Should I Buy from Lowe's?
What is the difference between mass-produced, stock cabinets and custom built cabinets?

Sizing

Custom Built Cabinets means that your cabinets are custom built to fit your exact measurements. As opposed to Mass-produced, out of the box cabinets that are built in sizing increments of 3 inches in width. Filler boards are then used fill in the gaps between the cabinets.

Options

In addition to offering you custom sizing options on your cabinets, islands and bars, custom cabinets also let you choose from a much, much wider palette of finishing options. Pained, stained, glazed, distressed, check out our wood sample page to see what we mean we say "many options to choose from". We can match existing paint and stain colors or we can create something totally new and unique to your kitchen that will satisfy the interior designer within you!

Quality

Most stock cabinets are vastly inferior in quality to Amish Custom Cabinets. Here are a few of the differences. The majority of stock cabinet mfgs use particle boards for the sides back and shelves of their cabinets. These very heavy boards will warp and begin to smell when exposed to high amounts of moisture. Insist on plywood or solid hardwood even for the non visible parts of your cabinets since it is much more durable.

Another area to watch out for this the missing mounting strip. Quality Custom Cabinets include a strip of wood on the insides of the cabinet that allow them to be fastened very securely to the stud walls. Stock cabinets do not have this strip. Without this strip, the heads of the fastening screws can easily pull though the backing of the cabinets allowing them to literally fall off the wall! I am personally familiar with a case were this happened. The lady's son jumped up to get hold of the upper cabinet door and pulled the entire upper cabinet off the wall. The lady happened to be hosting a group of out-of-state friends at the time. Her kitchen looked like a disaster zone with splintered cabinets and broken dishes everywhere.

Here are some things to be on the lookout for when purchasing cabinets...

• Thin plywood or cheap plywood that uses a sponge filler. Not all plywood are created equal.
• Particle Boards that are laminated and look great when they are new.
• Hot-melt glue & Staples
• Plastic drawer slide mounts and shelf clips
• Cheap drawer boxes without dove-tailing
• Cheap varnishes and 1 step finishes. Insist on a multiple step finished with quality, catalyzed varnish

While not all stock cabinets employ every cheap manufacturing method, the price is usually a good indication of quality of a stock cabinet.

Expertise

Custom cabinets have the advantages of having been built "stateside" by competent, skilled craftsmen. Stock cabinets on the other hand are often mass assembled by low skilled assembly line workers. Not only are you getting better cabinets with the custom built option, but your money is staying "Regional".