On many lines of cabinets, this is typical. What do they have in their showroom displays? I'm not sure this is the hill you want to die on. Most likely no one will ever notice if the ends are flush or set back 1/4". I'm sorry your disappointed but Im not sure this is anyone's "Fault".

Good Luck

Remediation is skins. If installed well, they will "fill in" that gap - not quite as beautiful as a furniture or flush end, maybe, because the corner joint still won't be perfect but better than the quarter inch.

If you're doing the specification, you have to learn which terms mean what and double check that your order includes what you want.

Cabinet sides are usually the same finish and material as the inside of the boxes. That's usually a maple melamine or plywood, which doesn't match in color at all to the exterior. The sides have to be finished off in some manner if they are exposed. What you wanted was "flush finish plywood ends" and what you specified was "plywood ends". You've discovered the difference. As was mentioned, the easiest remedy is to order skins to cover that 3/8" reveal and make it flush. 3 skins should run around $100+ or so. They're easy enough for your installer to apply, althought it may be some additional labor involved that wasn't calculated on the front end.

I spoke to one of the cabinet store owners this morning, but he is the one who works on the designs not the ordering. The owner who does the ordering is supposed to call me back.

The cabinets are 3/4" ply. When I say that I specified what I wanted... I specified that I wanted the glass cabinets to be painted white inside. I specified that I wanted the upper cabinets to be plywood interior instead of melamine. I specified that I wanted the 5 piece drawer option. I told them that I didn't want the decorative ends on end of the peninsula, I just wanted it to match the flat ends on the other cabinets. I never thought that I would have to tell someone who designs and orders kitchens for a living that they needed to order flush ends for cabinets at the end of a run.

Looking at the brochure that has the construction details the cabinet ends have 4 choices - unfinshed, finished, finished furniture end or flush & finished. At this point I don't know if it was a mistake in the order or a mistake at the factory. When they call back I'll talk to them about what the options are to fix this. I don't think I should eat any additional labor costs to correct this mistake.

I spoke to the cabinet store owner again. He told me that this is how they 'normally' order the cabinets, yet when I looked back over photos he sent of 3 kitchens in progress, two had flush ends, one had decorative ends. He is trying to weasel out of fixing it. I can't believe it.

Live wire oak or anyone else, would you post example pics of each of these finished ends. I still don't understand what each end looks like. Thanks!

Good request Zoey. We had finished ends on our customs and this time around, our semi-customs got skins. Not noticeable to anyone who wasn't there on install day.

I would also appreciate pix to explain what I may not be understanding. I have an idea but don't know if it is the correct one....

Just got off the 3rd phone call with the cabinet store owners. They will order skins for my cabinets. Sabjimata, I am sooo happy to read that they can be unnoticeable after they are installed. I really hope this is the case as I honestly feel like this is a band aid fix considering the price of the cabinets.

An explanation about the different sides that I was sent today. I wish I had seen this earlier.
{{!gwi}}

One of the cabinets that had me upset:

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Maybe it is just me, but I think that once the counter is on, even you will not notice it, much less any guests....
The counter will draw the eye to itself and the overhang will further diminish any chance of noticing the lack of being flush. It would not bother me at all.

That may be true with this cabinet, the other cabinets are a 90" tall pantry and a wall cabinet that is at the end of a run. Those would be in your face.

First and foremost, your cabinets are lovely. In the end, I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm sure, however, it is verrrry frustrating to have spent so much time and money on something and to feel you've been forced into an unintended/unforeseen compromise on the details. Although I am still planning/ruminating about my kitchen options, I did visit a few cabinet retailers this summer. Each place, even the one starmark dealer that I visited (the only cabinet shop that would not provide a written price quote), inquired about my preferences for the cabinet ends since it would affect their pricing. I think, then, it would have been the responsibility of your designer/retailer to do the same. They hold themselves out to consumers as the cabinet or design experts, and since they are the ones drafting the purchase contract, they are responsible for communicating industry standards and the like. I hope they are not charging you for the upgraded ends/ for ordering the skins.
On another note, I really liked the Starmark cabinetry, but was not secure with the "dealer" that I visited. (I visited 5 retailers, all with different lines to view the product. The depot with the Starmark inspired the least confidence) I was unable to locate another Starmark dealer/distributor in N.J. When you inquire about dealers on the Starmark website, they have a designer contact you...from the same place I went ! Who did you use? Apart from this error which they seem willing to remedy, have you been satisfied with their service? Aside from the order error, did your cabinets arrive in good condition? Wishing you the best of luck with your cabinet installation.

decornovice, I am extremely frustrated to have to compromise on this. We had discussed cabinet ends, I told them I didn't want the decorative panel ends, I wanted the flat ends. My mistake was that I didn't know in cabinet lingo that the correct term is flush ends. I understand that the customer needs to be somewhat knowledgeable, but there is some part of the process that the designer should just get. We didn't discuss price, I'm sure I will be billed for the skins. The owners of the cabinet store were adamant that this is how they always order cabinets, yet photos that they sent me early on of their then current projects show differently. As do photos on their website. I brought this to their attention.

I love the cabinets, they are well made. They are the same as Fieldstone cabinets - the doors styles and construction is the same, though in Fieldstone you may have a little more options for custom sizes. The company I am working with is Center for Home Design / Sparta Home Center in Franklin. While they had good references, based on my experience, I would not recommend them.

http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1017371616491.html?17

Two doors on an upper cabinet arrived broken but the rest of the order appears to be fine. They stacked the cabinets so I can't get a good look at some of them until tomorrow, but they look to be fine. Even though they had my cabinets for 3 weeks before they delivered them to me, no one noticed this but me. Gotta love it.

There is a place in Wayne (I'm in northern NJ) - Direct Depot that sells Starmark. I went in there once to look at the displays, but had already ordered my cabinets at that time. I also found a place in Northvale (NE Bergen Cty) - http://www.nvkb.com/ that sells Starmark, but have had no dealing with them. If you think you may buy Starmark, sign up for their emails. They sent me any email when they were running a special a few months ago.

Katsmah, Thanks so much. I did sign up for Starmark email and have not received any yet. I'll hope for another special. I will check out the place in Northvale. I've already had contact with the Direct Depot and had intitial misgivings confirmed by a BBB online check. (B rating, but something like 18 complaints in 3 years. I'm sure that is a small percentage of their customers as they are a very large depot, but I'm not yet sure I'm willing to take the risk!) I would TOTALLY agree with you: they are the "experts" and you are not expected to "know the lingo". It is their duty to make the choices transparent to the consumer. I read the link you sent, so sorry for your other hassles. Let's hope for smooth sailing from here on in.