Richards Cabinetry Inc

For those of you with a short attention span, I will summarize my experience like this: In my opinion, Richard is absolutely incompetent.  He built all my lowers 0.5" higher than they were supposed to (blamed me-it's a long story.  I'll tell it below if you're interested).  He then installed half the kitchen another 0.5" higher than that.  The end product is half my kitchen is 1 FULL INCH off what was agreed upon.  I'm working with other carpenters now to fix all the problems.  I'm also exploring the option of legal action and will be calling Angie's List..  I wouldn't recommend him to my enemy.  He's that bad.  It took me several months to write this because I wanted to write a useful review and I was so angry when he was done that I didn't feel I could be fair.  I'll go in to greater detail below.

Here's a list of my major problems with his build and installation.  If you're considering using him, I urge you to run these past someone with knowledge for their input.

• As noted above-built 0.5" higher than specified and half installed another 0.5" higher than that
• Right side of stove 0.5" higher than left
• Microwave installed at 14.5" above stove (standard is 18"-many people do 20").  When you're standing at the stove, you can't see the display on the stove because the microwave is in your way.  To set the temp on the over, I have to bend over and reach in.  I also bang the tops of all my pots on the microwave because it's so low.
• Space between uppers and lowers ranges from 16 3/4" to 17.5" (standard is 18").  As a result, one of my appliances does not fit on my counter.  When discussing this, he said that he didn't know we were dealing with "this magic 18 inch number." 
• He left holes and pencil lines all over my freshly painted kitchen-this in and of itself isn't that big of a deal but I spent hours prepping my walls.  It would have been nice to know that he'd leave it like this
• One of the uppers is a full 1/4" out of level
• Did not level the island.  This is a quote from him on this, "We never leveled this thing.  We just dropped it in and secured it."  He then placed a level on it and said, "Not bad actually."  It's approximately 1/8" out of level.  Not a huge deal but no reason it couldn't be level.
• He does not install by finding high point.  He puts in the corners first.
• Cabinet immediately right of stove is 0.5" out of level (creating the increased height).  When the countertop installer he works with got there, he just shimmed it up a full 0.5" on the edge.  In my opinion, this should have been brought to my attention prior to installing.
• He pushes a 38" height on the lowers (standard is 36").  I made the mistake of listening to him.  My lowers are 38.5" and 39" which is visually odd and ergonomically difficult.  I DID agree to the 38".  If you use him, make sure you see how this will look and feel before you agree to it.
• Secured the uppers to the wall with silver screw heads about the size of a nickel.  He does not counter sink or hide them in any way.  Sticks out like a sore thumb.  Many of them are also not flush. 
• Told me the crown on the uppers would be 2" from the ceiling.  As a result, my electrician used large boxes for the power supply to over and under cabinet lighting.  Crown is 4" from the ceiling which makes the boxes visible.  My electrician apologized profusely saying he would have done it a different way if he had known that.

To be fair, I have to say that the cabinets (though built to the wrong height) are very well built.  Also, he did give me some money off for installing half the kitchen 0.5" higher than the rest. 

The story on building the lowers to the wrong height: When Richard first came out, we were thinking about installing quartz.  When he came for the final measure, we had decided on granite and had a sample available that we liked.  He told us KG Stevens would contact us to set up an appointment to pick out our countertop.  They did and we picked out our granite 4/30/15.  I know because I have a time stamped photo on my phone. 

When I measured and saw everything was off, Richard agreed to lower all the cabinets to the agreed 38".  I was relieved that he would stand behind his mistake and fix it.  A few days later, he called me and told me that we didn't pick out our countertops until after he started building them (sometime in June).  I called K.G. Stevens and they suspiciously had no record of us ever being in the building.  Their paperwork said that we called and picked out the granite sight unseen in June.  Richard stood by this (despite having a picture of it before it was installed which wouldn't be possible if we didn't pick it out) and used this to avoid fixing his mistakes.  The irony of all of it is that K.G. Stevens told me that granite and quartz install at EXACTLY THE SAME HEIGHT.  Ultimately, I didn't want Richard to do the work.  He couldn't get it right when the kitchen was empty so I had no faith that he could fix the problem.  I just needed him out of my life.

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The cabinets were made to speciation's (size, height) I asked for an espresso dark stain. It looks like a high school project went bad. Nothing is consistent. Richard tells me with a stain that dark you can not get consistency.( I disagree, we have seen wonderful dark cabinets) Two of the drawers were so bad, I asked him to come back and fix them. Those are the only two drawers that look good. In the sun the cabinet looks just God awful. Like we picked it up off the street, someone's redo job gone bad.

When the cabinets were installed, I was surprised that they did not fill in nail holes or even bother to dust the vanity. When I called Richard to come back and fill in holes and bring some stain for the edges that had no stain. He did come back to fill in nail holes, and he brought a black sharpie in and told us to use this for the edges of doors and drawers. Well I am going to have to take stock out in sharpie's, and that fix looks terrible too!

I feel since this is Richard's business of knowing wood, there should have been some sort of education on what stain would look good. Although the two drawers he re-did look great ! The whole cabinet should look that way!!

The cabinet looks just terrible, not like the custom piece you would want people to see.

Richard is a very friendly man but I would never recommend him for any work that needs to be stained.

FANTASTIC. This guy is an artist....all the pieces look and function great. The level of professionalism far exceeded our expectations. He is a personable - and a joy to work with. He immediately returned my call, scheduled a visit to discuss and measure our project, and installed everything within the mutually agreed upon time.

Sorry to say, not well. He overscrewed the hinges to repair and cracked the wood. Then did not admit it. He took home parts to repair. I didn't say anything to him, my fault. Let him continue. THEN, sadly, he backed out of the driveway and missed in the snow ending up in the drain ditch. I paid for tow truck. THEN he had the nerve to come back with my cabinets and charge me an additional trip charge! I paid it knowing this was the end of our relationship. I don't know what to say. I think you should look at this story and decide for yourself whether you want him to do a big job for you. Taking responsibility is key for me and I don't think he was a partner in business I can trust.

We got quotes from seven different companies (custom builders and big box store) and it was an easy decision for us to chose Richard.  His prices comparable to the big box store prices for a far superior product.  Cabinets are all solid wood versus veneer particle board construction. He also came up with many design suggestions that none of the other six thought of, such as moving the pull out garbage closer to the sink, installing a drawer near the floor under the sink, installing a dual layer silverware drawer, and creative ways to use some of the odd otherwise wasted space in our kitchen.  He spent a lot of time with us to discuss a layout to fit our needs as well as other suggestions to make the overall project better, such as removing the soffit above the old cabinets, installing can lighting, etc.  Richard is very easy to work with and definitely knows his stuff.
The cabinets are beautiful, sturdy, and efficient, well built down to the smallest details.  We could not be happier with the finished product! I cannot believe the transformation in our kitchen.
We removed the old cabinets ourselves and he had the new ones hung in one day then was back the next day to install the shelves and tweak anything that needed adjusting.  Each time he was here he left the place spotless and prides himself on customer satisfaction in all regards.  We also purchased granite countertops through him and those were installed by his subcontractor today.  That crew was also fast, efficient, and professional. 
I would highly recommend Richards Cabinetry!

The cost went to the contractor. They were excellent.

Richard worked with us on the planning and measuring. He took the extremely large cabinets to his shop to work on. He brought them back completed and set them up with doors, shelves and cut outs for wires and chords. It was a masterfully done custom job.

Talked to Richard on the phone and gave him the measurements,we agreed on a price.  He showed up right on time.  The new pull-outs make the original ones look crappy.  He did a great job installing them,  and left the work area clean. We already have him working on another project. 

Weather caused a few schedule hic-ups. The wall cabinets were changed from 6 inches from ceiling to full height. All doors and drawers have a soft close. Richard fabricates all cabinetry; including a custom fitted carousel which which uses all the available space compared to commercial units. We also had him replace and revise 2 pantries with doors & trim matched to the other cabinetry. He is a prefectionist!

Richard did a Wonderful job on our bedroom set as well as the hope chest. Everyone we talk to just raves about how beautiful the wood was

Richard was able to match exactly the cinnamon color I wanted for all of the woodwork in our house and it looks beautiful!!  He did an amazing job creating our custom cabinetry for bathrooms and kitchen, advising us through the design process and suggesting helpful upgrades that we love!

I called Richard to install cabinets that I purchased.  He came over as promised and looked at what I had, told me what it would take to install correctly, gave me a price, and how long it would take to finish.  He installed them straight and leveled them even though my floor was not very level.  He even called the company that made the counter tops and explained to them that one of the tops was not cut at the correct angle, they asked him for correct measure and remade the top.  Richard did a great job for us, we use him to do other small jobs around the house when needed. 

Richard's Cabinetry has done multiple creations for our house.  From kitchen cabinets (mentioned in another review), to bedroom sets, to crib/dresser, and to a natural fireplace mantle and refacing, I simply love his work and have referred him to many coworkers who were also very pleased from what I have heard.  Richard made our bedroom set from simply a picture off the internet and dimensions.  We originally found a style we liked online, and he looked at the picture and dimensions and created an exact replica.  The style, stain, and details were perfect.  He made our headboard, footboard, 2 bedside tables, a tall man's dresser, and a large shorter woman's dresser.  I cannot explain my feeling when I saw these pieces.  Simply beautiful.  
At a later date, he made our first born son's crib and dresser/changing table.  This is another impressive job that he did.  We found the crib and dresser that matched our bedroom set, and Richard's Cabinetry made the crib and dresser/changing table to match.  Given our limited space in the nursery, we didn't want too much furniture, so Richard created a changing table 'holder' for the top of the dresser.  He designed it so when our son gets older and doesn't need the changing table, it simply comes off and will not ruin the top of the dresser.  Brilliant idea!!!!  The pieces are gorgeous and are exactly what we wanted. Our son is 15mo now, and he loves his crib.  He's a fantastic sleeper. :)  A baby's opinion is always the true test.
 Richard's Cabinetry has also refaced our fireplace and designed a beautiful wrap around mantle.  He replaced an outdated fireplace with a tiled, modern fireplace.  Again, I found a picture online of what I wanted, and with a few alterations, given the space that I had, Richard was able to transform the fireplace to a contemporary retreat.  As one can tell, I love his work, and am truly pleased with everything that he has done.  I cannot express enough gratitude for his professionalism, trustworthiness, and simply his special talent.  He transformed our kitchen, beautified our fireplace, and created such treasured bedroom furniture collection for our entire family.

Richard's Cabinetry did an excellent job on our kitchen.  He made brand new quality, maple cabinets, with countertops, and I am still in awe on the magnificent transformation that took place in our kitchen.  The cabinets are simply gorgeous and modern.  Nice straight lines, ceiling height, soft close hinges, and a stain color matching exactly to what we wanted.  During the process of deciding what we wanted, Richard was truly helpful in brainstorming ideas for layout and utilization of every space.  His ideas of spice racks, ways to conceal the garbage, and a safety drawer for knives were fantastic.  He was really concise in measurements and would go out of his way to do the job right.  From getting the right stain to the right measurements, he did not miss any details. Overall, he was very trustworthy in getting the job done and on time. I cannot say enough about his work and I would definitely recommend this company to others.  

He totally refinished our kitchen in less than two weeks. We had great communication throughout the process, from picking out the cabinets, stain, hardware, etc. He was very respectful of NOT making the whole house a mess, as he hung plastic all the way to the ceiling. Super job!

Very well. I called Richard and showed him a picture of the end tables and entertainment system that I had wanted. We then discussed the type of wood, price and color of the stain. I gave him a sample color of stain I had wanted and he matched my color perfectly. Overall we are extremely happy with what Richard as done for us thus far, and we referred him to our friends that are building a new home.