Me! ME!!
when I have the money, I buy cabinets from The Cabinet Joint.com (Brian) and I buy the beaded inset cabinets. They're beautiful and extremely well made.

I also buy the RTA. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to put one together.
I buy unfinished, though. Can't help you there.

We have Conestoga Craftsman in Crystal White, full overlay though. Very good quality, and very reasonable to customize drawer heights and widths (but not depths, you're limited to 24"). You can also customize cabinet box sizes (deeper uppers, etc.).

Good luck!

It's great to hear that people are happy with Conestoga. My wife and I are leaning toward that choice as well.

Our hesitation: the warranty is only one year. The cabinetjoint.com offers a reasonably convincing explanation of why one year is sufficient, but I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.

We would be buying the cabinets through our architect, who would assemble them, deliver them to our contractor, troubleshoot any problems, etc. We're not handy at all and don't wish to assemble the cabinets ourselves. We got a quote from another vendor for an identical layout from Schrock at the same price, and Schrock has (I think) a lifetime warranty. So we're not sure which way to go.

And then, there's Home Depot �" which might be cheaper, but more of a hassle.

Anyway, curious to hear people's thoughts about the warranty, how Conestoga stacks up against comparable brands like Schrock, Kraftmaid, etc. Thanks in advance for any advice. It's our first ever home purchase and kitchen remodel.

I built, customized and finished my Conestoga kitchen in '06. Didn't even know that had a warranty (except if they sent a wrong part); i think I called the vendor and got a new drawer front sent out, because of a mis-cut (on their part) but it was all taken care of over email, no forms to fill out.
I was able to take their stock door designs and select enough different options to make a new door. Umm, that's the best kept secret out there. The doors are spectacular quality. I do preservation millwork, so I see and build nice work all the time, it's really a level above KM and mid-level cabinets.
Their upgrades include anything you'd want, really. I recut a number of cabinets to a custom depth, easy as pie when they are unassembled.
The turnaround time was 2 weeks from the order to my doorstep.
So many reasons to use them if you're on the east coast; they were even delivered on their own truck, freight was almost free!
Casey

I'm a KD, as to warranty. Lifetime warranty is a sales tool , demanded by the consumer IMO. Practically any problem that qualifies as "defects in materials or workmanship" are likely to show up within a year. Now some (hi end) companies will actually go a little further for customer satisfaction or to quiet a really irate customer (more mainstream mfgs).

Most of the time hardware has a lifetime warranty and is covered regardless of the cause. This is nice as hinges can fail eventually, often after the hinge is no longer in production so a brand that keeps some on hand helps. Drawer glides not so much, at least for the good ones, can't speak to Chinese glides. (Biggest problem with current undermount glides occurs during installation-they don't like sheetrock or granite dust much and often are not protected during install causing problems. Not a defect though.)

Most of the problems seen after any amount of time come from use, abuse, poor environmental control, improper care and cleaning. Those would not be covered under strict enforcement of a warranties terms. I have seen an occasional exception, it is rare.
A warranty is only as good as the company is willing to stand behind it.

Hi! I just ordered last week from thecabinetjoint.com. I ordered inset unfinished so I will post later with quality and assembling information. Brian helped me with my order and I have to say he was extremely patient and never "pushy" into selling, he wanted me to take my time with my decisions. I will post later information and photos of my project.

Good luck ghanft.... I worked with Brian as well and recommend him highly. Spoke to him today, actually, regarding a new project.

Sorry for the hijack, lexmomof3. Any progress on your end?

no problem oldbat2be. My progress is SLOW. I have decided that the frosty white matches the marble best so I'm going with that. I think I've finally nailed down my layout and cabinet choices. I'm also working with Brian and I'm sure he's ready to be done with me. LOL. I keep making changes. Hope to have the order in this week.

oldbat2be, you mentioned Craftsman in Crystal White, but I looked on the website and saw "Statesman" but not "Craftsman", so I wanted to ask the type of style you used and whether you used a "premium finish" or "colourtone" and what glaze you used. Your cabinets are awesome and basically exactly what I'm picturing for our renovation. I'd love to see more pics if you feel like emailing me offline at jeanmarine@yahoo.com

Can any of you who posted on this thread speak to how well the inset Conestoga cabinets (or the Conestoga cabinets) in general have held up over the years? Thank you!

We are still happy with ours and think highly of the quality. These are not inexpensive and the end result will be very much due to your due diligence and planning - the more you put into the planning and research, the better the result.

Good luck!