Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Rope Accent Moulding

Just a quick question on rope accent moulding. Just had new cabinets installed in our kitchen, purchased from Home Depot. We had nothing but problems, took over 3 months to complete. Our rope accent moulding has 3 splits in it from nails. The installer argued with me that it can't be prevented and that rope moulding is almost impossible to work with. I spent over $600 for the installation of the moulding alone (Over $2,000 for total install). Should I be picky about this or is it something that really is unavoidable? I feel that after spending over $8,000 on custom cabinets that everything should be perfect. Thanks for your time!

I have installed rope molding on cabinets. It IS a tedious process, but pre-drilling eliminates splits (using the right size brad nail helps too).

Your call on what to do about your problem.

I've painted more than a few homes that had the prefinished rope moulding and I don't remember seeing or hearing of any problems with it. I also painted one home that used unfinished rope mould in with the master bedroom crown moulding and while it wasn't the easiest to paint, I don't recall any issues with it - I puttied and caulked as needed and if there were any splits, I would have fixed them.

Thanks for your input guys. The molding isn't going to painted, it is "palomino" shade. Everything is made by Thomasville and is maple. Even the touch-ups our installer made look crappy, and he instists that we are just too picky.

I knew your rope wouldn't be painted - I was just relating what experience I've had with it, I've never installed any.

I'd talk with the HD sales rep about the job. He should come out and look at it. I've worked around all kinds of cabinet installers, some that would do an excellant job and others that just "threw" the cabinets in. I'm sure HD wants to have a decent reputation [with their higher end cabinets] and if the workmanship is shoddy, they should be willing to make it right.