potential customer with a product he sells! It was if I was being ushered off the lot before I could ask a question. Rick, you are in the service industry. No one should act as if they are too busy for customer. read more

My contractor just left for the weekend, and my gorgeous new handcrafted kitchen cabinets are up on the walls, glowing in the afternoon sun: smooth as silk, maple with a hint of buttermilk yellow, beveled glass doors hinting at treasures within. And where did these beauties come from? A local Oakland business, Rex Cabinets, situated at the foot of Fruitvale Avenue -- a fixture in our community for forty years. Indeed, the present shop foreman has been there for thirty years. But the best part? I didn't come in with a big order for a large home in a prestigious neighborhood. I was remodeling a small, 1940's kitchen, in a workingman's cottage located just below Highway 13. I had never remodeled a kitchen before but I had researched cabinets on-line and in periodicals, priced cabinets at various outlets including Home Depot, and was sure I couldn't afford custom cabinets. But unable to find what I wanted ready-made, I finally dropped into Rex Cabinets to see if there was another option. And boy was there! Rick Kalem, the partner in charge, worked with my amateur measurements, rough drawing, and magazine photograph of the desired cabinets to produce just what I wanted, right down to a stain that matched my existing flooring. He treated me as if I had brought in the largest order of the year, accommodating every one of my design requests, and even adding a few extras for which he refused to charge me. And it's not like I'm "one of the guys" who could talk Rick's language -- I'm a "little old lady" who only knew what she wanted. I cannot recommend Rex Cabinets and Rick highly enough. If you need cabinets of any sort -- kitchen, bathroom, family room -- or a stand-alone piece like a work station, liquor cabinet, buffer or credenza, it's the place to go for fine workmanship and unexcelled customer service. And the best part? The extra cost is much less than the increased quality and design flexibility, compared to ready-made cabinets. read more

If you need a cabinet drawer repaired, and you cannot afford to purchase an entire new cabinet, Rex can fix your cabinet drawer for a reasonable fee. I have used the company three times for this particular service and the service has been great. read more

Love em! I recently went to Rex with a small project for my "mini' kitchen makeover. Looking back, I was every cabinet maker's nightmare...I wasn't working with a designer, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted, and I kept thinking of additional things I wanted. Rick was patient and helpful, and came up with some brilliant suggestions on the best use of my space. He went so far as to have me measure my spice bottles so we'd be sure the cabinets were exactly as needed. I couldn't be happier with the finished project. Rex Custom Cabinets is the BOMB! read more

I needed some help on a small project. Rick took time out to help me, did a wonderful job and was most gracious about it. I was extremely impressed by his customer service. read more

Rick makes amazing things. He is very helpful and super affordable for a custom cabinet shop. I highly recommend him and his services!

Unbelievable how rude the customer service is at this place is. I'm beyond shocked. Seriously the owner of this place told me he didn't have time to answer a few questions because " 20 minutes of his time cost about 160" really???? I called for a few questions about hinges because I was told to call this business, that they would be able to help me. Instead I was treated rudely. As a bussiness owner he shouldn't treat customers that way if he wants to stay relevant. I don't recommend any body to go here, and if you already have a project going on with this bussiness, whenever you meet with the owner, make sure you are with some bodyguards because you never know. 0 stars!!!!! read more

Short Story: Rex Custom Cabinets came highly recommended to us as a place that does very high quality work, although not necessarily for the cheapest price. We found that to be accurate in both cases. Long Story: Just like every place, Rex Custom Cabinets comes with pluses and minuses. In our case, the pluses far outweighed the minuses, and we ended up with an extremely well made custom cabinet that we are quite pleased with. It took me a while to figure out how best to communicate with Rick, but once I did things worked our pretty well. The bottom line is that he is apparently not the biggest fan of email because his responses to email were generally not timely. I hate to say it, but this is quickly becoming an email driven world, so hopefully for the sake of the business he can make that transition sooner rather than later. Having said that, if you don't mind picking up the phone and calling him, then you will get generally top notch service. He is very pleasant and helpful over the phone. As for the work, we went in to see Rick with a fairly good idea of what we wanted designed. He patiently went through various options with us, bouncing various design ideas of his own off us, and giving us a basic idea of the cost impact of each design decision. After a few iterations of going over his design documents he had pretty much nailed the design we were looking for. I'm sure it's no accident that that design also transported very well, and went together like a glove when the contractor went to install it in our home. The next step was for his shop guys to turn it into reality, and they did a really nice job. The cabinet is extremely sturdy, the joints all seem to match up nicely, and visible nail holes are kept to a minimum. I had occasion to go back in the shop later for a bit of followup work, and things looked quite organized and the guys there were all quite courteous. Pluses: - If you can describe it, Rick can design it. I doubt there's a lot of places that you can say that about. - The craftsmanship is top notch. - Once you figure out his communication style, Rick can be a pretty pleasant guy to work with. - Responsiveness on some followup items (ie. after the money was already in their pockets) was top notch. This definitely isn't a take the money and run kind of outfit. Minuses: - You have to figure out Rick's favored communication style. To be fair, it wasn't that he wouldn't respond to emails, he just wasn't always as timely as you would like him to be. - Price. If you're looking for cheap, this probably isn't the place to look. Remember this is custom work. There will be some design work as part of it, and that doesn't come for free. Bottom Line: We wouldn't hesitate to use these guys again. BTW, as mentioned by others, their showroom is dramatically outdated. It may even be a turnoff for anyone not interested in going 70's-style with their home. As I said before, if you can describe it, Rick can design it. It doesn't have to look like what you see in the showroom unless that's what you happen to describe. read more

It's been three years since our cabinets were installed and I am pretty depressed about the experience. They look beautiful from a distance, but the finish began cracking very shortly after installation. Rex's blamed the finisher; the finisher blamed the cabinet maker. They refinished a few of the doors and basically let me know that they never wanted to hear from me again regarding additional complaints. The white traditional finish is cracking and peeling in many locations and I regret almost daily that I just didn't buy an Ikea kitchen. It would have been cheaper and more durable. read more

Strange experience. I rode down on my bike to look for cabinets to add to my kitchen. The owner queried if I was working with an architect and promptly dismissed me as not a serious candidate to purchase cabinets. In fact I was told I was supposed to come in knowing what I want to buy. I wanted to look around, and he discouraged me from that. Like a previous reviewer -- owner did not seem interested in my business because perhaps it wasn't a BIG job, or architect driven or he thought I didn't have money. I would never buy cabinets here. I also thought the displays were ancient. read more

I stopped by to get a quote for kitchen cabinets. The owner was very disinterested. Seemed focused on getting a deposit out of me before we could talk details. Why would anyone do that? read more

Asked Rick if he could help pick up where our contractor left of on a custom kitchen cabinet job - and he did brilliantly! Completed a number of box drawers, pulls and cabinet ends at a very reasonable cost! read more

I am new to the area and I could not have asked for better service than I received from Rick. I knew exactly what I wanted and Rick was patient in helping me realize my dream. He offered suggestions on how to make things work the way I wanted and even showed me things I could not have imagined. He is very detailed oriented. The end result left me breathless. I could not be happier. I would recommend him to everyone! read more

I went in to get a quote for kitchen cabinets. The owner was more concerned about getting a deposit than showing me options.