Oh no! The guy who installed it is not a cabinet maker. The cabinets are solid and good quality. The doors are also fine but the actual work of glueing the veneers is done by a carpenter. We wanted the rift cut white oak and solid wood cabinets. They never menitioned the seams will turn bad. I wish we can re-do it but we are already over budget with our project. Thanks for your opinion!

Our contract does not specify the quality work- I guess we assumed it as they had a really beautiful showroom and good reviews on top of being in business for 30+ years. The owner promised high quality final product. However, there has been other mistakes made throughout the process. These are just the details I see on a daily basis. They mistakenly drilled several doors and now we are waiting for the replacement. It’s just too many things to list but I wanted to get feedback on whether is it ok to ask for a discount in this situation. I’m sure there’s more cost to replace the things that are not done properly than what we still owe him.

"And there are many more issues than just the rough edges of the veneer that you are commenting about."

@James Overton you can't know that. We are only seeing a few close-ups of door edges. I don't think there are any other issues or the OP would have said.

Edited to add: I spoke too soon. I had not seen the OP's comment just above mine. @James Overton you are clairvoyant!

This is another example - the doors are made at the factory and it’s already peeling after just one month.

I've never seen a contract specifying quality unless it is by a standard grade level. What would that even say? You have ordered 12 cabinets of mediocre quality and half-assed workmanship?

I feel for you. I've worked with people where it is obvious that their work was so bad that if I asked the to correct, they would probably cause other problems and make it worse. I'd come up with a really specific list of problems and the remedies you want - including the peeling product. Do not make a last payment until you have satisfaction.

Ask the owner to give you the quality that they showed you in the showroom.

Also ask the owner if he's ok with you posting these cabinet photos all over social media as an example of his "quality".

Just to be clear, contracts will often disclaim the results when you are asking for things that are unusual for that contractor or you have a special request item that the contractor can't guarantee.

Some of the said by the OP confuse the relationship a bit and I don't want to make assumptions when giving people advice on conflict resolution. I honestly don't know what the following means. "The guy who installed it is not a cabinet maker. The cabinets are solid and good quality. The doors are also fine but the actual work of glueing the veneers is done by a carpenter."

So I don't know if the UCC applies or not because I am not exactly sure how the relationship was done. Whoever, veneered the cabinets didn't do a great job and frankly it isn't going to get better as time goes by. Having said that, I am struggling to understand the exact scope of the project. I don't know what is meant by solid doors that are then veneered. Surely no one veneered solid wood doors.

The doors are not straight, which couild mean they need adjusting, or they are warping. The different length panels and doors is crazy making. Completely inconsistent. I would really hate to see the whole here. For 50K, I would expect high quality veneers, and way better veneering. Not 100% perfect, because it's just 50K. But way better than that.

I appreciate your input. This is what it looks like. We agree that the work was not done properly. I just spoke to the owner and he claims the following: “an extent it’s the nature of the wood itself which I’ve already said is brittle and prone to tearing, which is the same issue we’re dealing with the edges”. I believe it’s a cover up for poor workmanship but neither my husband or myself are experts in wood. He also wanted to glue to peeling door. lol

I just spoke to the owner and he claims the following: “an extent it’s the nature of the wood itself which I’ve already said is brittle and prone to tearing, which is the same issue we’re dealing with the edges”.

I believe he is noting an all too common phenomenon... called lying to the customer.

When the veneer is properly adhered to the surface it is no longer brittle. It only becomes brittle when it lifts off the surface or starts moving differently than the surface, which will cause the veneer to check. This is just a bad veneer job, it is not a failure of the material.

It looks like they were just not patient enough sanding. Sanding veneer edges is annoying, you really need to do it by hand and you have to just go slow. What you see is the results of being in too big a hurry... We have all been there and done that.

Your edge banding should not be failing after a month unless it gets pretty wet. That is a failure of the adhesion and the cracking is happening because your edge banding is failing. If they are going to use PVA glues, then over a long enough time line it can start failing, but then you just stick an iron on it and reactivate the glue. The advantage of PVA glues over Urea glues is that they can be reactivated.

I am so sorry. That is terrible. I would not accept this poor workmanship. If the vaneer is peeling now when it is brand new, what will it look like in a year or in 5+?

The other thing that is a big design flaw is that your fridge door cannot open because they did not put enough filler next to the wall. So does the fridge have to stick out into the doorway in order to open the right door all the way? Even a counterdepth needs space next to a wall. Don’t you think it distracts from the sleek modern look of the kitchen having to look at the side of the fridge like that.

So sorry you payed 50k! For this unacceptable

I've come to realize that this industry (residential construction ) has a lot of people that lack precision and attention to detail its ridiculous. I started to micromanage ppl and often walked away from anyone that had any red flags. People can't even manage to order tile correctly.

I payed under 10k for semi custom once several years ago ( back when I didnt know enough about quality i will no longer buy fake things even though they look nice they get damaged easily) my cabinets were delivered damaged and part of the underneath in the uppers was not even finished had exposed mdf

Neither the showroom nor the manufacturers ever compensated me

The sales/designer came and used woodfill compound to fixed part of the broken island but thats it

Thank you for explaining it in more details. We suspected they rushed to get the work done as quickly as possible. And yes, I absolutely agree the owner is lying to us.

That just looks AWFUL. Please, please let us know that you have not paid in full, and that you will absolutely hold these people accountable. This is unacceptable.

@rebunky - we did not replace the fridge as it is only 2 years old. It is huge but there is enough space for the door to open. They left enough clearance on the wall side.

@jo mu - I am sorry to hear that. The reason we didn't go with "fake" wood is because we were not planning on replacing the kitchen in the next 15 years (at least). However, it appears that no one is focusing on quality any longer - everyone is greedy for money and dishonest. At least we have not made the final payment and we will fight for a discount if they don't fix our issues.

@Mrs. S - no we have not and we will fight we don't.

Oh wait thats not fake wood lol sorry I was including yours in the "fake" because you used the term veneer. I assumed it was some sort of particleboard or mdf under the veneer

This is what edge banding should look like.

I assumed it was some sort of particleboard or mdf under the veneer

Hopefully it is MDF under the veneer. Maybe plywood if someone is crazy. Wood is not a superior product for veneers and there is nothing wrong with a wood veneer over MDF. I know some people think wood means quality, but then again some people think the earth is flat.

It appears the material was cut on a saw without a scoring blade. The best fix would be to add applied panels cut correctly. Or accept a discount.

That is unacceptable. Yes, white oak is very expensive right now. But that not a 50K kitchen result. You could have bought something better, like Durasupreme for that.

@Bry911 nono I disagree mdf is super weak cannot withstand moisture there's a reason wood trim is preferred over mdf it has better durability

They get dents very easily

Im sure there's varying quality in the mdf cabinet but you can't beat wood for durability

I will never again use it for kitchen cabinets for myself or rentals

With all due respect @jo mu, how many cabinets have you built? Right now in my shop I have a few thousand board feet of lumber and I have been making stuff with wood my whole life. Wood has its place but so does MDF.

Laminate will give MDF some impact resistance and if moisture is a concern use MR MDF and that will solve it, but it is a kitchen not a boat.

Wood is not the best material for slab cabinets there is a reason that wood cabinets are made with cope and stick construction. Some of those doors would change by as much as .365” if they were made of wood. So the gaps couldn’t stay consistent. The center gaps (away from the hinges) would spread by more than 1/2” while the hinge side stayed tight… it would look terrible.

Thank you all for responses! I wanted to make sure I am not going crazy or being too picky as I was told by the contractor. I value honesty above all and this guy sold himself well but could not keep his word. He advised us to go with the plywood doors with veneer overlay rather than full wood slabs. He also sent his most experienced installers to install the boxes and veneers. It would turn out just fine if they did not rush to complete several areas in time for countertops. Now that I got enough feedback, I feel confident we should not accept this as a final product without a substantial discount. Thank you and God Bless.

Plywood is fine and solid wood is not. You usually don’t veneer plywood because plywood is a veneer product. Most cabinetmakers would just order rift sawn white oak plywood and save a lot of hours. For your entire kitchen rift sawn plywood would only be an extra $600 to $1,000 more than the cheapest plywood to veneer.

Just for clarity, we have a closeup of some imperfections on what appears to be a nice looking kitchen with decent materials. So, while we can point out that these problems should not have occurred it is impossible to comment on the value of the overall project given these problems. We just don't have the required perspective.

I would be surprised if the cabinetmaker offers a significant discount. I suspect that 5% is the likely ceiling on achievable discounts unless this is just a sample of the overall quality.

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Having said that, one popular tactic that your cabinetmaker has already insinuated is, "we can fix it but we can't guarantee the results." I am not saying that is going to happen, but if it does, remind your cabinetmaker that he already guaranteed the results when he accepted the job and you would like the end result to honor that guarantee. You don't get to disclaim your guarantee by not living up to it in the first place.

" This is the response from the owner when we told him we are unsatisfied. We are still trying to understand this logic behind the work. He never mentioned the reason we have the worn edges is because his employees rushed but claims it is the material. But thanks on the advice.
"My company stands behind what we do and offer, hopefully we have proven that. I don’t offer products that will cause our customers and in turn us problems. As I said, the edge shouldn’t have peeled to begin with. It’s uncommon, it does happen occasionally across all products - that anyone offers.

There are wood grains that by nature tear or split easier than others. Some are more pliable, some are hard, some soft, some brittle".