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Everybody knows that
RTA
Cabinets can save you a significant amount of money on your new
kitchen or bathroom, but not everybody knows the difference between the
various types of RTA Cabinets that are on the market. It seems like for
every person who had a good experience with assembling and installing
their own cabinets, there are just as many people who have horror stories
from dealing with the wrong supplier or buying the wrong type of RTA
Cabinets. In this article I am going to cover the differences between the
various ready-to-assemble cabinets that are on the market so that you can
ensure your experience is a positive one.
Materials-
whether you are talking about custom, stock, or RTA cabinets, the
materials used for the construction of the cabinets should be the biggest
factor in what cabinets you are buying. The most common question that I
get from customers is "what is the door made of?". People want to make
sure that the door is made of real wood, when in reality they should be
more concerned with what the cabinet box is made of. 95% of the RTA
Cabinets that are the market are going to have solid wood doors and face
frames (if not, that should be a red flag!!). Where they differ will be
what they use for the box and the back panel. There are a wide variety of
materials that are used by manufacturers, including-
plywood,
fiberboard, particle board, MDF, and solid wood. Plywood and Solid wood
are going to be your strongest cabinet box. There are several issues that
you might have to deal with if you buy cabinets that use particle board or
fiberboard with a veneer cover..... 1) if the material gets wet,
fiberboard and particle board tend to swell or buckle 2) both materials
tend break or split, especially screws or nails are used. Screws will have
a tendency to lose their grip because the material is made of shredded
wood or paper vs. a plywood or solid wood material. Ironically, most of
the cabinets that you have to special order from Lowe's or Home Depot are
actually made of fiberboard with a veneer. For a strong, long lasting
cabinet, make sure that the cabinet box is made of plywood or solid wood.
Ease of
Assembly- if you have heard any stories horror stories about RTA
cabinets, it most likely had to do with the complicated assembly that is
required. If you have ever bought anything from
IKEA
than you know exactly what I am talking about. One of my neighbors who
just remodeled their kitchen with cabinets from IKEA was telling me her
story about the cabinets she thought she was getting a great deal on. I
was amazed to find out that everything literally comes in its own box....
the hinges are in a box, the screws are in another box, the cabinet faces
are another box, etc, etc.... she was telling me that it took a couple of
hours just to identify all of the different parts. After hearing her
story, I can understand why some people might not what to deal with the
headache. I can assure you that not all RTA cabinets are that hard to
assemble. A good, high quality RTA Cabinet will come with everything ready
to assemble in a single box. Having worked with ready-to-assemble cabinets
for the past 15 years, the cabinets that I am used to dealing with only
require a screw driver to assemble, and can be assembled in 5-10 minutes.
On a high quality cabinet, the doors will already be attached to the face
frames, and everything interlocks using cam locks. If you find yourself
buying each piece in a separate box, make sure you set aside a couple days
for assembly because you are going to need it!!
Price- let's face it, most people associate the price of a product
with the quality of the product..... this is not true, especially with RTA
cabinets. If you have ever searched for RTA Kitchen cabinets on the
internet you will find several dozen cabinet stores selling the same exact
line of cabinets, with highest priced websites selling the same exact
cabinets (changing the name to slightly) for 2-3 times as much as
the lowest priced cabinet store.
Don't be fooled by price. Check into the materials, assembly
procedure, and
shipping schedule to determine if the cabinet is right for
you. Shop around... just because a big box store has the buying power,
doesn't mean you are going to get the best deal... in reality, the best
deals available are going to come from the internet sites that have very
little overhead and are working off of lower margins. They can usually
offer better customer service as well.
So if you are at the point where you are thinking about RTA Cabinets, make
sure you ask the right questions to ensure you have to best experience
possible. By finding cabinets made of the right materials, that are easy
to assemble, and priced appropriately, you can ensure a beautiful kitchen
or bathroom and a project that is easy to accomplish.
-Article reprinted from
Articlesbase.com
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