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Grayling Construction carries their own line of custom cabinets:

  Crystal Cabinets

Often we are asked what to look for when purchasing cabinets. When out looking at cabinetry you will see a wide range in pricing, from $50 per cabinet to over $2000 per cabinet. What makes a more expensive or better than another.

Types of cabinet boxes

1. Stock - this is the most common format of cabinet sold. This is a cabinet that comes "as is". Meaning the manufacturer will not make any modifications to the size, style, or finishes found in their catalogs. Stock cabinets will also be the low end of the cost spectrum. These cabinet boxes are generally made of particle board. Their quality varies greatly. We always suggest when buying cabinets ask the carpenters that install them, how they like the cabinets. Carpenters can usually give you some great input on the quality of construction of the cabinets. So even if the doors look great, the cabinet boxes may be pretty poor quality. These cabinets are sometimes not fully assembled, depending on the manufacturer. Hardware (hinges and slides) will be very basic quality and very a little from manufacturer to manufacturer. Most drawers slides will not be full or over full extension. So getting into the back of the drawers is a little difficult. Their slides will not allow for easy removal of drawers from cabinet boxes. Hinges are also not the highest quality and do have as much adjustment for lining up drawer and door fronts.

2. Semi-Custom - this is the second most common cabinet. These manufacturers will modify the sizes of their boxes for your project. So if you have an odd size you need, this is the type of cabinet you will want to purchase. These cabinets are usually made from plywood and not particle board. They are also more fully assembled than stock cabinets. Semi customer cabinets also have many more options for wood species and stain colors. Some manufacturers may even match a particular stain request. These are a generally much better made cabinet than stock cabinets. Hardware for semi custom cabinets will be general full extension slides and easily adjustable hinges. Hardware can account for a large portion of the cost of a cabinet, so better hardware is reflected in the higher cost.

3. Custom - Sometimes we find stock or semi custom manufacturers calling themselves custom. The real distinction is the ability to make cabinets per your drawings and specifications. They will make cabinets requiring a high degree of labor such as inset doors. They are also going to make one-of cabinets. Often the cabinet boxes are made from solid wood. Each manufacturer will meet whatever specifications you have. These manufacturers will also supply special woods that would not be supplied by stock or semi custom manufacturers. Basically, you tell them what you want and they build it. This type of manufacturing due to the labor intensiveness of it, is very expensive. But you get exactly what you want. Hardware for custom cabinets will be whatever you specify. Being a truly custom cabinet you get what you pay for.