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lizhendrickson25

Dings in kitchen cabinets

8 years ago

I need opinions, please! We just had our kitchen cabinets installed and there are scratches and dings in them (around 10 on the white cabinets). I emailed our builder showing pictures and he said "all will be taken care of." Am I overreacting in thinking this isn't an acceptable answer? We are paying a lot of money for these cabinets and in my opinion should be in perfect condition. Especially when you can tell the dings were made during installation. Also, in the picture of the bathroom, the doors aren't symmetrical. We asked to have the left door switched to open to the left and match the right and the builder said they would have to remake the door and he doesn't really worry about it since our bathroom is large. To me, it seems like a mistake with the cabinet maker. Thoughts?





Comments (20)

  • 8 years ago


  • PRO
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Dings, dents and scratches will always happen during install. Cabinets are made of wood. Installation of cabinets is not a delicate task. This is why touch-up kits are almost always sent with a cabinet delivery. There is no such thing as "perfect condition". All of your photos show normal tolerances for touch ups.

  • 8 years ago

    You have brought valid defects to his attention. Issues he should fix. Now you need to give him time to do the repairs.

    One point about the vanity doors. Seems to me the entire cabinet on that side will need to be replaced. The door cannot be reversed because of the mounting of the hardware.

  • 8 years ago

    Will the spots that are repaired have the same finish as the rest of the cabinets? Will they be more susceptible to chipping in those same spots?


  • 8 years ago

    It doesn't look that bad to me but I am comparing it to our nightmare cabinets. Give your builder a chance to fix them.

  • PRO
    8 years ago


  • PRO
    8 years ago

    Classic shaker cabinets are sharp angled edges. To the detriment of their long term wear and tear. But that is what is popular these days. Touch ups to all of that are within the normal scope of what is to be expected. Have the installer show you how to use your touch up kit. You will need to do touch ups in the future. That is also normal, for normal wear and tear.

  • PRO
    8 years ago

    As for the bathroom cabinet if it was spelled out in the order about door swing then make them do it over IMO that cabinet design sucks what are you going to get for storage in those tiny drawersand then the tiny end cabinets .

  • 8 years ago

    Hate to chime in because I'm just a lowly non-pro but this cabinet would not make me happy. Is this in a highly visible area?

    Pros..how will this be repaired?

  • 8 years ago

    That's a cabinet door on the center island.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    If that’s the back side of a door, then it’s acceptable to touch up. There are probably already factory touch ups that you haven’t even found. Just like there is on any newly delivered car, furniture, countertop, or anything else. Nothing is ever “perfect”. Not when natural materials and humans are involved.

    If that’s the front of a door, that needs a replacement door ordered.

  • 8 years ago

    Is on the corner of the inside of this cabinet. I did talk to our builder about these issues and he again said don’t worry, it will all be fixed and you’ll never be able to tell there was a ding. I just made it clear that I’m going to be very picky on things so I wanted him to know up front that way when it comes time to close and I see mistakes and they have to redo all of this he’s not going to be mad. I also insisted the cabinet in the bathroom be fixed and they are going to do that.


  • 8 years ago

    I am glad you held firm on the bath vanity....that lack of symmetry would have ticked me off everytime I was in the bathroom.

  • 8 years ago

    They can redrill for the hinges and turn the door upside down. The hole for the knob is an easy fix with the right person doing touch up.

  • 8 years ago

    nini804, exactly! Especially because I'm a complete Type A personality and maybe a little OCD :) ....It would have driven me nuts, which I also told our builder.

  • 8 years ago

    For my master bath remodel I had a large double vanity custom built, delivered and installed without a single scratch or dent. No touch ups needed. Things can be done right the first time ... but that seems to be a foreign idea for most trades.

  • 8 years ago

    I was disappointed in the dings our cabinets suffered during install but at delivery, they looked perfect. Our KD assured us that his touch up guy will make them disappear.

  • 8 years ago

    Chispa...my last house had Woodmode/Brookhaven with an awesome installer. I can pretty much say the same thing you just did. Near perfect...

    not spending that much this time. Hope I have similar results.


  • 8 years ago

    ILR, my Woodmode kitchen cabinets are in transit as we speak. I hope I have the same experience you did