By: Cabinets
Custom made cabinets are a great way to get a unique feel for your room and, more importantly, to satisfy the need for space in that particular room. Because custom made cabinets are unique, they are typically more expensive than run of the mill cabinets; however, with that price comes quality and durability that you will not be able to find anywhere else which really makes for a wise purchase. While mass-produce cabinets are cheaper, they wear much faster and therefore, become old and decrepit. On the flip side, cabinets that are custom made are typically made from high quality wood and last for years.
If you are interested in getting custom made cabinets, the first thing you’ll want to do is call a carpenter and ask if they do it. If they do, invite them over to your house for a meeting. You want to show them where the cabinets are going to go, but more importantly, you want to get his/her professional opinion on what types of wood to go with and things like that. They are the expert here, so they will be able to help you pick exactly what you want and give you necessary advice on durable cabinets.
Pick the hardware and finish that you want. In other articles, this information has been touched on because of the fact that it adds such a unique feel to cabinets. Since we are going with custom made cabinets, we want to ensure that the hardware and finish we have will make our cabinets stand out in comparison to other cabinets. With this in mind, some carpenters might have their own connections to hardware creators that can get custom hardware made that you’ll only find on your cabinets. However, this route obviously costs more money, but if you’ve got it, go ahead and go with it.
It is expected that custom made cabinets are going to take time because the carpenter is going to do it all by hand. Therefore, expect that it will take the carpenter a few weeks to do it. Add on the fact that they may be doing a few projects all at once to try and diversify their incomes and it is expected that you might not have your new, custom made cabinets for a few weeks. This is okay, though, because when you do get them, they will be incredible looking cabinets.
Finally, installing them will require the careful precision of the carpenter. He would have created the support for the cabinets; therefore, he’ll know how to hang them. He’ll come in and hang them for you usually, for no additional charge to you. Before he leaves, it is important to test them out. Put some heavy items in the cabinets to test their durability. It would be horrible if he left and suddenly they broke. Therefore, put some unbreakable things in there that add weight. Once you see that you have durable cabinets, go ahead and make the purchase.
It is important to do a 50/50 deal with the carpenter. If you don’t pay him at all, there is no sense of urgency to get the work done. However, on the flip side, if you pay him in full, there is always the risk of him running off with your money. If you pay 50/50, you are going to not only respect him enough to trust him with some money, but it creates that sense of urgency to get the rest of the money. Finally, it ensures that you are getting a quality product. Because you get to test the product before you pay for it, you’re going to get quality, there is no doubt about that.
The most important thing to remember about getting custom cabinets is that design is everything. The largest part of the project for you will be sitting down with the carpenter and designing the cabinets to your specifications. To save time, try and have some of the following information on hand and ready for the carpenter so that, when he comes, you can say, “This is what I want, what do you think and how much do you think it will cost me to get it done?” Time is money for everyone.
- The wood that you want. Knowing the type of wood to get for the cabinets makes the design process easier. The carpenter will be able to tell you if it is a durable enough wood for what you want and, more importantly, if you can have the design you want.
- The design you want. Sketch out the design on the face of the cabinet that you want. While this might seem a little weird at first, if you can sketch it out and show the carpenter, he’ll then be able to redraw it himself and confirm with you. By getting the design in your head down on paper, you’ll have a better shot of getting the exact cabinets you want.
- An idea on what the hardware should look like. If you are going totally custom, have an exact design already in mind either by contacting a hardware company or by telling the carpenter what you want so that he can contact a hardware company. If you do the contacting, though, chances are, you’ll save some money. It’s common practice to charge a “finder’s fee” for things such as hardware, etc. If the carpenter buys the hardware for $200, he’ll charge you $250.
- A rough budget. If you know that you can only afford $1500 for the cabinets, you should tell the carpenter this so that he can tell you if he can do it or not. Furthermore, he’ll tell you whether or not, with that budget, you can get the type of wood you want plus his labor costs. This is typically the roughest part of the job because you want so much, but the money isn’t always there. Knowing how much you can afford, at least roughly, makes deciding what to get a little easier.
Getting custom cabinets is a great way to have a unique feel for the house. Most carpenters can do cabinets, but try and find one that specializes in cabinets and has samples to show you of what he has designed and built. It is sometimes better to pay a little more because you know that the cabinets that you are going to get are the highest quality rather than paying less, but also getting a poorer quality cabinet. Get a few opinions from different carpenters and try and get them to bid a little. Sometimes, you can get a great deal from a great carpenter simply because business might be a little slow for them currently.
