Kitchen cabinets come in many categories. With a wide selection of options involving styles and colors, it can be tough to find the right components for your vision. Another major consideration is whether to buy your cabinets assembled or RTA (ready to assemble).
Many homeowners end up choosing fully assembled kitchen cabinets due to their quality and convenience. Remodelers should be able to find the perfect cabinet for their scheme, especially on reputable websites like Walcraft Cabinetry.
So, should you choose fully assembled or ready-to-assemble cabinets? That is a personal question, depending on the scope and demands of your kitchen renovation.
There are many factors to think about, including cost, time frame, customizability of the cabinets, and the style of your planned kitchen update.
Fully Assembled or RTA Cabinets?
Depending on your plans and budget, certain cabinetry will fit better than others into your scheme. There are positives and negatives to both RTA and fully assembled, and much comes down to personal preference.
You can search vast selections of fully assembled and RTA cabinets online. With both versions, you can hammer down the styles, colors, finishes, and sizes of the cabinetry that you need.
The Case for Fully Assembled Cabinets
With fully assembled cabinets, customers choose their model – whether it be Shaker, raised-panel, or other choices – and its finish. The manufacturer assembles the unit and ships it out; all the consumer has to do is install the cabinet.
This convenience helps this category to be a popular choice, particularly as more and more consumers end up purchasing their kitchen cabinets online. Additionally, since these cabinets are professionally built and assembled in the factory, using specialized equipment, the quality is often superior.
You can be sure that they are expertly pieced together and fitted correctly.
Another significant advantage of fully assembled cabinets is all the options you can add on to them. For example, if you are looking for a cabinet that has a trash pull-out or a Lazy Susan setup for spices, you can find these accessories easily in assembled cabinetry.
Remember, though, that added options can increase the cost of these units quickly.
As with any component in remodeling, there are drawbacks to fully assembled cabinets. Besides the larger price tag, time is another consideration when going with fully assembled cabinetry.
The amount of labor that goes into assembling equates to longer wait times for delivery, which can interfere with some kitchen design timelines.
Can RTA Cabinets Fit Your Needs?
RTA cabinets online, on the other hand, offer a more affordable option with a vast range of quality. You can choose from a broad range of finishes and door options, as well.
For those consumers who are DIY-capable, RTA versions are good choices to assemble to keep costs of the kitchen renovation down. Manufacturers ship out all of the cabinet components, and the customer assembles and installs the cabinetry.
You can save substantial time and money going with the ready-to-assemble choice, as you are cutting out the step of laborers assembling them in the factory.
There are some disadvantages to RTA cabinets, however. Parts may be missing from the kit. Home-grade pieces and materials are often lower-quality than those used in factories to assemble cabinets.
RTA cabinets can be more difficult to build than you may realize, and can cost your kitchen remodel crucial time. If you are a novice or even average at installing cabinets, RTA models can be tough to put together correctly.
You have to be perfect in your assembling and installing, as any imperfections during assembly will be magnified the further into the project you get. Cabinet pieces must fit precisely and there is little room for mistakes.
Additionally, with fully assembled cabinets you know what you’re getting as far as quality: you have a good idea of the materials and you can trust that the experts assembled the item precisely.
However, with RTA cabinets, the final product is heavily dependent on the person – often someone not too experienced – assembling and installing them correctly.
Find Quality in Fully Assembled Cabinets
After going through the good and bad between these two cabinet types, many remodelers end up going with fully assembled cabinets. There are many, many choices to sift through when looking for a fully assembled cabinet, and many of the choices appear alike, especially when browsing online.
A white Shaker cabinet on one website can look a lot like a white Shaker cabinet on another site, and it can be challenging to know which one is truly a superior version.
What sets an outstanding model apart from a low-quality one is the materials and skill put into each. Only accept hardwood or plywood throughout the cabinets, instead of cheap alternatives such as particle board that will deteriorate quickly.
Soft-close hardware is a big plus, as well, and the finish should be unblemished. The drawers, glides, and hinges should all be top-of-the-line and durable, to last for years. Look for top-notch carpentry and materials, and features such as dovetail drawers and other enhancements.
Potential customers should also research the company that sells the cabinetry, and confirm that it is dependable and backs up its woodwork. Whether you go with a dealer that is recommended by friends and family, or you look closely at online reviews, choose a highly-rated company that stands by their products.
Conclusion
While RTA cabinets can be a viable option for kitchen renovations, many designers demand the convenience and customizability that fully assembled cabinetry offers.
Because of these benefits, fully assembled kitchen cabinets can be an outstanding decision for your kitchen renovation or update.
Whether you are planning a traditional kitchen layout with time-tested cabinet styles, or a more modern approach with slab or flat-panel cabinets, you can find a fully assembled model to fit your needs.
The reliability of the manufacturer, as well as the company selling the product, is critical. With a little research, you will easily discover the fully assembled cabinet you need to complete your ideal kitchen update.
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