Like most people embarking on a DIY project, I researched drawers at several websites, blogs, Pinterest - you name it. There were equal numbers of success and horror stories and it came down to how much confidence you had in your own abilities. Well - that puts a burden on the company you choose to help guide you through the process, and TDD does that exceedingly well.
They answered basic questions through mail and phone and I built enough confidence to order so I got on the phone with them to place the order, - I recommend this for first timers. They have a cabinet wizard which will auto calculate drawers from opening sizes or you can explicitly measure out your drawers. They received the order, reviewed it, and called back since there was some ambiguity. They left nothing to chance. Who does that today?
The ship date they generated put me past my deadline so I requested them to ship earlier - they did.
The drawers themselves were beautifully finished - I went with just above basic grade ply, heavy duty glides and a heavier bottom since my drawers measured 32" wide. Right there, several websites fell out of the running.
I HIGHLY recommend getting them to install the drawer guides.
Now to the challenges: There is no documentation except some BLUM glide videos on youtube which is okay but not really enough.
The glides are heavy and greasy. Front to back, they tend to slide around so I stuck one screw in the middle and then used a level to align up/down/front/back positions and kept tapping in screws to firm it up.
Ideally, a VIX bit would have helped but I didn't have one.
I had a bottom drawer so I started with that and worked my way up. I slid the drawer into the slides, locked it in and then slid the whole thing into the cabinet to align the front where I wanted. I did this by actually marking the back of the glide and removed the drawer, giving me a mark on which to place the glide. The point is, the front of the glide is offset from the front of the cabinet/face frame - so that when it closes, it lines up exactly where you want it to. Just how much shouldn't be a guessing (measurement game). Place it exactly where you want it and use a pencil to mark it.
I cut myself 2 identical pieces of scrap to support the glide I was installing above it, next. I placed these on the existing glide, then repeated the process by centering a screw in the guide being installed and then repeating the alignment steps.
The whole thing cost $$ to ship from CA to TX but they arrived beautifully packed on a pallet and with not a scratch on them.
Despite that, I think I paid less than any other site I shopped them with.
The wife is happy, and I plan to order more.. read more