My first quote on cabinets came in at $4,800 (just materials). Believe the manufacturer was Omega and the quality is pretty good, maple with self closing doors.
I'm looking to keep the cabinets under $4k and these seemed expensive. Can anyone recommend a product for this type of rental? Planning on going with a lower end granite.
Rental Property Investor · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 876 votes
8y
@John Hickey, that's interesting, I've never seen an MDF cabinet carcass. Though I've never installed an Ikea kitchen, I've used their vanities. Water gets places in rental kitchens, I've seen many exploding particle countertops, sink bases, and even the doors under the sink.
Business Metrics Analyst · Cornelius, NC · Member since 2015 · 41 posts · 27 votes
8y
I would definitely recommend IKEA cabinets. I just fully remodeled a ~ 10 x 13 kitchen with IKEA cabinets, and did everything myself....and it turned out amazing! I looked at all the RTA cabinet sellers around me, but I actually thought their quality was inferior to IKEA's cabinets. Either way, IKEA or another RTA cabinet will be your best bang for your buck.
I evaluated IKEA vs RTA in pretty much 2 categories.....Cabinet boxes and doors. For cabinet boxes, I would say the winner was IKEA. They seemed much sturdier and assembly seemed easier. But for doors, I would say the winner would be an RTA supplier. They seem to have a handful more options.
For my 10 x 13 kitchen, the IKEA cabinets cost me $2,800 and that included a lot of their "upgrades" such as lazy susans in every corner, the better model of pull out drawers, etc.
In the end, I would pick whichever of those two best fit your styling. You will hear people vote for both, but a lot more people will vote for RTA simply because IKEA's arent in every city.
Rental Property Investor · Chappaqua, NY · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 947 votes
8y
Johann Jells MDF Just like Ikea has proponents and opponents. I would say the most vocal opponents of MDF are usually carpenters. Then again I know personally custom carpenters that swear by MDF.
However Many, many carpenters/ contractors hate MDF. One of the reasons is cutting it is dirty. I’ve cut miles of it and it’s no fun. The reason to use it is that it makes sense numbers wise. The plywood of the Chinese’s RTA brands are is sometimes not the quality that makes it superior to MDF. Certainly MDF swells when wet.
When MDF has gotten wet...which I try to avoid.....I’ve had success sanding the swell down and refinishing. Plywood warps which can also be fixed...the solution is better tenants and plumbing! But of course things happen.
I know the cabinets pretty well after using them for years. I’ve used the bathroom vanities a few times. I do use them occasionally. Not sure why but they are not up to the kitchen cabs quality. It’s different size stock different fastening system and so on. I’ve actually considered modifying the kitchen cabs to use as vanities. I’ll post a pic of one of the custom Ikea builds.
Flipper/Rehabber · Yardley, PA · Member since 2015 · 451 posts · 307 votes
8y
Also would like to add a note on IKEA cabinets.. thankfully never ran into water issues. On assembly though, i always used an adhesive glue (eg liquid nails) on panels assembled together. Also in sink cabinets I caulk perimeter with silicone caulk just in case of leaks. My thought is the water couldn’t get into the seams and separate the melamine yet keep it on the surface. Haven’t ran into water issues though yet..
Rental Property Investor · Chappaqua, NY · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 947 votes
8y
@Mike B. I have heard people do that also I’m sure it adds to the strength
.....tagging isn’t working. @johan Jells this is one of the builtins I’ve done using Ikea kitchen cabinets. The first level the oak tread is on is a regular Ikea base cabinet cut in half height wise with one drawer. Next we put the oak tread, then a pantry with with two doors. For the inner cabinets we cut the back off the Ikea pantry and rebuilt It.
It’s easy enough to build the same unit from scratch or use another kind of kitchen cabinet. The reason I use them is cost. This built in cost 1400 in materials and less than a days labor. If I did that any other way I’d be paying much more. Those are 18” wide cabinets the total length is 90” height is 9’