Merillat Classic Review( Big time rip-off)

10 years ago

We just renovated the kitchen of the house bought and moved in 2 weeks ago. When going through the kitchen design process our kitchen designer had recommended ultracraft cabinets, but the price-point was too high for our budget and we decided to go with the Merillat Classic line. We ended up going with the Ralston design in a Cotton(white) painted finish. We saw the cabinets in the showroom and liked them.

After installation we noticed a number of things that really upset me considering the amount of money paid for them:

1) The larger doors were warped( even after much adjustment the majority of them don't close in a flush manner--either the top or bottom corner does not touch)--the larger the door, the more pronounced this is. We ordered replacement doors----they still have the same problem--one of them is even worse than the original door.

2) the shelving is a laminated particle board. The edges of the laminate were chipped or peeling in a number of shelves

3) Half the trim was a different shade of white--the difference was subtle and only noticeable once it was installed. We told merillat and new trim was sent---once again was the same off-color

4)The painting of the cabinets was poor with the edge grain showing through in a number of places on 50% of the cabinets

5) The drawers were soft close but the cabinets were not. Our contractor got soft-close devices for us an installed them, but for the price we paid they should have been included

We spoke to our kitchen designer( who did an awesome job designing the kitchen and has been really good overall) and did a walk-through with her. She is sending a touch up guy over, but who basically said this is the quality of the cabinets that Merillat makes at this price. That to me is very disappointing---had I known I would have gone with Ikea cabinets and lost some of the flexibility in terms of customization.

Anyone who is considering getting Merillat Classics--please reconsider!

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Comments (4)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
Are you positive the doors are warped? Place a straightedge over them in several different places. It could be your cabinets were "racked" (pulled out of square) at install. The flattest door in the world can't lie on a racked cabinet.
User
10 years ago
Merrillat is builder grade, not mid grade. Soft close doors is an upgrade, not standard. So are the furniture board shelves. In most lines, actually. If you wanted higher grade, then you should have gone with the higher price point, not gotten the builder grade and tried to change them feature by feature.

The hinges should be 6 way adjustable. Adjusting the doors should be on the contractor, but it doesn't sound like he knows what he's doing.
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malokd
Original Author
10 years ago
Sophie,

I understand that there is a difference in price and that there are higher grade cabinets available that would ameliorate some of the problems. Cabinets are one of the more expensive parts of a kitchen remodel, and even when we switched to the Merrillat's there still was a significant price tag associated with it. My regret is that if I had known that they were a similar quality to Ikea I probably would have comparison shopped a little more. Regarding the soft close cabinets--that is the only feature we tried to upgrade on the cabinets after market and it a small thing that is included on many other cabinets at a similar price point( cost $3/cabinet for the device). I guess what I am saying is that if the cabinets had been cheaper I would not be upset--for the price they have not lived up to billing. There is a touch-up guy from the cabinet supplier coming this week and he will take a look a the cabinet closure as well. as far as the particle board shelves--I have no issue with particle board shelves--however the edges should not be peeling and chipped at time of install--these are meant to last a while, it doesn't portend well for the future of these cabinets). My contractor has had some issues admittedly with this build, but I don't think the cabinets were his issue.
funkycamper
10 years ago
My regret is that if I had known that they were a similar quality to Ikea

Actually, from what you're describing, the quality of Ikea is probably superior to what you have.