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I make my living installing kitchens, out of box type deals. I feel that there is a good deal of skill and knowledge needed to do this. Scribes, trim, levelness, squareness, etc. The other day one of my neighbors said to me anyone can hang kitchen cabinets, as if trained monkeys could do it. I just wanted to see what people in the construction trades thought about this. Can any Joe Shoe hang kitchens, or are we considered skilled craftsman?
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it takes skills, especially if you're also doing the countertops(various materials) and it also depends largely on the challenge involved,...out of plumb walls ,bows, etc, carry on and learn more carpentry and finishing if and when you can to become more well skilled, good luck
*what qualifications does your neighbor have.?..i'd hate to disagree with someone who really knows what they're talking about...as if...
*Some people love to squeeze other people down a little bit so they feel bigger. Installing kitchens well is definately a hard-earned set of skills. Mike
*Yea CCD probably the neighbor who in a year or so will be saying something like Oh yea Im buying some cabinets I was wondering if you could come over and give me a hand hanging them. You didnt say what the neighbor did for a living but I believe hes been watching to much Hometime....
*It may not be brain surgery, but how many brain surgeons can hang cabs? Any job done well requires skill.SHG
*Kitchen installers are the height of skilled craftmanship.Your dealing with a set room that is never plumb, square and level, and your skills represent the final outcome of the "kitchen". Do do this work profitably, you must be in shape and wirery. No fat asses here!You have to know framing, drywall, plumbing, electrical, have excellent finish carpentery skills, and know finishing tricks.Oh, and there is a HUGE shortage of monkeys to do this work. A lot of money to be made doing something "anyone" can do.What a dickhead!
*Anyone CAN hang kitchen cabinets.Anyone CAN do brain surgery. (The Inca's did it, hundreds of years ago.)Anyone CAN fly a new jumbo jet. (Landing is the hard part)No one is not talking about doing well or success rates are they?
*Because of all the home improvement shows on tv, the big box stores "mini-clinics", and the cabinet manufacturer's brochures and literature, most average homeowners are being led to believe that anyone CAN install kitchens AND bathrooms. That is until they actually get smack dab in the middle of a job doing it... then they find out the truth. WAY more to it than they showed on that !@#&* tv show last night!James DuHamel
*CCD,This question seems familiar. That means I've been hanging out here WAY too long.Skill? You bet. It takes lots to install cabinetry correctly. Your neighbor should think before he speaks. Craftsmanship? That's a gray area. I think building the cabinets should be considered a craft, but installing them? I don't know. But that doesn't make you any less skilled at what you do. And no, not everybody can do this right out of the blocks. It takes a long time to learn the little tricks to do it right.I'm just not sure you can call installation a craft. Can you sell what you do at a craft show? I know that cabinetry is far more of a craft than painting toilet lids with pretty flowers and selling them at arts and crafts shows, but the craftsperson is still creating something from nothing more or less. You are not really creating something from raw materials.Again, I'm not trying to put you down, you must be very skilled to do what you do and do it correctly. I'm just not sure about the "craftman" part. Ed.
*You know what is funny? This neighbor would hang the boxes horribly and think it was just great. "Hey, what do you have to fill this square hole for this round sink?" Geez.Our homeowner friends can get away with murder, but just you try to bill the same quality of installation to the very same person, kiss the check goodbye...Speaking of fix-it shows on TV, anyone catch Weekend Warriors? Man, I watched it one time and it was way more funny than any early Bob Villa. I am really surprised the warrior still has all of his fingers, not to mention how rosey his glasses had to be to think he did a good thing.
*GOOD installers (and there are lots of bad ones), are skilled craftsmen in my eyes. I are one when I can't avoid it, which is most of the time. It's always the most stressful part of it.As part of my college teaching thing, I sat down with a shop owner today....decent sized, successful shop, 30 guys....he wants to add 10-15 more, and can't find them....he's dying for an installer. He's paying very good money for this region, supplies all tools and a new cube, 40 hours a week, wants the installer and a helper to put in three, four hopefully a week. Can't find anyone.But I do think they're a pretty rare breed, that can do everything required well, and do the people thing too.
*CCD,Just from reading your post I'm going to say that you are a very skilled craftsman who takes pride in his work, especially if you are dealing with the box type Home Pride Cabinet, if I'm not mistaken that's what the Home Depot sells in the box.The only reason I replied to your post is because you mentioned the scribe,levelness, trim, and walls being square. To me it's obvious that you know what exactly what you're doing and I just want to throw my 2 cents in on this one.You are a craftsman, and if anyone you come across say's that anyone can hang kitchen cabinets give them your tool belt, sit down, and have a good laugh.The Best To You
*Thanks Will. When I say out of the box type cabinets, I mean anything from Home Depot Mills Pride (the worst cabinets I've ever seen) up to some that couldn't have been put together any better on site by I skilled maker. So it pretty much runs the whole range of quality.Once again, thanks for the props.
*I just want to add my two cents on this topic. My first kitchen remodel was several years ago. I did it for my parents when I was in highschool. Fortunately the home was relatively new and the walls, ceiling and floor were square and level, more or less. If I remember correctly, that job took me several days. All in all it came out well. It was not the hardest project I ever did, but it was a lot harder than I originally thought. There was a little more to it than just slapping up boxes and driving in screws. I just finished my kitchen this weekend. I gutted it many weeks ago, moved some plumbing, a gas line and added some additional electrical. I also made my own maple cabinets, which took many more weeks than I had originally planed. After spending a lot of time moving plumbing, hanging and plastering drywall, laying tile, and making the cabinets, there was no way in hell I was just going to slap the boxes on the wall. It took me all weekend to put them in and they look good. I’m sure a well trained monkey could have put them in, however, the faces would not be flush, nor would they be tight, and there would be gaps where the cabinet face meets the wall.I basically think anyone can do a home improvement project, however, very few can actually do it right. We have all been in homes where all the trim miters are open, doors rub the floor, tiles are cracked and grout lines don’t run strait, wallpaper is crooked and every other seam is pealing, and there in a bucket under every sink because the pee trap leeks. So the neighbor is right, anyone can hang cabinets, but only a lucky few have the talent to hang cabinets and make them look good.By the way, does anyone know what the going rate for cabinet installation is, assuming no structural changes are being made?Jamie
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I make my living installing kitchens, out of box type deals. I feel that there is a good deal of skill and knowledge needed to do this. Scribes, trim, levelness, squareness, etc. The other day one of my neighbors said to me anyone can hang kitchen cabinets, as if trained monkeys could do it. I just wanted to see what people in the construction trades thought about this. Can any Joe Shoe hang kitchens, or are we considered skilled craftsman?