I love mine - they have plywood boxes and hickory doors with drawer upgrades. They seem like they will last a million years, which was what I wanted. I was recently at Lowe's and opened some doors and drawers of their cabinets on display - not nearly as heavy and sound as Yorktowne, imo. I don't know how their prices compare - we had ours installed with quartz counters, tile backsplash, sink and faucet for $13,000. Which seemed like a deal to me, but I did not shop around. I bought them because the kitchen/bathroom fellow whose work I like sells them.

We had natural maple in our last house... Wore like iron- they were great. my only complaint is that the "full overlay" was more like 3/4 overlay... Not sure if that is Yorktowne or if our builder did a number on us. Could easily have been the latter!

We are currently in the process of trying to get them to cover their mistakes on Yorktowne cabinets that were installed in our remodeling project. It has been too long of a process and the end is not in sight. There has been some serious quality control problems. If you use them, be 100% sure you are using a cabinet that can be replaced easily with another cabinet from them, in the event there is a problem. The company must be having quality control issues, or other issues, as we have had numerous problems that they are having difficulty resolving.

Wow...thanks for all the responses. Much appreciated. Sallysue..without knowing how big your kitchen is it sounds like you did get a deal. My estimate was $30,000 - and that didn't even include the countertops or backsplash!!!

our cost - $30,000 - included cabinets, tile backsplash, countertops (quartz), hardwood flooring, and doorway to another room moved a few inches

I just received an estimate for Yorktowne -- $400 average per cabinet, noting that tall cabinets are $800. So for my kitchen, 16 cabinets + 4 tall cabinets = $9600 estimate. This is much lower than Chistiana at $24K and Fieldstone at $15K. I was leaning towards Fieldstone, but the cabinet box contains melamine and I am not really sure what that is, but want to make sure that it is not harmful.

I'm remodeling my kitchen. I am looking at cabinets. The salesman at the showroom is really pushing Yorktowne on me. I like the dealer (I have seen other kitchens he has done for friends although they are not Yorktowne) but as I have educated myself I have developed real reservations about the cabinet company. I have seen a couple of displays and samples. The quality doesn't seem to be that good. Especially the finish. The wood doesn�t seem that great either, lots of little pieces glued together that are different colors. The price seems to be really high for flake board construction with vinyl paper interiors and sides (he said it was more than 14% for plywood). The salesperson gets real dodgey and evasive when I ask about other cabinet companies they sell in the showroom. Today I decided to visit another dealer. This dealer told me that Yorktowne is bad, has lots of finish problems, labor and union problems, and factory closings and on and on. No surprise there, I had heard a lot of the same story online. So why the big push for this brand?? He told me the salesperson in the other showroom was pressuring me to buy Yorktowne because Yorktowne pays the salesperson "spiff" money under the table. He said that Yorktowne routinely paid sales people money for every cabinet they sold. He said my salesperson could not possibly be fair-minded or objective so long as he was taking money from the manufacturer. He called it "kitchen cabinet kick backs" and reassured me that neither he or his sales people were taking kick backs from the cabinet companies they sold. That would explain why he is pushing Yorktowne and not showing me better quality/value cabinets. This is a once in a lifetime purchase. I need to get fair objective unbiased advice from a salesperson who has my best interests at heart and not be steered into a company because the salesperson is getting paid a per box kick back from the manufacturer to steer people into a higher priced inferior product. If it's true then I've misplaced my trust, and wasted a lot of time. I want to confront the salesperson and owner and tell them why I am not buying from them. Does anyone know about this?

touro123:
It sounds like you don't trust your KD. Did you you trust them before you found out this info? Part of this business is finding a designer that you work well with. Ask some folks on here, it may have taken them a few tries to find a good fit for them.

The "spiff" is not under the table money, it is issued on a 1099 and must be reported on your taxes. It's more intended as a thank you for selling the product, than attempting to steer someone.

Yorktowne has a reputation for being a fairly priced mid level cabinet. They have a good assortment of doors/ fiishes and the semi-custom options make them a good fit for a wide variety of folks. They have a good warranty and have been around a long time.

If the quality does not seem that good than look into something else. Just keep in mind, you get what you pay for. Higher end finishes cost higher end dollars.

We used Yorktowne for a kitchen remodel in our previous home. We were pleased with the price, customer service, and quality. We had standard grade (not plywood), painted maple with a glaze. There was one door that I was not happy with the finish. The company replaced it promptly and politely.

We were only in the house for 2 years, so I cannot speak for the longevity. But we are quite rough on things, and were pleased while we were there to use them.

As far as the post above about "Yorktowne routinely paid sales people money for every cabinet they sold." I don't know much about the industry, but what's fishy with that? Isn't that how KDs make their money?

For people on a budget, Yorktowne is a good buy. I don't rep them, so I can not personally attest to whether or not they offer direct sales incentives to the KD's who do rep them. That would not be unusual. Most KD's are sales people who are paid through commissions from their sales, and the spiffs are just a little extra. I'm now an independent, but when I was previously employed in a cabinet design firm, spiffs would not be enough to influence me quoting a design in one cabinet line or another for a customer unless both lines were relatively equal in their value for the consumer. And the customer's decision is the final one. I can tell you that both lines are equal, but if you don't fall in love with a door style or look offered by one line, no amount of strong hints on my part will make you choose it. I was always very careful to let the cabinets and the designs sell themselves. Because that's what you will live with.

These are the absolute worst cabinets made in America today. Elkay has run this company into the ground.
The finish is terrible. Spoke to a dealer today in NY who had to have his last 5 Yorktowne kitchens field repaired by a furniture refinisher. He said it was like watching new cars be refinished in a underground garage..ie the finish is never the same!! He said there should be a lemon law for companies like Elkay/Yorktowne.

They make their own doors. They use a grade of wood known as #2 common random...the pink slime of the cabinet business. To maximize yield in their dimension mill use tiny scraps of wood, glue and piece them together such that the finished product looks like a crazy quilt of patched together wood. No matter what you do to it it looks like crap and they know it!

Yorktowne is grossly OVER PRICED. Most dealers try to shove cheap flake board construction on you because they charge %16 more for plywood. Many other companies offer plywood standard and blow Yorktowne away in price and quality.

The construction is a tale of two shitties. Substandard materials cobbled together in an inferior construction made by the Elkay corp an even shadier cabinet company. Don't take my word for it google "Yorktowne cabinet factory closing". You can view first hand Elkay's abysmal record of poor quality, union busting and mis-management.

Look and feel inside the cabinet. It is held together by dozens of triangle shaped fasteners. If you are unafraid of ripping your finger open, then open a door and run your finger along the back of the face frame, where it meets the side panel. You will find dozens of sharp pointy nails sticking out for you and your children to rip your finger tips open with. These little finger slicers are clearly evident with double faced glass door cabinets. As if the abysmal Yorktowne finish were not enough. They announce to your friends, family and indeed to the world that you made the bone headed decision to purchase the higest priced lowest quality cabinet made in America.

Alas, the poor decision to buy Yorktowne (or the equally high priced low quality Elkay sister company Medallion) was not yours alone.

How were you to know that your cabinet sales person was being bribed by the Elkay/Yorktowne/Medallion corp to foist an overpriced low quality cabinet upon you. See CORRUPT SALES PRACTICES http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg102205095786.html

Yorktowe/Elkay is so desperate that they pay dealer sales people kick backs of up to 30$ per cabinet to your cabinet sales person to steer you into a low quality high priced product where as most often is the case a lower cost higher quality alternative is availible. With a 30$ per cabinet kick back the average 20 cabinet kitchen with a 65% mark up means you are overpaying $990

Bribery, payola, kickbacks, and graft are the only way Elkay can sell this overpriced junk to you the unsuspecting consumer.

I have seen countless "dream kitchens" ruined by this company. If a sales person tries to steer and manipulate you into this brand for his "kickback" than don't walk out of the showroom run..before it's too late.

Which cabinet line do you recommend?

Worse cabinet experience we have had. Can't expect much from shelves covered with contact paper that don't even match finish.