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texasgal47

Is Conestoga RTA assembly really simple?

texasgal47
10 years ago

Hi, I plan to do just a few cabinets for my bedroom and have a professional do the install. I've watched Conestogal assembly videos on Utube and read the instruction manual. Is assembly as simple as they claim for a real novice like me or is it tricky in real life to have everything come out precise and square with solid construction? I want to go this route as prefer their factory painted finish vs. using a professional carpenter. Also there would be quite a bit of customization as I plan to use two file cabinets, modified, as free standing nightstands with castors added to the bottom to make them mobile. Conestoga would make additional backs and tops for them to make them free standing. Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated as going this route is still expensive.

Comments (9)

  • oldbat2be
    10 years ago

    Hi Texasgal,

    Yes.... and no. I think if you put everything together (without the glue) to make sure you know exactly what goes where, then label each piece, take apart and then glue, you will be OK. DH and I put together the first 9 (?) cabinets our first day, 14 or so the second and then I did the rest by myself (more than we did together, I was rather proud). We had someone else hang them. The ones I did were simpler; I would have struggled with the tall oven cabinet and a few of the other pieces. Our salesman, Brian Long from The Cabinet Joint, was very patient and helped with our preliminary questions. Best of luck, oldbat2be

  • Cindy103d
    10 years ago

    We just received our Conastoga cabinets and have assembled the first few, with many more to go. The first one took us quite awhile to get it looking good, but the others have gone much quicker. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is not a DIYer with other household projects. It's not difficult, but is also not DIY101. Requires a certain knowledge of how things go together, plus we're using a lot of clamps to hold things nice and square while the glue dries.

  • texasgal47
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you both for your assistance. I'm tempted to "plunge ahead" even if I have to pay someone to do the more difficult parts, such as drawer installs. Will report back to the forum if I go with Conestoga.

  • diyher
    10 years ago

    wondering how you did in the end with your cabinet assembly?/
    Our cabinets arrived this morning and at least from the few boxes I looked at already, each cabinet isn't in it's on box with all the parts.
    Could it be that the rest of the cabinets are in boxes together?

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    10 years ago

    Hi,
    Conestoga's production system is that all of the boxes (plywood parts, or particle board) come from one place and are boxed separately from the face frames and the doors/drawers. There are pink or yellow sheets that tell what box is what. I had 7 pallets containing 99 boxes of stuff!!! Put the carcases in one pile, the FF's on another, the drawers in a 3rd and the doors/drawers in a 4th. Then separate for uppers/lowers! 8 piles.
    Casey

  • texasgal47
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I haven't ordered my cabinets yet but still plan to do so, hopefully within the next few months. I had some design issues that have been finally resolved. I'll report back and show a picture after everything has been installed. Good luck with your project.

  • CEFreeman
    10 years ago

    If I could make a suggestion? Make certain, if you're using inset doors, to fit them into the face frames before you attach them to anything. It's SOOOOO much easier to fit them face down on the floor than it is vertically!

    I can put one of these cabinets together in about 10 minutes. Base drawers, of course, take longer because of the drawer glides, but I've got a trick for that, now, too. :)

  • Jennifer Franson_Hopper
    9 years ago

    Texasgal: Any update on how your cabinet build went?

  • texasgal47
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    My apologies for not being helpful, but I haven't gotten off the dime to place an order. I had some complications as wanted two file cabinets which were different than those normally offered. I wanted one top narrow utility drawer and a bottom file drawer to make them appropriate for night stand use also. This required different modifications as they needed to be free standing as I wanted them to be mobile as well. Conestoga by The Cabinet Joint was willing to custom the modifications, but I was concerned about tipping with the file drawer extended with the cabinet on castors. At this point, I am trying a different tactic and have requested a quote for Kraftmaid 30" wide file cabinets for my familyroom with library shelf wall cabinets to go on top. This is a small open concept patio home so they need to match the KM cabinets in my kitchen. The quote is due any day. If it comes in way too high it's back to the drawing board. KM is also giving me a quote for the bedroom cabinets with a cabinet box to go on corbels to give me a hanging nightstand drawer on either side of the bed. I have roll out storage drawers under the bed which is why the floor in that area needs to be kept clear. I will probably get a cabinet quote from Conestoga for the bedroom cabinets to compare with KM and have a carpenter build floating night stand drawers out of Conestoga components for either side of the bed. If I go the Conestoga route for the bedroom, I'll certainly post on this forum. One thing that makes me anxious is that I need two wall cabinets for the bedroom that will be used to hold nothing but books so need a solidly assembled cabinet with that kind of weight going into it. That is not what I want as my first cabinets to assemble. Sorry for the overly long reply, but I thought it was informative that Conestoga is willing to do minor modifications to their cabinets to assist customers with their needs.