Pictures?

Yes that's exactly what I mean,It's awful

Maple used to be my favorite wood once. Don't remember it had a "dappled" effect. It was usually very nice, very subtle grain, hardly there. So I started googling images of maple cabinets, trying to see what you mean. Found something that's called "rustic maple". Like this?

http://www.kadesigns.net/Kitchens/Rustic_Maple/RM2/rm2.html

pics of my new splodgy kitchen cabinets

No, like the pic I just put on, I have few more but don't want to bore you all

(sorry didn't see your picture while answering..obviously that's different. This rustic maple looks like it's supposed to look like that. Yours does seem to have problem with how it was finished. I don't know how to go about it..it seems to be their mistake at the factory/shop. That they should remedy somehow. Refinish for example. I'd just be, like "what if they do same job second time too?"

I had light stained maple cabinets in a previous kitchen and they looked nothing like that. Isn't maple supposed to have a wood conditioner applied before staining to prevent splotchiness and uneven staining?

Not all maple looks like that. Right now I'm sitting at a "rockport" maple dining table and it has a wonderful grain.

..Do you think you can suggest to the builder you find the cabinet contractor of your choice who'll strip the finish and apply a new one(is it possible? it should be), and your builder (or cabinet maker he chose) can cover the cost? Still cheaper for him than ordering new doors veneers etc. Also I imagine he wouldn't want to have a very unhappy customer. It's not like you wanted white and then decided to go with black. They did a bad job. They didn't provide you with normal samples, and they didn't give you a promised product.

Linelle, more than that-I never saw a maple that looked like that. It's a wonderful wood with beautiful grain..usually.

(I hope some pros will be able to chime in..suggest what to do. how expensive mistakes like this one can be taken care of, efficiently and all)

I have natural maple cabinets in my bathrooms and stained maple floors and none of it looks like that.

lucky - feel free to bore us with more pictures - perhaps a fuller view.

aprilneverends The builder keeps saying he just wants us to be happy and to be honest he is trying but the cabinet people refuse to budge . I have said I am going to shop round for quotes to do just that the answer to that from the builder was "that will cost you around 20-30 thousand $ CAN

Yes that looks terrible. I wouldn't accept that.

"the answer to that from the builder was "that will cost you around 20-30 thousand $ CAN"-wut??

I'd still shop around for quotes.

Maybe it's good the cabinet people refuse to budge because no one needs them to screw up the cabinets again.

Why does he work with them at all? Well that was rhetorical question.

It's not my kitchen, but I'm sitting here mad. I can only imagine how you feel

I never saw a maple cabinet like that. Ask if he used a wood conditioner.

The cabinet maker did not know how to finish the maple in the beginning. There are a wide variety of different techniques to avoid blotchy looks when finishing maple. Those techniques would vary widely according to the materials he is using for stain and finish. Conditioner, sealing with shellac or lacquer, building the color with many thin coats are just some of them.

NOW that it is blotchy, the fixes will get more difficult and it would be best to hire a furniture refinisher to to make it look right. I just don't think he will be able to fix it as it is beyond him.

I could do it right in the beginning but don't think I could fix it now.

I know it's not what you wanted but what about painting them and adding a glaze or something. It would hide the splotches. The cabinet makers need to understand how quickly their reputation can be ruined by doing this kind of business, especially with the Internet and Facebook and forums like this.

I've never built a home but...if this is the builder's cabinet maker & you had no other choice but to use this cabinet maker, isn't the builder ultimately responsible? That doesn't look like an acceptable finish.

I had read and was told by our KD that Maple is hard to stain. That's one reason I went with sold Cherry in the kitchen besides loving the color. We have a stained Maple vanity in our master bath and I am not loving it a lot, wished I had gone with Cherry there also.

Unacceptable. No one would order that.

Ick. I vote for replacing the doors only OR painting.

Yours definitely have the splotchy look. Sorry :(

I hope your builder and cabinet maker redo them at their cost or refund some $$ so you can buy new door fronts. Otherwise I would opt to paint them. I couldn't handle the current look.

Quick search for light maple-

I think I'd just have them painted.

Can you post a pic of the entire kitchen? Or at least showing some of the other finishes in the room, floor, countertops, etc.

I have light stained maple and they don't look anything like that. Yes, maple is supposedly hard to stain, it doesn't take a stain evenly which is why you are supposed to use some kind of conditioner before applying the stain. How a professional could not know this is beyond me. Painting them would be a good way to fix it, although I suppose if you wanted painted cabinets, you would have gotten them in the first place.

Have you seen his other work on your block? I had an estimate to strip and restain my very large kitchen and it was $6k from a reputable man who works on historic homes. Good luck.

You are right to be upset. That in no way looks like a maple cabinet. If you cannot get them to install real maple cabinets that look like real maple then you're only other choice is to paint it. I would get bids to have them stripped and re-stained and I wouldn't be surprised if somebody tells you that they are not Maple. Then I would have a heart to heart with whoever the builder is because if they're in adult they know better and since they only want you to be happy they can eat the cost.

Not that this will help you now, but I always recommend seeing a sample door before proceeding so that you get the full effect and avoid problems such as this.

Maple, pine & a few other woods accept stain like you've shown. It happens when the grain changes direction or around knots. Sometimes you'll get a run of milled wood that won't show as much as yours. Someone mentioned above already, using a wood conditioner before staining will help the colour blend better around those problem areas.

Another way of blending this characteristic is by 'dusting' the door/panel with a lacquer/dye combination. This should be done after staining, before the final clear-coat. This process is performed by lightly spraying the mixture over the part and carefully adjusting the colour by hand and slowly darkening the lighter areas to achieve a more uniform shading. This is not a process for an inexperienced finisher.

Short of having the cabinet company refinish them, there's not much you can do now. Painting or applying a pigmented lacquer to them is certainly another choice.

My maple cabinets are simply sealed with a clear colorless product without any stain, as in the first photo of mrsshayne's. It looks good. Maple is beautiful just as it is.

I have stained maple cabinets, and they are lightly dappled a bit. Maple certainly has a different grain than Oak - it looks "softer" to me, if that makes any sense at all. I like my dappled look - which looks like Mrsshayne's photos - but yours is not aesthetically pleasing to me either. I don't blame you for being upset. I looked at a lot of Maple cabs, and none of them looked like yours. So sorry! Hope you can figure out some sort of resolution.

I agree with April. This makes my blood boil. How could anyone in their right mind think that is acceptable? Shame on them!

Are the frames equally as dappled? Can all the doors be replaced? But, the original problem will have to be corrected and obviously not repeated.

I agree with Annette. Can you join the "white kitchen club" ? Maple accepts paint beautifully. You can do what Linelle did. Replace the doors and have the frames painted on site.

(But they should cover the cost of the painting..or refinishing..because really. What one expects when he releases product like that? Beyond belief)

so sorry, that cabinet looks very bad. how many houses has this guy built? how many using this cabinet person?

I'd have your builder read these posts...

and I'd call the state registrar of contractors to find out how many complaints are on file against him.

Builders make money from their subs. I'd never sign a standard building contract; there's too much in the builder's favor as we see exemplified here.

Is it possible to get around that? Please elaborate.