Carpentry and Woodworking - Best kept secret

I'm building a new home. We're getting ready to buy the kitchen cabinets. I live in Iowa. I would like to go with the 3/4" plywood or 1/2" plywood sides and all solid wood (probably oak or hickory) for door and drawer fronts. So far all the prices we're getting (just for cabinets alone are way tooooo much), i'll be installing them myself. Can anyone tell me, is there a place somewhere in this country that makes QUALITY kitchen cabinets, and at a price that is not marked up 10 times more than what it costs to make them???????????

Badger,

With what you are desiring, you need to go to the upper line of most pre-manufactured units or consider custom cabinets altogether. Expect to pay those high prices.

It might be wise to not place too high of expectations on what you really need in regards to the box construction as you should focus on the door fronts and hardware. I'm sure then you would get the prices down to something more reasonable.

Hope this helps!

If you have any talent, buy the materials to make the boxes yourself.
Doors and drawer fronts can be ordered from an outside vendor just like many cabinet makers do.

Cabinet boxes are fairly simple to make.

bigmtk - I like the idea of making the boxes myself. One question I have is how to make sure the wood that I use matches the doors that I buy. How do you work this out?

Thanks,
Rob

Order the same species and stain it yourself.

Let me get more specific, here's an example:

If I want cherry cabinets, and I want to have solid wood doors made, do you think if I buy cherry veneer plywood for the boxes, it will match? Can you buy something like cherry veneer plywood easily? Is that what you would use, a veneered plywood.

Thx for answering!

Yes you can get cherry veneer ply. About 100 dollars a sheet.

Another option you might check into if you don't feel up to making them yourself, see if there are any cabinetmakers in your area. Sometimes a small local shop can make your cabs quite a bit cheaper than the big companies.

You may be able to buy cabinet fronts - doors and facing, that way you will know they match but you will need to make sure everything will be the right size.