We did ikea--the old system. We paid a carpenter to do most of the assembly. But I assembled one drawer stack worth of drawers myself out of idleness and curiousity once night. And we assembled a couple more cabinets ourselves because we did the island for that kitchen diy. I am decidedly not handy and I found it easy to do.

We did Ikea (Akurum) and had no problems with assembly (me) and installation (husband with a tiny bit of help from me.) I think Sektion install might be even easier than Akurum now that they have rails for the base cabinets. We had pros install the counter and the backsplash.

Our challenge was totally finishing the project (fillers, toekicks, crown) right away. We admit we're not the best DIYers, so we procrastinated on those pesky final details until it was time to put the house on the market years later.

I think one average person can assemble ikea kitchen cabinets and s/he can install them if they stick to 24" wall cabinets or have a strong friend help. My husband dropped a 36" wall cabinet on our new floors during install; those wide cabinets are awkward and heavy beasts.

We did an Ikea kitchen entirely ourselves. Well, mostly my husband did it. I'll admit he is quite handy and is good with carpentry projects. I helped with assembly. We are heavily considering rta this time around. Without my husband's expertise I'd be nervous as well. However once I got going on assembly and could wrap my mind around it, it went very fast. There were a few things that came up (some things with gaps and crown molding) I wouldn't have known how to fix on my own.

We put an Ikea kitchen in our last house. I assembled all the cabinets. Only the drawer units were even slightly tricky. Otherwise, just take your time, set up a good workspace, and don't attempt it when irritable or lacking patience :)

For our new house, we're also looking at RTA like Conestoga. They look like they're a little bit different than Ikea to assemble, but doable. IME the risky part no matter what type of cabinet is the installation. That's where we had to be really cautious to avoid damage.

My husband and I put our Scherr's RTA cabinets together. No problems. It took us about 24 man hours to assemble. We did have Scherr's preassemble the drawers. The cabinets come with instructions. If you have a problem, you can call and they will walk you through it. Once you complete one cabinet you get on a roll. It all starts to make sense. We did have our carpenter on speed dial in case we got in over our head. We didn't need to call.

Check out my post at My Kitchen Renovation Using Scherr's RTA Cabinets begins. This information is only for Scherr's assembly methods. I describe the process with pictures.

We actually had fun doing it. That came as a surprise. We are not installing the cabinets ourselves. Our carpenter will install them. They are very heavy.

I assembled our Barker sample cabinet - and it looks good! If I can do, ANYONE else should have no problem. We were going to hire someone to install them.

Second for Barker. Drawers come assembled. Cabinets were easy, sturdy and beautiful.

I'd strongly recommend having someone else install them (once assembled). Note that you can make mistakes during assembly from which you cannot recover (i.e., if glue sets and you've put something together incorrectly). Watch the videos multiple times and put cabinets together without glue, as a test run. That said, you do get the hang of it and I ended up assembling a good deal of our cabinets all by myself.

No fail here. We also used Barker and think it was the best decision we made for our reno. Assembly was easy, even someone who is new to DIY could do it and do it right. They are beautiful and much better quality than any pre-assembled cabinets in the same price point. Love them!!!

We just assembled our Barker cabs for master bath and kitchen. It was a breeze. I thought we'd take weeks doing it. It took maybe a day total (if that).

There was no gluing in the old ikea system. I don't know about sketion. I am pretty sure Scherrs comes with preglued dowels. I don't know about Barker or others.

I think it is Conestoga from the Cabinet Joint that needs glue. I know Scherr's uses a preglued dowel and a squirt bottle filled with water.

We are doing an IKEA Sektion kitchen and are 95% done. Assembling the cabinetry is very easy. I did mess up one drawer unit (not the box, just one of three drawers) but I think a piece was bent before I took it out of the box.

Installation is harder - levelling, shimming, etc. - and if my husband weren't at least somewhat handy (and he is VERY handy) we would have hired that out.

Note to previous posters - We didn't end up using the wall rail to install the base cabinetry. Our walls were too wavy. We installed blocking behind the cabinetry, to take the place of the room the rail needs, in order to attach the cabinetry to the walls. We did use the wall rail for upper cabinetry, but we have only 3 uppers in the entire kitchen and they are not all in a row.

Re glue: You can glue Sektion if you like but it's not required and not in the directions. My DH did for some, then not for others. I think the island cabinets are glued to give a bit more support since they are not attached to a wall.

Thank you everyone for writing about your experiences! I think if I go the RTA route, I will most likely do the Conestoga (inset!), do the assembly myself, and hire out the installation. Glad to hear that it is fairly easy.

Another Barker vote! There is no glueing with this system. The cabinets are easy to put together. There's a video you can watch to see how easy it is. The quality is rock solid, the savings amazing. Even if you were to hire a carpenter to install them, the savings would be remarkable.

Barker Cabinet assembly

Hi,
You can specify "all plywood construction" from Conestoga, and the boxes will be as lightweight as possible. I had no problem hanging my kitchen single handed.
Casey

dumb question....who do I hire to install the cabinets? Also, what about the crown moulding?

Our last kitchen remodel--different house--we hired a carpenter to assemble and install our ikea cabinets and crown moulding. (He also did our drywall work laid our new cork flooring and installed our butcher block countertops.)

This kitchen we have hired a GC and he is responsible for ordering, assembling and installing our Barker cabinets (cabinet delivery should happen in about two weeks) along with a lot of other work.

You hire a cabinet installer! That's who does all of the tricky leveling, and tricky molding cuts.

I did Conestoga from the cabinet joint. Watch the videos- several times. Lightly sand the grooves and the notches. Makes for an easier assembly. Hint- if you have a corner base cabinet- put the shelf inside before you put the top on. Also if you have a over the fridge cabinet- put that shelf in too before putting the top on. Ask me how I know that

I did pay a carpenter to modify the face frame to use a mw drawer. And needed help With the large pieces for the pantry cabs.