Cabinet Makers
Fabricate, assemble and install kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, wardrobes, counters and other fittings from wood and laminates.
Install day in a crooked house
You are a cabinet maker on install day, with your apprentice, fitting a new kitchen into a family home that is still being renovated. It is Monday at 8am. The van is outside with every cabinet loaded. The family has been without a kitchen for weeks, and the builder has left a note saying the floor is not quite finished.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
We cannot wait to see it! I have to admit I changed my mind about the handles last night, so I bought different ones. They are in the bag. Can you use them? I know the holes are drilled for the old ones.
Fit them without a word, as she has already bought them and is excited
The new handles sit a little off, with the old holes showing at the edge of the doors. Priya notices on day three and is upset, and she is not sure whether to blame herself or you.
Tell her the old handles go on, because the holes are already drilled and that is that
The doors look fine, but Priya's excitement drops and she thinks you did not even look at her handles. A flat no has left her with the kitchen she did not choose.
Check the new handles against the doors, then tell her honestly what it would take
The new handles need different holes, which would mean remaking two doors. Priya decides to keep the original handles for now and save the new ones for the bathroom. She is glad you checked.
I know I said the floor would be level, but we ran out of time. It is slightly off. Just set the cabinets and use packers under them, the family will never notice. I need you out of there by Wednesday.
Install on the uneven floor with packers underneath, as the builder says it will be fine
The kitchen looks level at first, but the floor settles. Within two weeks the doors stop closing evenly and the benchtop develops a hairline crack. The family blames the cabinet maker.
Wait on site until Gus fixes the floor, even if it takes days
The wait protects the work, but you and your apprentice sit idle for two days. Gus is annoyed, and the family is annoyed with both of you for the delay.
Measure the problem and ask Gus what he will fix before you continue
Gus agrees to fix the worst part of the floor that afternoon. You install the first run while he works. A clear request kept the builder and the cabinet maker on speaking terms.
I do not want to cause trouble, but those two doors on the end do not line up with the rest. I can see it from the doorway. Priya says it is fine, but I think you should look. You are the expert.
Check every door against a level, thank her, and adjust any that are out
Two doors need a small adjustment, and you make it in ten minutes. Anneliese leaves smiling, and Priya later says she is glad someone looked at it properly.
Tell her the doors are fine and walk away, since Priya has already said so
Anneliese quietly tells Priya. By morning the gap is plain to the whole family, and Priya wonders what else a cabinet maker might have waved away.
Adjust the two doors she points at while she watches, without checking the rest
Those two now line up and Anneliese is pleased. A third door further along is slightly out, and nobody notices until the family does a week later.
How it went
By Wednesday the kitchen is in, level, and the family is cooking in it. Cabinet making is careful work in a workshop and a lot of problem solving on site. Would you enjoy making something for a particular family that will be used every day for years?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The kitchen that was two centimetres short
A fictional case set in a cabinet making workshop that builds and installs kitchens, wardrobes and bathroom vanities for local homes.
The situation
Imran's workshop made a kitchen for a young family renovating a 1950s house. The plans were based on measurements taken by the builder. When Imran's team brought the cabinets to the house, the main run was two centimetres too long for the wall, because the wall was not as straight as the drawings said. The family had waited three months, were sleeping at the grandparents' house, and the cabinets were already built.
What they did
Imran stopped the installers before anything was forced into place. He measured the wall himself at several heights and found it leaned slightly. He worked out with the family and the builder that one end cabinet could be trimmed in the workshop, and that the filler panel on the other end could be adjusted to hide the lean. He took the end cabinet back overnight, reworked it and returned next morning. He told the family exactly what he was doing.
How it turned out
The kitchen was installed the following afternoon. The family waited one more day. The finished run looked perfectly straight and nobody could tell the wall was crooked. Imran now measures every wall himself before cutting.
What would you do?
- Why do you think the plans were wrong, and who should have checked?
- How would you feel taking finished work back to the workshop?
- What could you do to avoid this problem on the next job?