How a cabinet project comes together

We ask which room, roughly how big, how old the house is, and whether plumbing or wiring needs to move. If you have photos of the room or of kitchens you like, send them. Then we set up a time to come out.

At the house we measure every wall, window, door, outlet, vent and pipe, plus the ceiling height. We check how far the floor and walls are out of level and plumb. And we ask how you use the room, because that decides more of the design than the style does.

Going over a drawing and door samples at the kitchen table

We draw a floor plan and an elevation of each wall, showing every cabinet, drawer and appliance. You get a written price with the drawings. We revise both until they're right, and you approve them before anything is built.

Boxes, face frames, doors and drawers are cut and assembled in the shop. Lumber is checked with a moisture meter before it is used, because wood built too wet shrinks and gaps after a Missouri winter.

Checking a cabinet box for square

Painted and stained parts are sanded and sprayed in the shop, every face, so the finish is even and the wood is sealed on all sides.

We protect the floors, set the base cabinets level from the high point of the floor, fasten everything to studs and scribe fillers to the walls. Then every door and drawer gets adjusted. Counters are usually templated after the base cabinets are in.