Episode 1997
Cabinet Catastrophes: 10 Designer Mistakes You Must Dodge!
When it comes to kitchen and bath design, avoiding blunders can save you a world of heartache (and a hefty repair bill). Eric G is here to spill the beans on the top 10 biggest mistakes that interior designers often make during cabinetry projects. From spatial awareness to the nitty-gritty of appliance fit, these tips are gold for anyone looking to hire the right designer for their remodel. Whether you're dreaming of a sleek kitchen island or a cozy bathroom retreat, knowing what not to do can make all the difference. So, grab your favorite beverage and settle in as we dive into the design do's and don'ts that will help you create a space that’s both functional and fabulous!
Ever wonder what goes into designing the perfect kitchen or bath? Well, grab your coffee (or cocktail, no judgment here), because we're diving into the top 10 blunders that interior designers often commit when tackling cabinetry projects. Eric G, with his impressive 35-year background in kitchen and bath design, spills the beans on the common pitfalls that can turn your dream remodel into a nightmare. Mistake number one? Not hiring a professional designer! Eric emphasizes that even if you've done a couple of DIY projects, there’s a world of knowledge that seasoned designers possess that can save you from costly errors. He discusses how crucial it is for designers to understand the installation process, as a designer's lack of installation knowledge can lead to cabinetry that just...well, doesn’t fit right. And let's not forget spatial awareness—ever tried to squeeze a massive island into a tiny kitchen? Yeah, that just won't work. With witty banter and a few laughs, Eric lays out these mistakes while equipping you with the knowledge to ask the right questions when hiring a designer. So, if you’re in the market for a remodel, you’ll want to stick around and take notes!
Takeaways:
- Always hire an experienced kitchen and bath designer to avoid costly rookie mistakes.
- Understanding appliance-cabinet interaction is crucial to ensure functionality and aesthetics.
- Spatial awareness is key; ensure walkways are at least 42 inches for easy movement.
- Avoid cramming too many accessories into small spaces; simplicity often leads to better organization.
To get your questions answered by Eric G give us a call in the studio at 833-239-4144 24/7 and Eric G will get back to you and answer your question and you might end up in a future episode of Around the House.
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome to around the House with Eric G.
Speaker B:Your go to source for everything home improvement.
Speaker B:Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or just looking to make your space shine, Eric G.
Speaker B:Is here to guide you through the latest tips, tricks and trends coming up.
Speaker B:In this week's second hour of the.
Speaker A:Show, we've been talking about the top 10 mistakes kitchen and bath designers make in designing projects.
Speaker A:Now number six here is an important one, lack of spatial awareness and walkways.
Speaker A:So many times people want to jam that island in there and they want to make as big as possible and they don't really realize how important that walkway space is.
Speaker A:My minimum when you're walking around an island is 42 inches of walkway space.
Speaker A:Now that is from countertop to so.
Speaker B:Grab your toolbox, put on your thinking cap and let's get to work right here on around the House with Eric.
Speaker A:G.
Speaker A:Welcome to the Round the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker A:I'm Eric G.
Speaker A:Your host.
Speaker A:Today we have got a great show lined up.
Speaker A:Today we're going to be talking about design, cabinetry, kitchens, bathrooms, all that other stuff.
Speaker A:If you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundthehousonline.com for more information.
Speaker A:And of course, this hour is brought to you by our friends at Monty McGirls.
Speaker A:Check them out at montymcgrills.com for all your barbecue needs.
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Speaker A:Heck, I've got a couple of them myself.
Speaker A:They are great barbecues to cook on.
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Speaker A:These guys have got it just dialed in for you.
Speaker A:Something fun to cook with.
Speaker A:Montymcrills.com Today I wanted to talk about my top 10 mistakes kitchen and bath designers make in designing projects and some buyer's guide if we can get to that.
Speaker A:I have been my background.
Speaker A:I've got about 35 years of kitchen and bath design.
Speaker A:I am a certified kitchen designer with the National Kitchen and Bath association and I have nothing bad to say about the kitchen and bath design community out there.
Speaker A:There are so many great people.
Speaker A:There are so many great designers out there.
Speaker A:But I want to talk about some of the common things that happen out there, especially with newer designers.
Speaker A:And this is something that I want you to be aware of as a consumer.
Speaker A:Everybody starts out as rookies.
Speaker A:I started out as rookie.
Speaker A:Every designer starts out starting out with new stuff.
Speaker A:You're learning.
Speaker A:It takes years for a kitchen or bath designer to get good at their trade and understand it fully.
Speaker A:That's why I always say as a homeowner, it is massively foolish to not hire one to design out your cabinetry projects.
Speaker A:And there are a ton of arrogant people out there that go, guess what?
Speaker A:I know more than anybody else and I'm never going to hire one.
Speaker A:I can draw it out myself and mistakes are always made.
Speaker A:I don't care if you've designed out five of your own projects.
Speaker A:You might have done fine with it, but it would have been better having the right designer there because it takes years, usually 20, 30 kitchens, before somebody really starts to get good.
Speaker A:And they've learned dozens of bathrooms before they really get.
Speaker A:And that's after a four year education.
Speaker A:So really this is the stuff that I really want you to think about when you're hiring and just trying to find that right designer to work with.
Speaker A:So my first one here, always use, always use a kitchen about designer for projects.
Speaker A:And that experience is always helpful.
Speaker A:Now if you have somebody that is new that you're working with, make sure that they're bouncing that off another experienced designer that's helping them to make sure that everything is met.
Speaker A:Because these next 10 items on this list are something that should be very important to you to make sure your project goes correctly.
Speaker A:First off, new designers rarely understand how to install cabinetry.
Speaker A:And to be a good kitchen and bath designer, you should have that installation knowledge where you really could almost go out and install it yourself.
Speaker A:The problem is there are so many intricacies of how things get installed because you're not just slapping cabinetry on the wall.
Speaker A:There's scribe fillers, there's all these pieces, moldings, how they go in together, what goes in first, what goes in last, and understanding that.
Speaker A:And there's different ways of installing.
Speaker A:I see people.
Speaker A:Probably the most successful way I see it is you'll see people come in, install the uppers, first, then put the base cabinets in.
Speaker A:Now I'll see them go backwards sometimes if they're on a tight schedule and they're trying to get that countertop template and they get another day or so of the template.
Speaker A:And there's different levels of installers out there too.
Speaker A:And that's why I want that kitchen and bath professional that is designing your cabinetry, whether it's in a bathroom or a kitchen, to really have a good grasp on this.
Speaker A:Because knowing how, especially today with appliances where they can be inset so the doors and stuff are flush with the cabinetry panels, things like that, there's so many gotchas in a typical luxury kitchen, for instance, there's probably 200 gotchas in there that if they miss one of those things, they're ordering parts.
Speaker A:It just happens.
Speaker A:And there's so many areas that we're going to talk about now that can really be problematic that those designers should be watching for.
Speaker A:So the next one here is understanding how appliances and cabinetry work together.
Speaker A:We just talked a little bit about that, but really understanding appliances.
Speaker A:Great example.
Speaker A:You'll see in a small kitchen where you've got a range maybe at the bottom of a U, but that designer didn't take into account the drawers on the sides there.
Speaker A:And they hit the handle for the oven door or the control panel.
Speaker A:Not using enough fillers, not getting things out there, not understanding that maybe the back of the knob needs to be slightly inset into the cabinetry door.
Speaker A:So if somebody slides it across there when they close that lazy Susan, that's maybe on either side of the range that the head of that Phillips screw doesn't scratch the face or break the glass in the oven.
Speaker A:There are so many little details here that the designer should be working with the installer to make sure these things don't happen.
Speaker A:So we don't have those collision points.
Speaker A:And it's so common.
Speaker A:I'm one of the moderators over there and one of the group experts on Facebook in the ask a cabinet maker area.
Speaker A:That's a whole group over there.
Speaker A:I jump on there all the time.
Speaker A:And these are one of the common things that happen where spatially we run into issues of how appliances work together.
Speaker A:Now, my biggest pet peeve is when you see somebody do a double oven and then a microwave over the top of it.
Speaker A:In my situation, unless you're in a condo or you've got an issue like that super tiny, I don't want that microwave higher than straight line of the main person that's cooking in that kitchen or a secondary person cooking in that kitchen.
Speaker A:That's why I hate over the range microwaves, because if you put a bowl of soup in a microwave to heat it up or a liquid, you're defrosting something.
Speaker A:If your arms stretched out, like if you hold your arms straight out, anything above level on your forearms is dangerous because you can't see the liquid that you're pulling out of there and you can easily dump it all over yourself and you're doing it over a cooking surface as well.
Speaker A:That could be hot, there could be flame, it could be bad.
Speaker A:So that is one of my pet peeves Sometimes it's your only option.
Speaker A:However, if you can put a microwave someplace in there, like down below, those are always more desirable to me than up high because they're just a horrible waste of space.
Speaker A:Up above, I'd much rather see a hood, another cabinet up there, and the hoods work way better on ventilation than the microwaves do.
Speaker A:The microwaves just don't work correctly.
Speaker A:So that's a big one.
Speaker A:The next one.
Speaker A:Number three, moldings need to work together with the rest of the build.
Speaker A:If you got moldings in a room and you've got cabinetry going around it, how are those going to play together?
Speaker A:How are you going to transition that if it's going to the ceiling into the rest of the molding in the room?
Speaker A:Scribe moldings under cabinet lighting.
Speaker A:All those things.
Speaker A:Those are all things that are super important when you're trying to make it all work together.
Speaker A:And that's where.
Speaker A:That's why I go back to the first ones needing to know how to install cabinetry.
Speaker A:That molding and how they're cut, how they stack up is such a key right there.
Speaker A:And for them, when they measure the kitchen out to make sure that they understand that, wow, cabinetry is going to be installed plumb level, the room dies off an inch and a half.
Speaker A:So where are we going to make that up?
Speaker A:Where are we going to make that up?
Speaker A:In the crown molding up top.
Speaker A:We're going to fix the room.
Speaker A:We're going to live with it.
Speaker A:How are we going to hide that with moldings to make it look cool so you can't see that room is an inch and a half over the out on the.
Speaker A:Happens with old homes all the time.
Speaker A:How are you going to make up that?
Speaker A:With the floor going one direction and the ceiling going other?
Speaker A:That can be a tough battle.
Speaker A:All right, we come back.
Speaker A:We are just getting started on my top 10 mistakes kitchen and bath designers make in designing projects.
Speaker A:We'll talk more about that just as soon as around the House returns.
Speaker B:To find out more information, head to Aroundthe House online dot com.
Speaker B:Don't change that.
Speaker B:Dial around the House.
Speaker B:We'll be right back after these important messages.
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Speaker A:What's up?
Speaker A:This is Sticksy Dania and Satchel from Steel Panther, and you are listening to.
Speaker B:Around the House with Eric G.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We love Eric G.
Speaker A:And you should, too.
Speaker A:1987.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker A:I'm Eric G.
Speaker A:We have Been talking today about my top 10 mistakes that designers make when it comes to kitchen and bathroom and cabinetry.
Speaker A:This hour is brought to you by my friends at Monty McGrills.
Speaker A:Check them out@montymcgrills.com for that brand new barbecue grill.
Speaker A:I got two of them.
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Speaker A:You're looking for something that cooks, that has technology that works well.
Speaker A:Check them out@montymcgrills.com so we've been diving into this discussion of top 10 mistakes kitchen and bath designers make when they're designing your projects.
Speaker A:As well as if we can get through this, we might get into a cabinetry buyer's guide as well.
Speaker A:Some new things that I see coming up across the country that just blows my mind that companies are actually trying to do this.
Speaker A:So hopefully we can get to that.
Speaker A:But we've been talking about those mistakes that people make.
Speaker A:Now we're just talking about moldings, how they need to work together.
Speaker A:And number four here is fillers, corners and cabinet ends.
Speaker A:Now this is a big one.
Speaker A:Fillers.
Speaker A:When your cabinetry runs up, whether it's in the bathroom up against the end wall, or a kitchen up against a tall corner wall or anything like that, you need to have a scribe filler there.
Speaker A:Now there's two ways to do this really.
Speaker A:If it's a custom cabinet, now we'll get into that a little bit later.
Speaker A:Sometimes if it's a custom face frame or inset, they'll make an extended style so that edge of the cabinet frame goes farther out.
Speaker A:And then your cabinetry installer can scribe that to the wall.
Speaker A:Or with frameless or face frame style cabinetry, you wouldn't want to do this.
Speaker A:With inset, you can do a filler.
Speaker A:It is usually a 3 inch piece of material that you cut down inscribe to the wall so you've got something to stand off the wall that makes up that gap.
Speaker A:Let me tell you why these are so important.
Speaker A:Even on a high end run of cabinetry.
Speaker A:Plywood, let's say it's 3/4 inch maple plywood.
Speaker A:Rarely is 3/4 inch maple plywood dot 3/4 of an inch, it can be a 16th off.
Speaker A:If you've got 12 cabinets, let's say they're a frameless style cabinetry.
Speaker A:This is really key right here.
Speaker A:You can actually lose or gain half an inch Depending on how far that cabinetry plywood is out of spec.
Speaker A:Because the veneers, when they're processed together, they don't run that through a planer and get it so it's perfect.
Speaker A:No, they get it close enough.
Speaker A:There's an average problem is that can add and subtract on that run.
Speaker A:I remember doing my parents kitchen, geez, 20 plus years ago, probably more than that, 25 plus years ago.
Speaker A:And when we did it, I had like almost three quarters of an inch of gain on this long wall.
Speaker A:And it was all because of the cabinet boxes being frameless and having some plywood that was out of spec.
Speaker A:It was a little thicker than what we thought.
Speaker A:So it made everything a little bit bigger because you'll see them.
Speaker A:Most cabinet shops don't cut these pieces.
Speaker A:They know that the stretchers and the cabinet backs for a 18 inch cabinetry is this wide.
Speaker A:Every time they're not sitting there making that stuff and doing it on plan, they just don't.
Speaker A:It's not how it works.
Speaker A:So you can gain some space there or lose some space.
Speaker A:So those fillers also make up for that.
Speaker A:Anytime that you're having to level cabinetry, you're changing that dynamic and that's where those are super important.
Speaker A:So when you see a cabinet design that someone's laid it out and that shows like an inch and a half filler there, that's usually there to make up that space.
Speaker A:And it's super important.
Speaker A:Now how you can hide that is you do an overlay filler which is a cabinet door type piece that goes on top.
Speaker A:That's a secondary piece.
Speaker A:So it flushes out.
Speaker A:That's the right way to do that.
Speaker A:So the edge of the door shows up that way.
Speaker A:That's something that's just little details on making it look right.
Speaker A:Corners are the same way.
Speaker A:Whether you're doing blind corners, lazy Susans, any of those things.
Speaker A:Don't do too many of those angle 45 corners anymore.
Speaker A:That was a big thing in the 90s.
Speaker A:But we don't do those as much anymore because it really limits how you get into that corner cabinet above it.
Speaker A:And then cabinet ends.
Speaker A:How do you want to finish the end of a run of a cabinet?
Speaker A:If you've got a U shaped kitchen and you're standing looking at the back wall, maybe your range is centered back there.
Speaker A:How are those ends finished?
Speaker A:Is it just a flat panel?
Speaker A:Looks like just a flat plywood painted or stained panel.
Speaker A:Or do you have a door style over there?
Speaker A:Or is it a built in furniture Looking end where it's a raised panel that matches the door front, or is it an applied door?
Speaker A:There's a lot of things here that can go wrong, and you want to make sure you're consistent throughout the project.
Speaker A:So if you're doing raised panels on them, you want the uppers and lowers and the talls to have something similar.
Speaker A:And that's where that gets interesting.
Speaker A:So that's where you want to make sure those things get dialed in and be consistent throughout that.
Speaker A:But that's where big mistakes happen, and it can look funky.
Speaker A:Now, the next one here is an important one.
Speaker A:It's a mistake that I think homeowners make all the time, and older designers can make this as well.
Speaker A:For 25 years, I have not been a big.
Speaker A:I've just not been a big fan of the kitchen triangle.
Speaker A:What is a kitchen triangle?
Speaker A: when I was taking my test in: Speaker A:And the triangle was your cooking surface, like a range top or a cooktop to the refrigerator to the sink.
Speaker A:And you wanted to have things that were, you know, not too big, not too small.
Speaker A:And if you had a second sink, you could have two triangles.
Speaker A:Design has evolved and how you do things.
Speaker A:So really what this has done is I've stepped away from the kitchen triangle years ago.
Speaker A:So has the NKBA as well, which I gotta give it to them.
Speaker A:But now you have work zones.
Speaker A:So if I'm standing at the kitchen sink and I have my dishwasher on the right side, my prep zone is gonna be on the left side.
Speaker A:So I'll wanna put a trash can pull out there if I can.
Speaker A:Now, if I have the dishwasher on the right side and my cooking surface is farther over on the right side, on the same side, I want to move the dishwasher over to the other side, so that's cleanup.
Speaker A:So that way, the area between my sink and the cooking surface, if it's on a same run of that or it's around the corner, that's your prep area.
Speaker A:And that's a really big deal, because you don't want your cleanup and your prep area sharing that space.
Speaker A:And I know a lot of people go, oh, my gosh, I always have to have my dishwasher on the right or I have to have my dishwasher on the left.
Speaker A:These are habits you will get past so quickly.
Speaker A:You're better off to cook efficiently every day than to struggle just because that's where you're used to.
Speaker A:Now, if you've got the sink and the cooktop across from each other, that can be different.
Speaker A:If you've got a sink in the island or a cooktop in the island, those are different things.
Speaker A:I'm not a huge fan of putting the cooktop in the island for many reasons, because ventilation is a big one.
Speaker A:Because downdraft ventilation doesn't work well.
Speaker A:You're fighting Mother Nature.
Speaker A:So then you have either a big hood overhead or you're putting in one of those flush ones in the ceiling that work okay.
Speaker A:But you have to move so much air.
Speaker A:I would much rather put it on a wall or an exterior wall that you can vent it efficiently outside, because that vent always has to go outside.
Speaker A:Even if building code in your area is way behind, decades behind clean air, you should always be having that vent completely outside the building, no matter what.
Speaker A:Now when we come back here, we're going to be talking about the next one here and it's a big one.
Speaker A:It's one of the biggest mistakes I see get made in kitchen and bath design.
Speaker A:We'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.
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Speaker A:So let's talk about this.
Speaker A:We've been talking about the top 10 mistakes kitchen and bath designers make in designing projects.
Speaker A:Now, number six here is an important one.
Speaker A:Lack of spatial awareness and walkways.
Speaker A:So many times people want to jam that island in there and they want to make as big as possible, and they don't really realize how important that walkway space is.
Speaker A:My minimum, when you're walking around an island is 42 inches of walkway space.
Speaker A:Now that is from countertop to countertop.
Speaker A:What happens, though, is so many times when they draw it out, they use the design program.
Speaker A:Won't do it from countertop, it'll do it from the cabinet face.
Speaker A:So you could lose an inch and a half there already.
Speaker A:Why do I want that as a minimum?
Speaker A:Think about it.
Speaker A:If you're going to get a refrigerator in there, and you know how refrigerators roll, it's a 36 inch wide refrigerator.
Speaker A:Cabinet.
Speaker A:Depth's a little bit easier, but if it's a deeper one with a little extra square footage of inside space, how are you gonna get that kitchen in there?
Speaker A:Do you want to have a delivery person have to lift it up over their head to carry it over there?
Speaker A:How are you gonna get that refrigerator in?
Speaker A:Plus, if you've got two people in the kitchen, do you want to be able to walk past themselves?
Speaker A:What if you've got a range door that opens?
Speaker A:What if you've got a dishwasher?
Speaker A:Do you want somebody to be able to walk around it or have to stop when it's there?
Speaker A:So 42 inches is my minimum.
Speaker A:Now, when it comes to having seating from the face of the countertop that someone's seating up against to something behind them, I really want 66 inches there as a minimum because I want to be able to have a walkway behind for people to move around.
Speaker A:Now, many times people go in there and go, I'm just going to do 42 inches around the whole thing.
Speaker A:And you cramp up that kitchen and it looks horrible.
Speaker A:And sometimes little tiny islands make more of a headache than doing a peninsula or something else when it comes to that design.
Speaker A:So think really about spatial awareness and how this is going to work.
Speaker A:When you go cabinetry, if you've got 10 foot ceilings, maybe it doesn't make sense to spend all that money on taking it back up to 10ft to the ceiling.
Speaker A:No one uses that top.
Speaker A:Rarely does somebody use.
Speaker A:I'll say.
Speaker A:I shouldn't say no one.
Speaker A:Rarely does somebody use it up there because they need a ladder to get up there.
Speaker A:And what are you going to store up there?
Speaker A:Maybe the holiday stuff.
Speaker A:But really it's expensive space that you don't use.
Speaker A:So think about that.
Speaker A:Maybe put it into better appliances or better finishes in the cabinetry.
Speaker A:These are things that we see out there.
Speaker A:So think about how that all works together and to make sure that your spatial awareness and those walkways are correct and that you've got enough room to move around.
Speaker A:So 42 inches minimum.
Speaker A:If you've got an island and there's stuff behind it, make sure there's about 66 over there when you start.
Speaker A:And the thing is too, here's one other little thing you can cheat a little bit if it's a higher raised bar.
Speaker A:So those are things to consider.
Speaker A:And another thing that's interesting is I'm watching building code change out there.
Speaker A:It used to be on the side of an island.
Speaker A:You had to have an outlet there, maybe two if there's a sink or a cooktop in it.
Speaker A:Now there won't let you put it on the side of the island because of building code.
Speaker A:Now what you're seeing is people put them up in a pop up in the countertop or something like that because people were getting hurt dragging off crock pots and things with a kid pulling on the cord.
Speaker A:They were before worried about the cord going across the walkway.
Speaker A:Now they've changed it to go the other direction.
Speaker A:So make sure your designer is up on building code.
Speaker A:Otherwise that starts to get them and hopefully the electrician will be happy because they don't have to cut outlets into the side of cabinetry anymore, which they absolutely hated to do during that installation process.
Speaker A:So next one on the list here is putting too much in a small space.
Speaker A:Sometimes those accessories can really not work.
Speaker A:Sometimes those two tiered silverware drawers don't work.
Speaker A:Sometimes pull out trays.
Speaker A:Like you've got a cabinet that has dividers in it for putting cookie sheets, cutting boards, things like that.
Speaker A:Sometimes you put in a drawer to pull them out so you have a little easier access.
Speaker A:Takes up so much space, you're just better to go in there and dig it out.
Speaker A:Sometimes the overly complex corner cabinets with these multiple swing outs can be troublesome.
Speaker A:Sometimes too many accessories are just not awesome.
Speaker A:Do I like to have drawers or doors with pullouts?
Speaker A:Almost every time it's going to be drawers now.
Speaker A:I think having one cabinet that has doors and adjustable pullout trays is smart for those awkward or strange size items that won't fit into a drawer.
Speaker A:So you can move it around a little bit, but really when it comes down to it, making sure that you've got that dialed in and not trying to cram too much stuff in a small space.
Speaker A: Those: Speaker A:And trying to put too much in there can be a problem.
Speaker A:So don't over complicate your kitchen.
Speaker A:You still have to cook in it.
Speaker A:And if you've got a short amount of space, sometimes too many accessories take up too much real estate and you won't have as much storage and you're less organized.
Speaker A:Just like those pop up.
Speaker A:Mixer stands are great if you're a baker, but if you're trying to get every square footage that takes up one entire cabinet and you can't use it for anything else, be judicious with your accessories to make sure you're good to go.
Speaker A:Now here's the next one.
Speaker A:Details that matter, like matching grain.
Speaker A:Really using the right wood species for the project.
Speaker A:These are all huge.
Speaker A:I love flat panel grain match doors.
Speaker A:I was just at a house yesterday, black walnut.
Speaker A:They grain matched it all the way up through the cabinet.
Speaker A:Looks absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker A:Beautiful detail.
Speaker A:I think it works well because it does show the details of the cabinetry.
Speaker A:But the designer should be keeping you away from natural maple slab veneer doors and slab wood door fronts.
Speaker A:Flat slab, solid wood doors I would avoid at all costs.
Speaker A:And if your designer is trying to talk you into using solid wood on the drawer fronts and a flat slab, question it.
Speaker A:Because solid wood is not as good as veneer in that situation.
Speaker A:They will warp, they will move, they will not look awesome no matter where you're at in the country.
Speaker A:And if you're in a humid area on a coast, it's going to be worse.
Speaker A:So make sure you're doing veneer on those kind of doors.
Speaker A:Now here's the thing.
Speaker A:Veneers can be tricky.
Speaker A:One of the hardest ones to make look right is maple.
Speaker A:Maple in natural, the minerals that are.
Speaker A:You could have the exact same wood species.
Speaker A:And if there's more minerals in one water source, the other or the land, two trees could come out of the same forest right next to each other.
Speaker A:And you're going to have a striped or multi tone natural kitchen just with maple natural.
Speaker A:So be very careful.
Speaker A:With natural maple, I would go to ash or something like that, do something a little bit different.
Speaker A:Because natural maple, unless you're putting a stain on it to just kick it up a notch, you're going to have some issues there.
Speaker A:I have done veneer flitches where the veneers are matched and still have a little bit of color issues with that.
Speaker A:So be very careful with these wood species that can be gotchas with wide grain variations in natural.
Speaker A:A little bit of stain can help even that out and make it look right.
Speaker A:So be very careful of that.
Speaker A:And wood species that are high color like cherry or things like that, if they're pulling those out of different sets, you can have something start up darker, lighter, whatever.
Speaker A:So be careful with those.
Speaker A:Those can be a headache.
Speaker A:Great example, if you're doing a shaker door and you've got a veneer panel on the inside and some wood species that can give you a two tone effect.
Speaker A:And if you do a natural reverse raised panel in there with real wood that can give you a striped look as well that you wouldn't get with a veneer.
Speaker A:If you're ordering cabinetry without seeing a door or what you're looking for, that's a red flag to me.
Speaker A:You should be signing off on a door and a color and go right into that.
Speaker A:When we come back, we're going to wrap up our discussion here, the top 10 mistakes kitchen and bath designers make in designing projects and maybe get into some buyer's guide as well on some new stuff that we haven't talked about.
Speaker A:We'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.
Speaker B:To find out more information, head to aroundthehouse online.com don't change that dial around the House.
Speaker B:We'll be right back after these important messages.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker A:I'm Eric.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining today.
Speaker A:If you want to find out more about us, you're just tuning in for the first time, check us out@aroundthehousonline.com and of course, this hour is brought to you by my friends at Monty McGrills.
Speaker A:Check them out at montymcrills.com We've been talking about the top 10 mistakes that kitchen and bath designers make in designing projects.
Speaker A:And I'm a huge fan of the design community out there, so I am not throwing shade.
Speaker A:There are just so many things with kitchen and bath design that you've got to be careful from a design perspective.
Speaker A:And there's a lot of interior designers out there that dabble in cabinetry and those are the ones that need to be very careful of.
Speaker A:I want to, you know, if you're going to be doing a kitchen or even a bathroom, make sure you've got Somebody experienced, like in a bathroom, for instance.
Speaker A:Most of the time people are going to cabinetry, that is kitchen height, which finishes off at 36 versus maybe 32 or even in the 70s when they went to desk height, 30 was crazy.
Speaker A:Now we'll also have people go, oh, I'm designed for my kids or 7 years old.
Speaker A:Keep in mind that they're only that age for just a short time of their lives.
Speaker A:So maybe you'd be better having a step stool or a pull out toe kick that has a place for them to step up so when they grow up, they still have a bathroom that you don't have to go remodel again and put cabinetry in because it's too low.
Speaker A:So be careful designing for the children.
Speaker A:That can be a problem unless you've got eight kids are going to be going through there and there's always going to be little ones for a decade.
Speaker A:I get it.
Speaker A:But just be careful with designing for children because that can be an issue.
Speaker A:So next one up here.
Speaker A:One of the biggest design mistakes I see are bad contracts and approval that designer when they have your design done.
Speaker A:Before you order cabinetry, you should have signed off on all the elevations in the floor plan.
Speaker A:Put your John Hancock on there, make sure that's signed off.
Speaker A:Have a door sample and a stain color.
Speaker A:If you're ordering cabinetry and they're placing the order and you're going to figure out the stain color later, run.
Speaker A:That is not a business I want to do business with.
Speaker A:And if your cabinet maker is not doing the finish themselves, unless this is a high end painted in place where they're going to basically set up a paint booth inside the house, 95% of the time I'd say run because that's a huge issue.
Speaker A:Number 10 here.
Speaker A:Not having a personal relationship with the installation crew.
Speaker A:And this is where I worry about remodel projects.
Speaker A:Because what can happen is I don't want to see any Superman complexes.
Speaker A:What's a Superman complex?
Speaker A:When I would walk onto a job site and I was working with an unfamiliar contractor or an unfamiliar installer.
Speaker A:The Superman complex is somebody trying to show off to the homeowner that they're the savior of the project.
Speaker A:Maybe a door shows up that's damaged, cabinetry gets unwrapped, it's been shipped, there's a scratch.
Speaker A:The Superman complex is the contractor, the installer that comes up and goes, Mr.
Speaker A:And Mrs.
Speaker A:Almoner, look at the scratch on this.
Speaker A:I'm so happy I caught it.
Speaker A:I will go deal with the cabin Maker and the cabinet designer.
Speaker A:I'm gonna make sure and handle this.
Speaker A:I'm so happy I could show this off to you because this isn't acceptable on my job site.
Speaker A:That's the superhero complex right there.
Speaker A:I call it the Superman complex because here's what happens.
Speaker A:You take a homeowner that is very happy with what they have, it's like buying a new car.
Speaker A:Somebody puts a scratch in the car, it's never the same.
Speaker A:I would much rather have that contractor, that installer, even the designer come over and grab that door quietly and walk off and get it fixed.
Speaker A:No need for the homeowner be involved.
Speaker A:It's going to be done.
Speaker A:Make it happen.
Speaker A:Why cause a problem?
Speaker A:And that's where that relationship goes.
Speaker A:That way you can get it taken care of and no one's throwing people under the bus.
Speaker A:Designers can do it too.
Speaker A:Designers can do it.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh, look at this, Mrs.
Speaker A:Smith.
Speaker A:They put the plumbing in the wrong spot.
Speaker A:Instead of walking up the contractor going, hey, we got to fix this.
Speaker A:We got a problem.
Speaker A:And them calling the plumber out and making it happen.
Speaker A:I don't like the superhero complex when it comes to that.
Speaker A:So not having a personal relationship with the installation crew and the contractor can be a huge problem if they're not working together correctly.
Speaker A:So that's my top 10 mistakes kitchen bath designers can make in designing projects.
Speaker A:These are my top 10 for this year.
Speaker A:Now, I wanted to talk about some of the cabinetry buyer's guide stuff here, just to make sure we talk on a few things here.
Speaker A:Here are some warning signs out there.
Speaker A:What I would say, absolutely not never going to happen.
Speaker A:I have seen on the ask a cabinet maker.
Speaker A:A trend recently of custom cabinet makers not doing finishes blows my mind.
Speaker A:That is an absolute no go.
Speaker A:Do not pass code, do not collect $200.
Speaker A:I would never hire a company that can't do their own finishes.
Speaker A:And many times these people go, oh, I'm going to do it in white oak.
Speaker A:And you can figure it out later.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:Cabinetry finishes should be done in the factory, in a paint room with a high end finish.
Speaker A:If your cabinet maker is going down to their local paint store or Home Depot or Lowe's and buying the finish out of there, you hired the wrong company, Period.
Speaker A:And stop.
Speaker A:So you want to make sure that they're using some of the latest finishes.
Speaker A:If they're using a lacquer, I'm out.
Speaker A:What used to be the high end, which was a conversion varnish, is now the mid end.
Speaker A:There are all these new 2K style urethane finishes out there that are baked on with either UV or heat, some are water based, some aren't.
Speaker A:That are superior finishes.
Speaker A:They're hard, but they're flexible, they're clear, they're durable, they don't look like plastic.
Speaker A:So if your cabinet maker is buying it off the shelf someplace, it's not a commercial finish.
Speaker A:You've got the wrong cabinets.
Speaker A:Your durability does not come from whether the box is made out of particle board or plywood.
Speaker A:It comes from the finish on the wearable side of the cabineture.
Speaker A:Many times if you get water damage in a cabinet, doesn't really matter that much if it's particle board or plywood.
Speaker A:It's going to delaminate, it's going to swell up.
Speaker A:Either way you're going to have problems.
Speaker A:It doesn't really prevent that much of an issue.
Speaker A:In today's day, you're still going to have an issue there.
Speaker A:You're still going to be replacing cabinetry, you're still going to be dealing with those issues.
Speaker A:But that finish tells you whether that cabinet's going to look good for 18 months or 18 years.
Speaker A:And that's really the biggest importance of that.
Speaker A:And some of the plywoods I'm still very nervous about out there.
Speaker A:Lots of formaldehydes that sneak into the country from stuff from overseas.
Speaker A:You gotta be careful with that.
Speaker A:Now, the next thing here I wanna talk about real quick is custom versus semi custom versus RTI or rta.
Speaker A:Ready to assemble, ready to install, whatever.
Speaker A:I see them sailed both ways depending on where you're at in the country.
Speaker A:Custom means nothing.
Speaker A:Custom means somebody's building it for you and your project.
Speaker A:Craft made makes stuff that's custom for you.
Speaker A:Many times you're ordering the cabinets, they're putting the cabinets together, it's getting shipped out, going to you.
Speaker A:Technically it's semi custom, but it's similar and they're a national brand.
Speaker A:My concern is custom.
Speaker A:Oh, I'm having custom cabinet made.
Speaker A:Most of the time I go, yikes, that could be worse than the semi custom or even the RTA stuff out there.
Speaker A:So custom is a word that raises my question.
Speaker A:Marks up that I go, oh, what are you doing?
Speaker A:Because the big manufacturers, they've got big warranties, they've got big budgets and finish systems.
Speaker A:It's the small guy I get worried about.
Speaker A:There are some amazing small cabinet makers out there.
Speaker A:Equally, there are some horrible small cabinet makers out there that just put out garbage.
Speaker A:And I don't want you spending that Money on it.
Speaker A:So those are things that I want you to be very careful for.
Speaker A:Couple warning signs before we go we talked about a little earlier, but I just want to hit on this again.
Speaker A:Your designer should have that cabinet design knocked out, finished up, you guys are done.
Speaker A:That stain color should be done.
Speaker A:And again, if they're sending those raw cabinets out to your job site, be super concerned now.
Speaker A:Other thing here, too, that's a warning sign is when they only do one or two wood species in a custom shop, only do oak or white oak.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Makes me nervous.
Speaker A:They're not good at what they do, or they're just so strange that you're gonna have a hard time working on them.
Speaker A:Now ready to assemble cabinetry that's gotten a lot expensive recently because a lot of it's made overseas.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:There are other companies that have moved it over to the US but the stuff coming out of China, Vietnam, that kind of stuff I'm very concerned about because of the materials, the woods, the chemicals, the finishes, and the ability to get parts.
Speaker A:Many times on those cheaper ones, they have knockoff hardware that you'll never find a replacement for.
Speaker A:They're not gross, they're not bloom, they're not celici.
Speaker A:And you've got serious problems when it comes to that.
Speaker A:So I want to make sure that you totally understand what you're buying, because that knockoff hardware, you're gonna have a carpenter out there trying to make a drawer box work with putting the right hardware on it versus using the knockoff stuff.
Speaker A:So just take your time.
Speaker A:When things are too cheap or the bid is way off, it's probably a reason why I need you to ask a few more questions.
Speaker A:All right, if you got questions of me, head over to aroundthehouse online.com you can message me over there.
Speaker A:Goes right into my inbox.
Speaker A:And guys, thanks for tuning in today.
Speaker A:I tried to make it through with my voice.
Speaker A:I was out sick last week over the Memorial Day weekend, resting my voice up a little bit.
Speaker A:And we got it enough to get through the show today.
Speaker A:So I appreciate all of your thoughts.
Speaker A:Thanks for tuning in to around the House.
Speaker A:I'm Eric G.
Speaker A:We'll see you next time.
Speaker B:Thank you for tuning into the around the House show.
Speaker B:If you are on the radio, make sure you check out the podcast for additional content during the week on your favorite podcast player or at aroundthehouseonline.com we will see you next time.
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