Kitchen Cabinet Doors

Tips from Real-Estate-Agents.com

Q: We were given some solid oak kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Two eye level cabinet doors are larger than the free doors given to us. We have taken them to four local cabinet makers who have said that they are custom built, and to make the doors we need to complete the cabinets they would have to buy one or two $200.00 routers. They say if they don't perfectly match, it will be very noticeable.

A: I'm afraid that if you have taken them to four different places and gotten the same answer all four times, that probably is the answer. I suppose you could keep trying to find a shop that already owns the proper routers, but sometimes things simply cost a certain amount and nothing can make them cheaper. If you were given the beautiful custom made solid oak cabinets for free, having a few doors made to match still sounds like quite a bargain overall!

Since door styles change constantly, it is not worth a cabinet shop's effort to change their machines just to cut five doors, which is why they are so expensive. You can get brand new cabinet doors (made of red oak for about $30 to $40 each where I live). So I recommend that you either live with five doors that do not match exactly, spend the money to get the five doors made up, or get all new doors that match. You will have to do your homework and compare costs, time, effort, and appearance to decide which way to go.

To find cabinet makers in your area, please visit our web site at: http://www.servicemagic.com, type "Cabinets" into the search box and a whole list of choices will come up, including the following:

Find a Custom Cabinet Maker

Reface Cabinets

Find a Pre-Manufactured Cabinet Maker

Repair Cabinets

Try submitting service requests under all these categories, explaining in the additional details box that you need to have five custom made oak cabinet doors made to match your existing cabinets. This is probably your best shot at finding the appropriate people in your area (if there are any) to do this job for you.

Good luck!

This information is brought to you by Greg McGarry of Galerie Construction Co. in Nevada, Texas.

-- Tips courtesy of Service Magic