A peek into home builder conversations with Main Line Kitchen Design
The following email exchange is between Paul McAlary, President of Main Line Kitchen Design and a home builder. We are sharing it because it accurately shows the different mindsets of the two approaches and the different knowledge set that kitchen design professionals bring to the table. The key takeaway is that these two paths seldom merge; so many custom homes end up with poorly designed and overpriced kitchens.
Hello. I am a custom home builder and I am looking to see if you carry a LOW VOC (environmentally friendly) cabinet line?
Paul’s answer: As of 2019, all cabinet brands must pass what essentially was the California Carb2 compliance test. As there is no additional testing documentation beyond the 2019 Federal regulations, any claims by any brand to give off lower VOC’s is undocumented.
I have actually noticed that the companies that market themselves as having lower off gassing are usually frameless brands with particleboard sides which we know are actually at the higher end of the off gassing spectrum. So if you do research online, you will get disingenuous lies from unscrupulous cabinet brands.
To answer your question, though – yes, all the lines and the cabinetry we sell is all plywood construction. That qualifies all the products we sell as on the lower end of the off gassing spectrum.
However, and this is my opinion, based simply on the smell of the new cabinetry we receive, the less expensive US import brands’ off gassing is less than the expensive brands we sell. This is simply because the parts and pieces were made and painted sometimes almost 6 months before the cabinets were built. Whereas in the expensive custom brands we sell the cabinets parts were made and painted or stained merely days before shipping.
So if you want to minimize exposure to off gassing, the more expensive brands should sit in storage for a while – preferably, with boxes open.
Think of a new car smell. It goes away after a few months.
Call me and I can answer any other questions.
Home Builder: Great feedback and insights, thank you. We are potentially looking for a true custom cabinet that is painted locally with water based (some low VOC) finishes. Several local cabinet shops with their own paint booths have shut down due to aging owners in the past 6 months. The ones still open are way too busy with too long of lead times. I was hoping for a work around.
Paul’s answer: Professional Cabinet dealers do not consider small custom cabinet makers as Custom Cabinet producers.
Small “custom” cabinet makers make what professional kitchen designers consider homemade cabinets – for many reasons. Finishes by smaller ‘custom’ cabinet makers are always less durable. The engineering of the cabinetry is not extensively field tested by professionals. Additionally, any warranty is not the same lifetime warranty that is guaranteed by both the cabinet brand and the dealer independently. This is because small shops go out of business or the owner retires or dies, so any warranty is not really that valuable. Here’s a blog on the topic – https://www.mainlinekitchendesign.com/general/custom-cabinets-handmade-or-homemade/
I would also be remiss if I didn’t emphasize that it is just as important to work with a “real” kitchen designer as it is to buy custom cabinets from a “real” custom cabinet brand, such as the Brighton or the Plain and Fancy brands carried by Main Line Kitchen Design. This is why we insist on measuring every remodeling project and measure post-framing on new homes ourselves. And we want to work on kitchen designs with the end user. We do not price designs done by architects, home builders or others, because kitchen designs require the unique expertise of actual kitchen designers. The best designs will always be created by experienced kitchen designers working directly with customers.
Main Line Kitchen Design gives home builders, contractors and interior designers referral payments of 10% of the profit on orders from them BUT we will NOT sell directly to anyone but homeowners.
This is to prevent contractors and others from marking up our cabinetry prices and misrepresenting its cost, as well as to avoid any misunderstandings on final selections made by homeowners.
Under this system everything is transparent, and homeowners get the best kitchen designs and buy the cabinetry that is within their budget for the best price. The best money spent on a kitchen is always making the design itself the best it can be. This means removing soffits, moving walls, doorways, and making other layout changes ahead of splurging on cabinetry, countertops and professional appliances. We also provide for homeowners to spend their budgets more effectively by offering 8 brands of cabinets from expensive custom cabinetry to very well-made and reasonable semi-custom brands like Fabuwood.
As a kitchen designer working at other showrooms before I started Main Line Kitchen Design, it always made me upset selling the most expensive cabinetry that we carried to people with poor kitchen designs.
That’s why we only sell directly to the end user. We are often approached by home builders and architects to price critically flawed designs in our most expensive brands for their unsuspecting customers. Priority one for Main Line Kitchen Design is the homeowners’ best interests; we only sell kitchens when we are able to provide clients with better designs and options.
Kitchen remodels and new home projects turn out better when the experts in each area do what they do best. General contractors do the installations. Kitchen designers do the designs, and sell the cabinets and, usually, countertops directly to the customers. Appliance specialists sell the appliances, and flooring and tile specialists advise on the products they sell.
Main Line Kitchen Design’s focus is on design and home owners which is why we get so many 5 star reviews, and why the contractors who work with us find that their jobs run smoothly. When we all work together, professionals make money doing what each does best. And customers don’t pay for unneeded middlemen.
Builder: I appreciate that feedback. Certainly an interesting way of looking at the world of cabinetry and custom homes. Always good to have perspective of others in the business.
We always use “real” kitchen designers. Our clients’ projects are, often, very unique and that requires that, at times, we be willing to think out of the box.
Definitely appreciate your insights and looking forward to collaborating with you at some point.
This was the end of the email exchange.
Had it continued, I would have added that homeowners aren’t working with “real” kitchen designers unless the designers work for a cabinet distributor. All reputable custom cabinet brands carry the spectrum of what all builders require – there is nothing that a dealer doesn’t sell that you could get from a less qualified small cabinet maker. Thinking outside the box can be code for not knowing what you are doing.
I gladly respond to blog inquiries and emails like these in hope of ensuring the best designs for all home owners.
OR
Call into our Friday helpline and podcast most Fridays between 2 and 4 pm Eastern Standard Time. We review designs and give free design help. Call 61O-5OO-4O71 then leave a message and we will call you when a line opens. Be ready to email designs or measurements you want Paul to consider.
Listen to a podcast HERE
And, as always,
Bon Appetit . . .
Paul
