It's all about the assembly. So ask your KD. it's highly unusual though for a KD to go that route. There's not enough savings for the customer by the time you add in all of the labor and markup to be able to justify the additional hassle for the same quality you can buy already assembled. DIY, sure, but not the paid for labor route.

I have studied Conestoga RTA twice in the last 2 years. Both times I have walked away from it for being to expensive for what you get. Conestoga makes many if not all of the door and drawers for plain and fancy for example... If you like plain and fancy you will like the RTA cabinet.. Their strength is in the ability to order a shape of a door in almost any combination you like.... Their weakness is in the cabinet sizes are limited compared to other brands like plain and fancy. Plain and Fancy as a larger buyer then your KD has a lot more things they offer you conestoga makes but does not offer in the RTA program....

The RTA program as the KD is easy to screw up on the order as well. I decided why should I offer RTA cabinets that cost me fairly close to the same as Starmark, my most expensive company of 5 I have, and then turn around and have to assemble them and box them to do a professional job. Most people who do the RTA program are hands on people who enjoy the hands on part and do not have to completely build everything from scratch.....

If you purchase from your KD the RTA cabinets more then likely you will be happy with what is installed when the project is complete...

Yes, definitely unusual for a KD to assemble for you. You can do tons of customizations with Conestoga's RTA program, but there are limitations. I don't think they are Amish. Quality of doors, drawer fronts, finishes - top of the line. Drawer box interiors are quite nice. (At least, what we selected).

We assembled our own cabinets for our pantry (shown), mudroom, kitchen and are just working on a linen closet in a different area of the house. DH is very handy which has made all the difference. Good luck!

Oldbat, it sounds like some skill is involved to properly put the Conestoga cabinets together. Is that right? I've been seriously considering Conestoga as a way to get better quality cabinets, but try to maintain the budget. I was planning on putting them together myself since I'm not working right now. The only experience I have is putting together cheap bookshelves many years ago (you know, those bookshelves made of particle board covered with veneer). I'm good at following directions, but I don't have any real woodworking skill. So, is any special skill involved?

No special woodworking skill is needed. Time, wood glue, a small nail gun and some clamps are all you need. The first one took me about an hour to put together. The 28th one took me about 15 minutes.

We've been very pleased with the quality and customer service.

The quality is as high as any assembled cabinet line,if you order the upgrades (from particleboard to plywood with solid maple shelves :))
Two things to bear in mind: they can't do custom sizes. The prefinished options are more limited.
If you can find somebody to build your custom-sized faceframes and boxes, Conetsoga will build your doors/drawers any size you want.Their door options are limitless, because you can customize everything to order (stile/rail widths, moldings,panel-raises, edge details)
I'm an extremely-satisfied Conestoga customer.
Casey

We have several custom sized pieces from Conestoga so don't understand that comment.

While you don't need to be a artisan carpenter like Casey, it helps if you already have a bunch of tools that you've used before for woodworking. And know how to cut and cope molding pretty well, as well as scribe to a wall. The thing about high quality RTA cabinets is that it's mostly about the assembly being square and true and secured correctly. It's not as easy with Conestoga as Ikea, and you have to be OK with that, and with having a learning curve.

The second point is that it's the install that makes or breaks the look. What good is saving 5K if you do a questionable install because you don't know to order an extended stile to be scribed to a wall, and your crown has gaps in all of the cuts. So, yes, it's DIYable, but it would be best if you worked your way up the skill ladder before attempting the project.

As with all DIY projects, be realistic about your skills and timeline.

Both of LWO's points were right on target. A third point I'd like to offer is working with someone who is very familiar with the Conestoga RTA program. (Definitely ask for references from your KD with respect to other Conestoga jobs he/she has designed/built).

After getting quotes and designs from 4 different lines, we ended up working with Brian Long at the Cabinet Joint. By this time, we had our layout down and knew what we wanted. He added the extended stiles and other required pieces of which I knew nothing. I would recommend working with someone who knows the line intimately. (Check your KD's references!!).

Regarding assembly - yes, you can do this if you can follow instructions. Lots of videos out there - watch and watch again. First cabinet - assemble without gluing; make pencil markings if you like :) Then take apart and glue once you know exactly what you are doing. (The glue dries very quickly).

We had... over 35 cabinets, including some larger ones. You get the hang of it quickly!

Hanging the cabinets - there's the rub. We relied on our builder and his crew for most of this work.

Regarding customizing these cabinets - agree with Cindy103 - you can specify custom (at a reasonable price) cabinet widths and depths, drawer heights and widths, but will typically be limited to the Blum drawer glides for lower cabinet depths.

Good luck!

P.S. Cindy103 - 28th one....I know that feeling! What a crazy mess that must have been (be?) with all the boxes. Then, you read the posts where everyone is so excited that their cabinets are being delivered (and installed) in one day.

Any pictures of your progress?! I remember some of your design threads - will look forward to seeing the design you selected. (Sorry for the hijack!)

We did a DIY kitchen refacing with Conestoga doors, panels, moldings and veneers. Very pleased with the quality. We didn't look into the RTA cabinets, but if I was replacing my cabinets I probably would. My husband is very handy, so I don't think assembly would be a problem. . Not sure how much it costs compared to purchasing pre-assembled, but I would think it would be cheaper. For our refacing, we were able to do it ourselves for about 50-60% less than if we hired someone to do it.

If, as it seems to be the case, Conestoga has started building custom sizes, then they should quickly dominate the RTA market!
Casey

I got some Conesotga cabinets from NG&C. They custom sized a B24 (single drawer base cabinet 24" wide) down to 23-7/16" wide, and it was $5.00 cheaper than the standard 24" wide. They told me some of their customers, custom size every cabinet in their kitchen now, since their is no upcharge for custom sizes. I will be buying more, for sure.

Hi Tim C.,I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Will you
be willing to post some pictures of your cabinets and provide more
details as to what you ordered? I.E., door style and finish choices?

I have a kitchen and pantry full of cabinets and doors from Conestoga,
ordered through the cabinet joint, and had an entirely different
experience than you did. I've subsequently placed two additional
orders, for other projects, and have been extremely pleased with the
quality and finish of the product. The only cabinet door which looks
bad is the kitchen trash one which I tend to push shut with my foot.
Regarding damage, I am quite shocked to hear that there was any in
transit. Our cabinets and doors have come protected as well as Fort
Knox; on pallets. I'm getting ready to place another order with the cabinet joint, as
well.

You may wish to start a new post and solicit input from
other Conestoga owners, to see if anyone else has had a similar
experience. I've been on this forum for a while and not heard of this
sort of problem with the Conestoga products; quite the alternative.
--oldbat2be

We bought beautiful maple cabinets from Conestoga used from another homeowner about 7 years ago, and were able to make them work in our kitchen. Recently, however, we made some minor renovations to the kitchen in order to gain some usable wall space to add a pantry and a better dining nook. We want to add a Conestoga pantry cabinet, a refridgerator surround with upper cabinet, two smaller lower cabinets by the stove and a narrow upper cabinet for spices. Maybe an above stove cabinet to mount microwave. Our doors per the original contractor's floorplan: CRP10, Reverse G Cove, Bead Standard, M (mitered?) edge, with 5 piece drawers. The stain is called Golden Pecan, which I don't see on Conestoga's site. There are a couple that look similar. Anyway, we live in New Jersey. Anyone know of a reasonable and reputable vendor who could help us complete our kitchen with Conestoga cabinets to match existing ones? Any help/ideas are appreciated! PS- We have a family member who can put the cabinets together and mount them.

Your doors are not mitered they are standard crp-10 still available.

Thank you for letting me know this. I am hoping to order more cabinets. Also hoping to match the stain as close as possible.

I am looking into Conestoga Cabinets, as I have heard and read, good things (some bad too) about them. So far my biggest concerns are no experience in assembling RTA cabinets, and trying to read thru a Conestoga quote, lol

I'm currently undergoing a renovation of my kitchen (home built in 1996) and recently ordered kitchen cabinetry from Conestoga via the Cabinet Joint. I'm currently experiencing several issues that started with the initial product delivery and have expanded to build quality issues. This is very disheartening given that it took nearly a year of research and design before I pulled the trigger for the purchase. If I had to do the RTA process again I would select Barker cabinetry. I renovated my guest and master bathroom using their cabinetry and the quality and instructional videos were detailed and easy to follow. A true lesson learned.

Kimberly, Have you contacted the Cabinet Joint regarding the issues that you are having? What kind of build quality issues are you having?

Hi Kimberly, this is Brian Long, the owner here at Cabinet Joint. I would love to better understand the nature of the issues you are experiencing. I have to admit, the COVID pandemic has created a HUGE surge of work for both us and Conestoga and I am aware that both they and the shippers are having some issues keeping up. This has resulted in some machining issues we don't normally see as well as abnormally high rates of shipping damage. It amazes me that Conestoga has maintained such a fast lead time in the midst of all this (3-4 weeks, generally), but I almost wish they would push it out further until things settle down! Seems everyone decided to work on their homes at the same time since COVID. Its truly been a crazy 8 months for us. None of this is an excuse at all, just an unfortunate reality of our current circumstances. But, we and Conestoga really want you to be pleased with your project, so please do not hesitate to reach out to your Cabinet Coach or me with any issues. I checked with your coach, Bob, and he said there was a damaged drawer box and face frame that came without the assembly grooves and as far as he knew, that was the extent of the issues. But, he did say that you painted the cabinets yourself versus ordering prefinished, so perhaps some of the frustration you may be having has to do with the parts coming back from your finisher "mixed up", making assembly more challenging? Regardless, we would love to work through any issues you have. Please accept our sincere apologies for anything we may have done to cause inconvenience with your project. We hope to hear from you!

I would encourage anyone looking for RTA cabinets to take a good look at Barker. My Conestoga cabinets (purchased through the Cabinet Joint) have a lot of crackles in the paint. More crackles continue to develop. It's pretty disappointing. Conestoga's stains/clear finishes might be okay, but their painted finishes are not done well.

tjc32, can you send your cabinet joint rep some images of these issues, if you have not done so already? Conestoga uses Catalyzed Conversion Varnish, no different than any high-end cabinet maker, but if your doors/drawer fronts have solid wood framing or center panels (vs MDF), the wood WILL move and the paint won't, creating cracks in the paint at the corner joints, etc. During the buying process, you would have been directed to read (and sign off on) this page on our site (link below). If your cracks are something other than what is described here, then warranty should apply. I would love to investigate these issues further, but without any details, it will be tough to tell what you are seeing. But, this is an issue with any finish, not just Conestoga's. While we think the world of Barker, their cabinets and ours are after somewhat different markets. The ability to do fully custom sizes and confiugurations at no extra charge, custom paint colors, over 140 door styles to choose from, custom one-off pieces, and 3-4 week lead times are what set Conestoga apart. Barker is an amazing company, but at 13 week lead times (from their web site) and with a much more limited offering, we still feel Conestoga is a great cabinet and company too. And they will work to solve any issues you may have if you can let us know what you are seeing. I certainly don't want to get into a "Conestoga is better" discussion because I don't think that is true nor do I think the Houzz readers want to have to deal with that. I think Conestoga and Barker are both terrific companies who work hard on their customer's behalf to produce a great product packed with value. I really don't think you can go wrong either way. https://www.cabinetjoint.com/paint-finishes-and-solid-wood-doors/

Thanks. There are some cracks along the frame joints, but the crackling I'm referring to is in the middle of side panels or the middle of the front panel of a shaker door. Those are made out of MDF (or plywood) and should not have the crackling issues. I'll upload pictures when I get a chance.

Telegraphing of the wood joins at the stiles and rails and panels is 100% normal for any cabinet. This is the dry winter season, when you should be adding humidity to the home in order to maintain the humidity levels. If you have the home humidity fully controlled and stabilized between 30-60%, then you possibly may be dealing with a manufacturing defect. This has not been a normal year for any manufacturer, with shutdowns and short staffing affecting the output timelines and some of the quality. A good company will address any true defects.

If you order painted Conestoga cabinets, do they offer pre-cut painted crown molding for above the Cabinets? If not, what is the best way to install matching crown molding? I’m concerned that cutting an 8’ piece of painted crown will chip and also not sure how to fill nail holes? Buying unfinished crown will be hard to paint match?

Scott S, no they do not precut the crown, but using painter's tape to tape the joint before cutting will eliminate chance of chipping (although a good sharp blade should remove that issue all by itself). Because of nuances in the cabinet, natural movement of wood due to moisture and the exacting nature of the installation of crown, having it precut with the miters done at the factory would not work. I am not aware of any company that offers that service.

tjc32, please email your sales rep directly and he and can look at the issues. If the panel were 100% MDF, you should not see any cracking on the panel and I would love to see what is going on there. Very sorry for the frustrations you experienced.

Scott S, I neglected to answer the other part of your question. My apologies. If you buy the cabinets prefinished from us, you get (free of charge from us) a matched touch-up kit/fill stick for filling your nail holes, fixing scratches/dings, etc. If you want to know the "right" way to do it...Go to Lowes or online and buy a 23g PIN nailer (not a brad nailer). Its basically a headless wire. Then, buy a thin wood glue (or thin some regular wood glue down with water so its not as viscous) and use that to glue the joints. Pin the joints as well as the molding to the cabinet face/side (or the top cleat, if you installed one) and then easily fill any of the remaining prick marks with the color-matched fill stick. The glue will lock in your miteres and the 23g pin wont split the ends. You can do all this (except pin the corners) with an 18g nailer too, but it leaves a much larger "hole" from the brad head. As has already been mentioned, crown/trim install is painstaking and can be tricky without the proper skillset and patience. Done right, a good trim job can make even sub-par cabinets look really great. A bad trim job can make even high-end custom cabinets look terrible. If you have any concerns about trim install, don't attempt it. Simply install the cabinets properly (joining through the face frame with screws, screwed to studs, and ensuring the boxes are level and plumb) and then hire a trim person to do the molding work. You can ruin an awful lot of expensive trim by "practicing", so do only what you feel comfortable with and outsource the rest.

For the custom sizes required in my design, Barker is not an option as it does not offer the level of dept/height/length control I need.

The doors will be slab style in white oak rift cut that I assume are less subject to problems because they are made using veneer with no miter joints. I am worried however to select an inset door style as they will show much more error/ tolerance/ warping problems.

What I read is that Conestoga has a 1-year warranty versus 5 years non-transferable for Barker.

Conestoga uses 1/2" plywood vs 3/4" for Barker main cabinets components.

Conestoga does not say much about what they cover: "Conestoga Wood Specialties warrants that all of our products are free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of shipment. Natural characteristics found in wood will not be considered defects. Wood will expand and contract in accordance with its environments."

Barker has a more detailed list of exceptions that makes you question what a cabinet warranty covers anyway.

"Any solid wood product will respond adversely to extreme conditions–especially extremely low or high humidity conditions. Mitered doors joints are especially subject to movement under these extreme conditions. Gaps that may develop in door joints due to these conditions are not subject to replacement under this warranty. Please be aware that wood expands and contracts. With painted cabinetry, this natural process will create open joints in the painted finish. An open joint line is not considered a defect and it is widely accepted in the kitchen cabinet industry. Some people think joint lines actually add to the appeal of painted cabinets. The finish will still protect the surface, and the structural integrity of the joint will not be affected. These issues are shared by every manufacturer of painted all wood cabinets and are not unique to Barker Cabinets. Wood may expand and contract differently from cabinet to cabinet. Even joints within the same cabinet may behave differently. Some joined wood may not show any joint lines, others may be slightly visible, while others may display easily visible joint lines. Joint lines also may occur due to the repeated impacts from normal everyday use. An exposed open wood joint can be damaged from prolonged exposure to water or heavy moisture. Therefore, wipe off any excess moisture from cabinet surfaces as soon as possible.
Discoloration: All Paints, especially lighter colors, are susceptible to discoloration due to airborne particles such as cooking, grilling, tobacco smoke, fireplaces or candles. Prolonged exposure to natural or artificial light may alter the finish color. Moisture may also discolor the finish"

G.

@restagiu If you are interested, Cabinet Joint does offer a 3-year limited warranty on top of Conestoga's 1-year warranty. You can find the details here: https://www.cabinetjoint.com/warranty/

@juneknow I feel you are unnecessarily aggressive and giving absolutely no information other than offending people online. You could write something like frameless does not have the face so all the other sides are thickened to ¾” or Conestoga has the option to add a reinforcement anyway to for both sides and button as it is. Take a few more days off as you did not have enough vacation I feel.

best regards