Euro Style Cabinets? (Rant)

[Mike Cutler]

jack

You made the right decision. That tile job was beyond belief. Wow!

[Jack Pinkham]

That's a Mickey Mouse looking euro cabinet if I've ever seen one. Euro boxes built correctly don't need those kinds of stretchers. This may be a case of a guy with a table saw saying, "sure, I can build that." Not everyone needs a cnc to build euro boxes but they should at least be familiar with AWI or similar standards for any sort of cabinet work.

maybe I'm missing something. Did he order these out or build them?

He built them himself. He assured us that he taught cabinetmaking to the area's premier remodeling company.
He also claimed to have worked in 5 cabinet shops after we complained that the corner base cabinets all had their backs 9" away from the walls. "That's the way we always do them."

[Jack Pinkham]

The cabinets are terrible. The stretcher look terrible and the grain running vertical would only make sense if the doors and drawer fronts were all full overlay and the grain all matched on each door and drawer. I doubt you can take action against him. I believe I could remove the stretchers and if I were you I'd do that and have all the doors and drawer fronts remade to fit without the stretchers and with the grain running horizontally.

Yes, I agree that this would be the most practical fix at this stage. It would give us back the 40% or so of specified drawer volume that he's cheated us out of.

[Jack Pinkham]

My questions: Has he been paid? Is there a hold-back?

Ron

Unfortunately he's been paid in full. I must have been in outer space when I did that.

[Jack Pinkham]

I'm missing something here, Jack. The original drawers add up to 30.5", which is about right for an average countertop, but nothing left for space between the drawers (however they're made). Were those dimensions the size of the drawer fronts? As made now, they add up to 17.5". Those stretchers can't be 4.33" (the missing 13"). Going by the size of the Blumotion slides, I'm guessing the stretchers are 2-1/2". Where's the other 6+ inches? Those three stretchers can't be eating the 40% storage volume you say you've lost.

Can you give us some actual dimensions? How far is it from the bottom of the countertop to the floor? Is this a low counter? 32" is pretty wide for one carcase. How far from bottom of countertop to top of toe kick? How wide are the stretchers (front face, top-to-bottom)? How big is the top opening? How big are the bottom openings?

Pending those numbers, it kinda looks like each stretcher is about an inch wider than it needs to be. But that means you should have 7.5", 9" and 11" drawers. Something's off. It must be a much-lower-than-average counter (and a contractor that can't run a tape measure).

OK, the specified drawer sizes I quoted didn't consider the clearance needed for the slides and didn't assume any stretchers. Also when I listed the actual drawer size, I didn't list the drawer opening heights, just the actual drawer inside depth. So I over-stated the difference between specified and actual drawer volumes.

Here are the actual dimensions of the cabinet:

floor to bottom of counter top: 35-5/8"
toe kick: 4"
three stretchers each 2-1/4" high
bottom panel: 3/4" thick

top drawer opening: 4", drawer inside depth: 2", drawer side height: 3" , drawer front: 5-1/2"
middle drawer opening: 10", drawer inside depth: 7-3/4", drawer side height: 8-3/4", drawer front: 11"
bottom drawer opening: 10" drawer inside depth: 7-3/4", drawer side height: 8-3/4", drawer front: 11-1/4"

There is about 1/2"- 5/8" distance between the top of drawer sides and the opening and between the bottom of the drawer sides and the opening.

[Peter Quinn]

The cabinets are a hack. It saddens me that your project has reached this point, and I truly hope it can be turned around quickly. I particularly like the "Your micro managing me...." defensive response, as if that weren't your inalienable right as the paying customer and guy that has to live with the results for a long time. Apparently that guy has never really worked the high end and had his work constantly under a microscope before? All of your concerns and criticisms I've read have been spot on, that guy should be reported to some one. Not every guy with a TS should be building cabinets. I'm hoping you have a good contract and a decent lawyer.