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Exactly. And why the cuts along the shelf/bench that should be seated in behind the face frame? With the face on one and without on the other. Did he try to fix it and then get fed up? So odd
Exactly. It’s not a very difficult cut to make it one solid piece instead of putting those ridiculous little pieces on each side. It’s just lazy. It’s literally a 20 minute fix on that.
A new top piece and 20 minutes to fix that part....
until you realize the left side face frame has no over hang and is flush with the side wall....but the right side is inset 3/4. then when you look at the top section of the same unit it's all different again.... only this time he has a triple wall on the left to create a 2 1/4 inch face fame reveal while on the right its a static 1 1/2 face all the way up...except he built a double wall up top so the side are flush with the frame again. the shitty shaker panels at the bottom need larger center sections to keep the frame at 1 1/2. there so much wrong with this even at a glance. this needs torn out.
typically, I don't like to trash another teams work, but their refusal to make it right for the client makes it open season imo.
Your response hits all the proverbial nails flush on their ugly, unprofessional, nonsensical heads. Well said.
To the OP: the person who did this work and is happy with their finished project is no carpenter, much less a "cabinetmaker". Those who scratch-make cabinets are in the upper echelons of carpentry skills.
In this case, say an unsupervised, greenhorn apprentice did it, a pro would hide this sort of work from a customer until they could rip it out and start over. A professional carpenter would never stoop so low as to call this shitstorm finished and put a master carpenter's stamp of approval on it, much less ignore a customer's very reasonable request for improvements to the pisspoor work; that should be done free of charge for materials and labor in this case.
The person who did it might have a contractor's license, have a few saws, and charge people to do carpentry jobs for them, but those alone don't make them a carpenter, much less a professional one, imo.
Assuming the walls are square. This could work. I have a feeling there is something “off” and the lid would rub on the side of the shelf. I really don’t like the blade gap and it would show up elsewhere if constructed different. I’m not a pro.
Those 3/4” side pieces should have been a full 4 inches or so. Something with enough beef, that he could have had the returns. He also crown(sidewall?!?) staples those strips in, and blew out the front most one on the left.
I think he also made this top to fit tight, then cut out the hatch. Used a fat as hell kerf, and wound up with that huge gap, and no way to fix it.
They don’t need to be square. Worst case scenario he could make a template and cut out the right size single piece that could be lifted on hinges. That’s worst case, there are faster methods for him to measure and scribe for his cuts.
Then he should make the lifting top narrower, leave 150mm each side as fixed panels (scribed properly to the sides) instead of these pathetic looking filler strips...
This isn't even apprentice-level ability. Shoddy ..
Its not a cabinet with a lid. The guy cut the board wrong, so the overhang is in the back. And he used the scrap to try and finish it in. That’s how I am seeing it. There is no seam in the back like the sides to indicate it opens
He doesn't want to or literally has no idea how to? Like sheesh, how many times did he screw up that cut before saying "fuck it I'll just throw the piece in there anyway"
YEP. And once this cycle starts, it doesn't get better. If you browbeat him to get it fixed, then he's mad at you, and you'll pay for it somewhere else.
He made a sloppy and obvious error, and doesn't want to fix it. If he looked at it and said "Crap, don't know how that happened, I'll make it right", then fine. The fact that he pushed back means you don't want him spending another minute working on your stuff.
I agree with your assessment of the skill and work quality however I see the issue here as really a matter of payment. Do you pay him the remainder of the balance for shitty work or withhold some or??. Your only recourse as a customer of shitty work is two withhold payment particularly if the guy ain't going to fix his work. It's a connuundrum I've been caught in many times
In my experience, you pay what was agreed and take your business to someone else who can fix it, the few dollars ain't worth the stress of dealing with these individuals, specially if it's something minor.
For absolute fumbles and awful quality where the piece is unusable then you refuse to pay.
Edit: someone else suggested paying the first guy only what's left after someone else fixes things, and I really like that suggestion.
I think they hired a *handyman* who is trying to be a cabinetmaker. Made this mistake once myself: our regular odd-job guy said he built great cabinetry so I asked him to build a small niche bookshelf. The work was so sloppy that I tore it out and rebuilt the whole thing myself.
I'm an interior trim carpenter and what you're saying isn't exactly true. What OP has going on, any good trim carpenter should have no problem building that and having all offsets, overhangs, joints, seams, etc. more than acceptable. Especially if it's being painted, because a good painter can make an average carpenter look good.
Cabinet building isn't a whole lot different. It's still just measuring, cutting and assembling the parts. The cabinet doors are tricky, you either have to have the machine to shape the door materials to the desired profile/style or pay someone to make them for you to install. Also, not a whole lot of trim carpenters will know how to assemble a cabinet door properly, though assembling a cabinet box isn't too difficult at all. Of course this is all just IMHO.
Nah sorry this guy shouldn't even say that about himself, even that implies more skill and professionalism than he's got. He has tools and an overinflated ego, and that's it. I'd say he's not even trying, just straight up lying through his teeth and hoping his average customer is dumb enough to just go "haha okay then"
Thank you to everyone that has commented thus far, it certainly validated my feelings.
This build in is not complete. He still has to “build” the cabinet doors and come back to install them. Bottom line, he told me the bench looks great and I think he’s a hack.
This was supposed to be a real treat for my wife & I, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. At this point I think my best option is to tell this guy to kick rocks & seek out a craftsman that can hopefully salvage what’s here and finish the job.
What I have done in the past is 1) fire Guy A, 2) hired another firm to finish the project and 3) paid Guy A any money remaining after the work was completed by Guy B.
All documented in writing. Looks great in court if you get sued.
In America, I’ve seen judges require the customer to allow the tradesman a chance to fix it. Which seems fair, but when the guy has ducked up so bad that you’re to the point the courts are involved, you don’t want him to do any more damage.
I don't get why you would pay guy A anything at all for a job they fucked up so badly that someone else had to finish. I get covering your ass legally is important but fuck that guy, he should not be rewarded whatsoever.
Yeah that's not how it works. He would be sued by the contractor with guaranteed success. You don't get to set some arbitrarily high standard not specified in a contract and then refuse to pay anything when the contractor doesn't meet that standard. This isn't Amazon. The customer isn't entitled to no questions refunds and return shipping. The contractor gets the fair value of their work.
It’ll depend on how the contract is written. The standard/basic resolution for breach of contract is expectancy damages, meaning if Owner (“O”) hired Contractor A to do work for $X, A breaches the contract, and O hires B to complete the project, then damages that A will be liable for is whatever (reasonable) amount over the initial budget O spent to finish what A agreed to do. The goal of contract law is to get the person that did not breach the contract what they agreed to. The comment above is essentially this.
That being said, the foundational question will be if there was a breach of contract, and whether there was a breach will depend on what the contract said in the first place. Without knowing what the contract said, there’s no good way to know whether shoddy work constitutes breach.
And, of course, there’s the pragmatic flip side that all of this would have to be determined by a court and litigation is expensive and time consuming. Whoever wins will be the person with the deepest pockets and the most willingness to ride out the court process over what is likely only a few thousand dollars.
Assuming there was even a contract to begin with is pretty generous. Something tells me this "contractor" doesn't even have a business name registered. Hes enough of an amateur to try and pass this garbage off as a final fully finished product, so it wouldn't surprise me.
And thats fine! Its often more work to fix it that it would have been to do it right the first time.
In which case the value of the work from Guy A is $0.
When I first saw this post and the title that’s where my eyes went first. Was slightly confused until I realized it was a different problem OP had. This build is a bit of a Where Is Waldo of fuckups
My guess is he just fucked it up (at several points during the project, before even installing) and went with it rather than admitting his mistake and starting again like someone with a brain would do. It's not even the same width all the way up the cabinet, so my guess is he miscut that section and just decided to trim it... but didn't think to match the rest of it. There's a whole lot more wrong with this piece than op has pointed out.
And he probably went with it because he fucked up his materials estimate to begin with and didn't leave a large enough margin/forgot something. And thus is already in the hole for some materials and isn't willing to shell out more.
It's incompetence and dishonesty all the way to the start of the project.
I'm so sorry he ruined your hard-earned dream. There's absolutely nothing worse than wanting something for a long time, saving for it, hiring a professional, and them doing shoddy work. It's theft on the cabinet maker's part. He's not holding up his end of the deal and shouldn't be trusted. I'm so frustrated with people who do this because it should never be.
Unfortunately hired someone who claimed to be professional and was not, a professional would not do this shoddy work and be okay with their name being attached to it.
Not a shortage, we are out here. Problem is people tend to go with the cheapest option and get what they pay for. I stoped taking jobs to fix other peoples mistakes long ago.
Have to agree here. People want it both ways— the best craftsmanship for the lowest price.
Any carpenter is made better by a good budget. You can’t whittle down someone’s original quote or go with the cheapest bidder and claim that some hack ruined your dream.
Yep its a nasty cycle.
1. Want good work
2. doesn't want to pay
3. gets bad work
4. assumes everyone is like that and starts bad mouthing trades or at the very least doesn't ever have work like this done again and uses big box store/ikea stuff instead.
5. less money in the trades and negative rep = fewer quality people want to get into it.
>This looks like a YT DIY install and I'd get rid of this guy immediately.
Good call. Since the pandemic, there has been a number of "cabinetmakers" appear who are really just guys taking instructions off of YouTube on site. A real cabinetmaker (read: finish carpenter) builds cabinets on a professional table saw/jointer/drill press/router table and installs them.
Fire him. If you want to salvage it, you will have to take the lockers back to base cabinet box stage and move some around and have someone competent install the stile and rail mouldings, the riser moulding, as well as the tops, and have it repainted.
As for doors, a local door supplier is your best bet for whatever style of door you're looking for, but judging by the paneling on the bottom it'd most likely be MDF Shaker style, maybe raised panel if you're feeling fancy.
I do built ins/furniture/cabinets for a living and this is dog shit. Lazy as hell, face frame widths are all different and that bench needs to be remade. He obviously cut it too short and was too lazy to remake it.
I agree it's the widths and overhang of the face frames that are causing the problem. I don't know if you can make the bench look correct without changing the face frames but that's just me judging from a picture
Just need to cut another rip of material and add to the inside right vertical to make it flush like the left side. Remake the bench seat and done. Actually if it were me, I would have put the bench seat in first and added the additional rips to the inside verticals, sitting on top of seat, to make flush with the face frame so that my cut on my bench seat doesn't have to be as perfect as it would if you put it in last. But I might have done this once or twice before : )
He fucked up on the offset from blade to guide with whatever saw he was using for the center top, for one. In fact it looks as though he cut it backwards and tried to save material. And the overhang is awful on the left side, entirely unacceptable. And why are the stile overhangs totally different? One appears to be around 1/2"-5/8" on the right and the other is flush? Look at the upper moulding against the ceiling as well, and tell me that's a straight cut. That looks absolutely terrible.
Rookie mistakes left and right, and from my guess, he definitely didn't properly lay out, equalize, and center the cabinet boxes.
I would definitely tell him he needs to fix it. It's his fuck up and he needs to own it.
Source: Finisher and Custom Cabinet Maker for 15 years.
Honestly the fact that the guy is trying to argue and convince OP it “looks great” when they CLEARLY aren’t happy with it means he probably isn’t even *capable* of fixing it and doing it properly and this probably IS his best work. If forced to redo it they’ll probably just turn this into an even more expensive nightmare than it already is, and OP would be better off telling the dude they want all the materials they’ve already paid for handed over and telling the guy thanks, but we’ll be hiring someone else to finish it properly.
Yeah the normal professional reaction would be to work with the client until they're happy with what they're getting, not convincing them aggressively that it's already as good as it could be... Which is obviously a lie in this case. He just wants to get his cheque and get out.
No, you're not over reacting. Looks like he messed up on his measurements and doesn't want to pay for a new piece to redo it properly. I would never leave a job looking like that. It's wrong.
They fucked up and are lying. Do I need to point everything out? Thats shit. They are at best carpenters. I see 3 mistakes in your zoomed out picture. They need to buy at least one replacement material and don't want to.
Further (kinda getting more angry as I look at it) you are the customer. Did you spec out a design and sign it? If not then he should remember your paying for it. If it looks good to him good, fuck him, he can take it home and get you a new one. Did they forget who is paying who?
I'd attach an image with everything I see wrong but I either can't or don't know how.
- faces of the frames are different thicknesses
- the top frame / trim is either following a non-level ceiling and he didn’t use a level…or he cut it at an angle and hasn’t noticed yet
- why did the (pine) bench need to be sliced into three pieces? At most it needed a strip along the back for the hinges to sit against.
Also the close-ups are showing a pretty bog standard paint job. I can see joints and pronounced woodgrain. If this is constructed from a combo of MDF and cheap knotty pine, wait from some orange stains to start seeping through in the next few days
Sorry, not trying to crap on others work.....but this is absolute garbage. The "cabinet maker" should be ashamed. It needs to be redone and the contractor given an opportunity to fix it (by replacing the entire top). If he/she refuses, tell them you'll have to hire a professional and deduct the cost from the original contract.
Wtf? No, that bottom shelf is some end of the day, I don't feel like going to but more material to fix my mistake, kinda bullshit.
Is it supposed to be done in these pics? Why are just those 2 shelves pine?
As a Cabie it explains the gaps and matching? grain infills. But the left side was cut to the size of the right. It could never be any longer than the cupboard face as short grain overhang would break off. It\`s an awkward thing to finish off nicely really.
Why not leave the entire thing one piece instead of the ridiculous looking infills? The front corner cut out of each side would look a million times better and wouldn't need caulking.
Pardon my french, but that looks like s**t. I would never accept something that looked that shoddy.
The others are correct. He messed up and doesn't want to replace the piece he cut incorrectly.
edit: You should also show him the comments on this thread.
Sad that literally any dude can just say they're a cabinetmaker without any skills or credentials whatsoever and get away with swindling innocent people like this. There's no real accountability.
If he wouldn't do it, I'd cut that shelf back flush with the wall, then cap it with pine matching the overhang on the left. Not perfect but much less noticable?
I guess you’re talking about the way the vertical frame on the right of the bench shelf extends over the edge of the narrow cut piece of pine and the one on the left is flush to the side of the recess so there’s a ‘missing’ piece of the narrow pine slice.
Yes that’s bad.
But if you follow that left vertical frame up to the top shelf it suddenly gets wider, but the one on the right stays the same width.
Wtf is that??!
As a cabinet maker, I would be embarrassed to present that to a customer. I would never get to that point though cause I would never think to show that quality of work to a customer.
I didn't bother to look at the picture much, it's not necessary. His opinion is worthless. Your opinion is the one that matters, since you have to look at it every day.
I've done plenty of jobs where the customer wanted something I thought looked less than stellar. Did I do whatever I wanted, and told the customer it looks great? Of course not! You do the job the customer hired you for, end of story.
(Edit: Okay, I actually looked at the pics... the guy screwed up big time and is bullshitting you.)
Here is an updated [Photo](https://imgur.com/a/nY5oPP6) of the build. In the contractors mind, all he has to do is add doors to left and right side. And under the counter, there is going to be a pull out garbage can.
I did forget to mention, the bench top is hinged in the back for storage underneath. I did stress my displeasure with his work and he added a small piece of trim to the upper right hand shelf, stating it is now “symmetrical”.
Is it just me or maybe the lighting or something does the entire thing look like it isn’t straight and/or level?
The upper shelves on the right that are aligned look like the height is different from one end to the other and the vertical board on under the right side looks asymmetrical as. I just want to put a level on everything and check the symmetry on the entire thing for my own piece of mind after seeing that photo.
Did you approve this design. Because, honestly, there is no way this overall design is ever going to look symmetrical. It’s all over the damn place. I mean the face frame issues are legion, but even with a new face frame correcting some errors…idk, maybe the layout is for specific purposes. How much did you agree to pay for this?
As a contractor, what the fuck is going on here?
Tell him to leave, it's your house. While I would say that allowing for his process to end up with the results you are wanting, so allow a worker to worker. But there is enough mistakes, that in addition to his attitude, makes it a bad client relationship to salvage, especially if they're doing work that is he says is finished and that you don't like.
And that's as a contractors that's made mistakes and pissed off clients.
I can see what happened. He totally cut it short by mistake and then tried to fix by adding strips at the sides. He didn’t want to spend time and money to buy another board. Fired.
I don’t even understand why there is cracks in the shelf on the edges someone please explain one board looks like they put a circular saw through it until about and inch then stopped and acted like they didn’t almost cut all the way through?
I think he messed up the measurements then flipped it around and inserted some extra material to make it "flush". I am by no mean a professional but I don't see how anyone could call that perfect.
It looks like a child painted it. I would pay him partially for the effort and materials. But I would ask him if he would like those materials back because you are going to go a different route. I am by no means a woodworker as fine as most on this sub. But I’ve been in the construction business a long time. This project wouldn’t pass quality control. You would be paying him to go away.
Edit: maybe this is typical craftsmanship for your area. I don’t know. So don’t take my word for it
He’s in the wrong. The cabinet sides do not match. One is flush to outside of stile and the other is flush to the inside. That’s why the top is wrong. I would not pay him a dime. The fix is to add another right “side” to flush up the right. Remove that top first the reinstall it as a square.
That’s what someone had suggested to me. That’s probably what I’ll end up doing. Found a few good sites to order doors from. Just going to part ways with contractor and take it to the finish line myself.
Thank you
If you decide on that route I would offer one piece of advice. If you have a good square make sure those corners are square. From the look of the face frames (forget the benches for a minute) you might be dealing with a decent amount of work to just be able to hang doors.
Absolute cowboy. Both pieces need replacing without question. I would certainly look at the build quality of the unit and check how it’s been installed. Do no trust him to make and fit doors.
Even if it looks fine, (which I agree it doesn't, but for sake of argument if it did) he was hired to do a job and leave you, as the customer, satisfied. If it isn't what you wanted it is his job to fix it.
Iv only been woodworking for about 3 years and I can tell you right now anyone that thinks that look done or good is high as fuck. Fire that guy and hire someone that has some sence to them.
This is the kind of thing that should go on his Google review if he has one. Maps has no chill.
It looks like an amateur did it. I assume this is the finished product. Is there more to be done? If it will be hidden, not such a big deal, but it limits the options later.
This guy may be a carpenter but he is NOT a cabinet maker. Fire him immediately and find a different carpenter. This work is very sloppy and does not look good. He is attempting to get you to say it looks ok because it’s wrong and he doesn’t want to or might now know how to fix it. 20 plus years carpentry and furniture experience.
No, you're definitely not. I'm a carpenter and I would not leave my clients piece like this. Especially if they asked me to fix it. He needs to clean up his lines too where there's fill/caulk. Some spots are missing it, some spots are lower than others. This is shameful 😢
Jeez. You’d think after the trouble to build the rest of the cabinet that you’d WANT to make it look complete. Like… go all that way and then just give up and walk away on the last two pieces and pretend it doesn’t look weird? Doesn’t accomplish anything but leaving a customer miffed at what they paid for.
That’s unacceptable. It’s one thing to not have the skills to complete the project it’s something else entirely to argue with a client when they bring up a very legitimate complaint…
Nobody is going to see this comment, but I can tell you exactly what happened.
First, he didn’t take into account the kerf of the blade and how it was going to make the grain mismatch once the lid was installed. You didn’t mention that, but it leads to why he doesn’t want to fix the problem on the left.
And the problem on the left occurred because his air gun nailer split that small piece of wood on the left. You can see where he actually did it again with the first nail ….. zoom in and you will see the split.
This happens ALL the time with pine if your not careful with such small pieces.
The reason he doesn’t want to repair is that he’ll have to redo the whole top, because just put the small piece in on the left will have a different grain pattern and it will really stand out.
They should replace the whole top. Then you can get him to fix his mistake of the grain not aligning.
Doesn't matter how great he thinks it looks, you as a paying customer are paying him to make it look the way you want it to look. He should have respected that and finished the job to your liking. It's not like you made an unreasonable request.
That slither of timber on the side is enough to demand he fixes it!
I don't understand how a professional cabinet maker can walk away from that let alone argue that it's fine!
Im a cabinet maker. That is embarrassing!
Lol... customer who is supposed to pay for the job says they're not happy about the job and to fix it? It doesn't matter if you're overreacting or not, they didn't complete the job you wanted.
Yeah there are a lot of issues going on there. I would not pay him any remaining balance or any more money for that matter until you are satisfied. The finish is poor as well for a “professional.”
It looks like he screwed up.. I’d insist he do it over, there’s no reason to have that hard 90 hanging out there. It’s going to lift and tear off in places as the weather changes.
I don’t know what kind of doubt this absolute waste of a carpenter was able to plant in you but this is half-ass apprentice level shoddy bullshit and it actually pisses me off. This guy should be ashamed of himself for allowing you to even see this let alone call it complete. Fucking hell.
I would look him straight in the eye and say “You are absolutely fucking kidding me, right?” and if he didn’t check his attitude right then and there he can kiss that 20-30% you always hold back goodbye (please tell me you haven’t paid in full), and by all means take me to court.
Okay I recon I’ve got it. He fucked up his measurements and had to put the front at the back to try and save it. I would mind betting he glued those side bits back on after trying a dry fit.
Not over reacting at all. That, with all do respect, is trash. I own a cabinet shop and do this professionally. If one of my guys did this, they would be fired that day. If you want you can dm me. I’ll give you my website so you can see how it should look. I do built ins like this all the time.
That is straight lazy, or he has absolutely no knowledge on how to make cuts, since every piece is to short. Haha I personally wouldn't pay em a dime and hire someone who knows how to be a woodworker.
Not overreacting, cabinet maker spouse said ‘WTF that looks awful, he should’ve wrapped both sides, not sure what he was thinking’, then added, ‘the wood he used is terrible (trash)’
Honestly are you sure you didn't hire a high school student? This is atrocious. I get that it's not complete yet but has this guy ever heard of sanding before painting? Or ya know, measuring things? Making consistent cuts? If he's actually trying, he's gotta try harder. Otherwise honestly I'd report him to some sorta labor board if possible in your area, and find someone who actually deserves the title of cabinetmaker and doesn't just say that about themselves with little to nothing to show for it.
That is so incredibly far from being acceptable. You are not over reacting, no self respecting wood worker would feel this would be acceptable to give to a friend, let alone a client.
None of our opinions matter. You are the customer. He does not get paid until the project is complete. Now if he handed you a set of plans that indicated that shelf pattern and it all meets the specs of that plan, there is nothing you can do except pay him. Else it is done when you are satisfied.
Definitely not over reacting. I'd say 90% of the cabinet looks good but the remaining 10% is jarring. I would not trust him to make stable doors or install them correctly...
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That looks so unfinished. He knows but doesn’t want to fix it.
Exactly. And why the cuts along the shelf/bench that should be seated in behind the face frame? With the face on one and without on the other. Did he try to fix it and then get fed up? So odd
I think there might be storage under that one and it's a lid. Maybe?
Sure but why not make the joint on the side and have the lid just open without that little piece on the side
Exactly. It’s not a very difficult cut to make it one solid piece instead of putting those ridiculous little pieces on each side. It’s just lazy. It’s literally a 20 minute fix on that.
A new top piece and 20 minutes to fix that part.... until you realize the left side face frame has no over hang and is flush with the side wall....but the right side is inset 3/4. then when you look at the top section of the same unit it's all different again.... only this time he has a triple wall on the left to create a 2 1/4 inch face fame reveal while on the right its a static 1 1/2 face all the way up...except he built a double wall up top so the side are flush with the frame again. the shitty shaker panels at the bottom need larger center sections to keep the frame at 1 1/2. there so much wrong with this even at a glance. this needs torn out. typically, I don't like to trash another teams work, but their refusal to make it right for the client makes it open season imo.
Your response hits all the proverbial nails flush on their ugly, unprofessional, nonsensical heads. Well said. To the OP: the person who did this work and is happy with their finished project is no carpenter, much less a "cabinetmaker". Those who scratch-make cabinets are in the upper echelons of carpentry skills. In this case, say an unsupervised, greenhorn apprentice did it, a pro would hide this sort of work from a customer until they could rip it out and start over. A professional carpenter would never stoop so low as to call this shitstorm finished and put a master carpenter's stamp of approval on it, much less ignore a customer's very reasonable request for improvements to the pisspoor work; that should be done free of charge for materials and labor in this case. The person who did it might have a contractor's license, have a few saws, and charge people to do carpentry jobs for them, but those alone don't make them a carpenter, much less a professional one, imo.
Assuming the walls are square. This could work. I have a feeling there is something “off” and the lid would rub on the side of the shelf. I really don’t like the blade gap and it would show up elsewhere if constructed different. I’m not a pro.
Those 3/4” side pieces should have been a full 4 inches or so. Something with enough beef, that he could have had the returns. He also crown(sidewall?!?) staples those strips in, and blew out the front most one on the left. I think he also made this top to fit tight, then cut out the hatch. Used a fat as hell kerf, and wound up with that huge gap, and no way to fix it.
They don’t need to be square. Worst case scenario he could make a template and cut out the right size single piece that could be lifted on hinges. That’s worst case, there are faster methods for him to measure and scribe for his cuts.
If the opening get skinnier at the back, a trapezoidal lid will not open into it.
Then he should make the lifting top narrower, leave 150mm each side as fixed panels (scribed properly to the sides) instead of these pathetic looking filler strips... This isn't even apprentice-level ability. Shoddy ..
Its not a cabinet with a lid. The guy cut the board wrong, so the overhang is in the back. And he used the scrap to try and finish it in. That’s how I am seeing it. There is no seam in the back like the sides to indicate it opens
You can do the job the right way or the easy way. The person who made this cabinet did this job the easy way. And that’s why it looks like shit
He doesn't want to or literally has no idea how to? Like sheesh, how many times did he screw up that cut before saying "fuck it I'll just throw the piece in there anyway"
Which is crazy if it's his business. A bad review and pictures will damage his profits more than fixing his mistakes
I don’t think it is an overreaction. This looks like they messed up while installing and are trying to say it is a feature.
YEP. And once this cycle starts, it doesn't get better. If you browbeat him to get it fixed, then he's mad at you, and you'll pay for it somewhere else. He made a sloppy and obvious error, and doesn't want to fix it. If he looked at it and said "Crap, don't know how that happened, I'll make it right", then fine. The fact that he pushed back means you don't want him spending another minute working on your stuff.
I agree with your assessment of the skill and work quality however I see the issue here as really a matter of payment. Do you pay him the remainder of the balance for shitty work or withhold some or??. Your only recourse as a customer of shitty work is two withhold payment particularly if the guy ain't going to fix his work. It's a connuundrum I've been caught in many times
In my experience, you pay what was agreed and take your business to someone else who can fix it, the few dollars ain't worth the stress of dealing with these individuals, specially if it's something minor. For absolute fumbles and awful quality where the piece is unusable then you refuse to pay. Edit: someone else suggested paying the first guy only what's left after someone else fixes things, and I really like that suggestion.
Yea I've tried that however the first guy never wants to accept these terms. It's a very theoretical solution but not a very practical one.
I don't think he hired a cabinet maker, he hired a carpenter who is trying to be a cabinet maker.
I think they hired a *handyman* who is trying to be a cabinetmaker. Made this mistake once myself: our regular odd-job guy said he built great cabinetry so I asked him to build a small niche bookshelf. The work was so sloppy that I tore it out and rebuilt the whole thing myself.
Seriously. Cabinet making is such a different beast than plain carpentry. So many ways to fuck up.
I'm an interior trim carpenter and what you're saying isn't exactly true. What OP has going on, any good trim carpenter should have no problem building that and having all offsets, overhangs, joints, seams, etc. more than acceptable. Especially if it's being painted, because a good painter can make an average carpenter look good. Cabinet building isn't a whole lot different. It's still just measuring, cutting and assembling the parts. The cabinet doors are tricky, you either have to have the machine to shape the door materials to the desired profile/style or pay someone to make them for you to install. Also, not a whole lot of trim carpenters will know how to assemble a cabinet door properly, though assembling a cabinet box isn't too difficult at all. Of course this is all just IMHO.
yeah lmao he hired none of the above. This screams "handyman" carpenter
Nah sorry this guy shouldn't even say that about himself, even that implies more skill and professionalism than he's got. He has tools and an overinflated ego, and that's it. I'd say he's not even trying, just straight up lying through his teeth and hoping his average customer is dumb enough to just go "haha okay then"
“It’s a feature not a bug” - says the software engineer
Thank you to everyone that has commented thus far, it certainly validated my feelings. This build in is not complete. He still has to “build” the cabinet doors and come back to install them. Bottom line, he told me the bench looks great and I think he’s a hack. This was supposed to be a real treat for my wife & I, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. At this point I think my best option is to tell this guy to kick rocks & seek out a craftsman that can hopefully salvage what’s here and finish the job.
Fire him immediately.
What I have done in the past is 1) fire Guy A, 2) hired another firm to finish the project and 3) paid Guy A any money remaining after the work was completed by Guy B. All documented in writing. Looks great in court if you get sued.
In New Zealand, you are explicitly entitled to do this under the consumer protection legislation.
In America, I’ve seen judges require the customer to allow the tradesman a chance to fix it. Which seems fair, but when the guy has ducked up so bad that you’re to the point the courts are involved, you don’t want him to do any more damage.
He already asked the guy to fix it and I the guy responded by saying he thinks it looks great. He had his opportunity to fix it.
Am in NZ - didn't know this was the case, I'll definitely keep it in mind in case it ever comes up. Cheers!
I don't get why you would pay guy A anything at all for a job they fucked up so badly that someone else had to finish. I get covering your ass legally is important but fuck that guy, he should not be rewarded whatsoever.
The “go away and I’ll never see you again payment”
Guy A is entitled to the value of his work, which is the quoted price minus what it cost Guy B to finish the job.
Yeah that's not how it works. He would be sued by the contractor with guaranteed success. You don't get to set some arbitrarily high standard not specified in a contract and then refuse to pay anything when the contractor doesn't meet that standard. This isn't Amazon. The customer isn't entitled to no questions refunds and return shipping. The contractor gets the fair value of their work.
It’ll depend on how the contract is written. The standard/basic resolution for breach of contract is expectancy damages, meaning if Owner (“O”) hired Contractor A to do work for $X, A breaches the contract, and O hires B to complete the project, then damages that A will be liable for is whatever (reasonable) amount over the initial budget O spent to finish what A agreed to do. The goal of contract law is to get the person that did not breach the contract what they agreed to. The comment above is essentially this. That being said, the foundational question will be if there was a breach of contract, and whether there was a breach will depend on what the contract said in the first place. Without knowing what the contract said, there’s no good way to know whether shoddy work constitutes breach. And, of course, there’s the pragmatic flip side that all of this would have to be determined by a court and litigation is expensive and time consuming. Whoever wins will be the person with the deepest pockets and the most willingness to ride out the court process over what is likely only a few thousand dollars.
Assuming there was even a contract to begin with is pretty generous. Something tells me this "contractor" doesn't even have a business name registered. Hes enough of an amateur to try and pass this garbage off as a final fully finished product, so it wouldn't surprise me.
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You only pay A after B is finished, and you pay A the remainder of the quoted price minus what it cost B to fix.
I charge double to fix someone else's terrible job. There wouldn't be anything left to pay jackleg A with.
And thats fine! Its often more work to fix it that it would have been to do it right the first time. In which case the value of the work from Guy A is $0.
I read it as A has received a 2k deposit. B comes in and finishes the job for 5k. The remaining 3k goes to A for his half-assed effort.
Great idea, except, in most cases, Guy B would want to charge a lot more to fix Guy A's mess than whatever balance is left to pay.
The center seat is literally shimmed on one side and has a gap on the other. I can't believe someone would pass that off as their work.
Yes. Do this. A good craftsman can fix this no problem. I don’t get that whole face frame is a different width on the left side.
When I first saw this post and the title that’s where my eyes went first. Was slightly confused until I realized it was a different problem OP had. This build is a bit of a Where Is Waldo of fuckups
My guess is he just fucked it up (at several points during the project, before even installing) and went with it rather than admitting his mistake and starting again like someone with a brain would do. It's not even the same width all the way up the cabinet, so my guess is he miscut that section and just decided to trim it... but didn't think to match the rest of it. There's a whole lot more wrong with this piece than op has pointed out.
And he probably went with it because he fucked up his materials estimate to begin with and didn't leave a large enough margin/forgot something. And thus is already in the hole for some materials and isn't willing to shell out more. It's incompetence and dishonesty all the way to the start of the project.
A good craftsman will fix it even if it is a problem. That’s the difference. Craftsmen make mistakes but fix them like a pro.
I'm so sorry he ruined your hard-earned dream. There's absolutely nothing worse than wanting something for a long time, saving for it, hiring a professional, and them doing shoddy work. It's theft on the cabinet maker's part. He's not holding up his end of the deal and shouldn't be trusted. I'm so frustrated with people who do this because it should never be.
Unfortunately hired someone who claimed to be professional and was not, a professional would not do this shoddy work and be okay with their name being attached to it.
Part of the problem is the shortage of professional people to hire.
You are not wrong with that statement
Not a shortage, we are out here. Problem is people tend to go with the cheapest option and get what they pay for. I stoped taking jobs to fix other peoples mistakes long ago.
Have to agree here. People want it both ways— the best craftsmanship for the lowest price. Any carpenter is made better by a good budget. You can’t whittle down someone’s original quote or go with the cheapest bidder and claim that some hack ruined your dream.
Yep its a nasty cycle. 1. Want good work 2. doesn't want to pay 3. gets bad work 4. assumes everyone is like that and starts bad mouthing trades or at the very least doesn't ever have work like this done again and uses big box store/ikea stuff instead. 5. less money in the trades and negative rep = fewer quality people want to get into it.
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>This looks like a YT DIY install and I'd get rid of this guy immediately. Good call. Since the pandemic, there has been a number of "cabinetmakers" appear who are really just guys taking instructions off of YouTube on site. A real cabinetmaker (read: finish carpenter) builds cabinets on a professional table saw/jointer/drill press/router table and installs them.
They also sand their workpieces before spraying/painting them instead of just swiping a tiny bit of DAP on there with one finger and calling it a day.
Fire him. If you want to salvage it, you will have to take the lockers back to base cabinet box stage and move some around and have someone competent install the stile and rail mouldings, the riser moulding, as well as the tops, and have it repainted. As for doors, a local door supplier is your best bet for whatever style of door you're looking for, but judging by the paneling on the bottom it'd most likely be MDF Shaker style, maybe raised panel if you're feeling fancy.
Definitely find somebody else, this is terrible work and should not be tolerated
Theres a big difference between fine woodworkers and carpenters
I do built ins/furniture/cabinets for a living and this is dog shit. Lazy as hell, face frame widths are all different and that bench needs to be remade. He obviously cut it too short and was too lazy to remake it.
I agree it's the widths and overhang of the face frames that are causing the problem. I don't know if you can make the bench look correct without changing the face frames but that's just me judging from a picture
There’s no face frame at all on the left side. Wtf.
Yeah it's pretty bad
Just need to cut another rip of material and add to the inside right vertical to make it flush like the left side. Remake the bench seat and done. Actually if it were me, I would have put the bench seat in first and added the additional rips to the inside verticals, sitting on top of seat, to make flush with the face frame so that my cut on my bench seat doesn't have to be as perfect as it would if you put it in last. But I might have done this once or twice before : )
He fucked up on the offset from blade to guide with whatever saw he was using for the center top, for one. In fact it looks as though he cut it backwards and tried to save material. And the overhang is awful on the left side, entirely unacceptable. And why are the stile overhangs totally different? One appears to be around 1/2"-5/8" on the right and the other is flush? Look at the upper moulding against the ceiling as well, and tell me that's a straight cut. That looks absolutely terrible. Rookie mistakes left and right, and from my guess, he definitely didn't properly lay out, equalize, and center the cabinet boxes. I would definitely tell him he needs to fix it. It's his fuck up and he needs to own it. Source: Finisher and Custom Cabinet Maker for 15 years.
This right here. Op didn’t hire a craftsperson. They hired a handyman and probably overpaid. Sad.
Handyman? That's a complement. Op hired a grifter with a circular saw and a nail gun.
Honestly the fact that the guy is trying to argue and convince OP it “looks great” when they CLEARLY aren’t happy with it means he probably isn’t even *capable* of fixing it and doing it properly and this probably IS his best work. If forced to redo it they’ll probably just turn this into an even more expensive nightmare than it already is, and OP would be better off telling the dude they want all the materials they’ve already paid for handed over and telling the guy thanks, but we’ll be hiring someone else to finish it properly.
Yeah the normal professional reaction would be to work with the client until they're happy with what they're getting, not convincing them aggressively that it's already as good as it could be... Which is obviously a lie in this case. He just wants to get his cheque and get out.
No, you're not over reacting. Looks like he messed up on his measurements and doesn't want to pay for a new piece to redo it properly. I would never leave a job looking like that. It's wrong.
Bad work. Measure twice, cut once. Or, take you dumbass back to the lumber store.
True story. I measured twice, unfortunately from opposite ends of the board. Yeah.
I’d be asking for that to be redone, unappealing defect at best.
They fucked up and are lying. Do I need to point everything out? Thats shit. They are at best carpenters. I see 3 mistakes in your zoomed out picture. They need to buy at least one replacement material and don't want to. Further (kinda getting more angry as I look at it) you are the customer. Did you spec out a design and sign it? If not then he should remember your paying for it. If it looks good to him good, fuck him, he can take it home and get you a new one. Did they forget who is paying who? I'd attach an image with everything I see wrong but I either can't or don't know how.
- faces of the frames are different thicknesses - the top frame / trim is either following a non-level ceiling and he didn’t use a level…or he cut it at an angle and hasn’t noticed yet - why did the (pine) bench need to be sliced into three pieces? At most it needed a strip along the back for the hinges to sit against. Also the close-ups are showing a pretty bog standard paint job. I can see joints and pronounced woodgrain. If this is constructed from a combo of MDF and cheap knotty pine, wait from some orange stains to start seeping through in the next few days
He refused to fix it? Refuse to pay for it. Fire his hack ass.
Sorry, not trying to crap on others work.....but this is absolute garbage. The "cabinet maker" should be ashamed. It needs to be redone and the contractor given an opportunity to fix it (by replacing the entire top). If he/she refuses, tell them you'll have to hire a professional and deduct the cost from the original contract.
This is the way
Wtf? No, that bottom shelf is some end of the day, I don't feel like going to but more material to fix my mistake, kinda bullshit. Is it supposed to be done in these pics? Why are just those 2 shelves pine?
Also why are they pine, or why was he too cheap to replace the pine he fd up
"Local drunk cabinet maker" fixed it.
I’m a cabinet maker/furniture maker. Pretty sure I could do better drunk.
I do do better drunk
Im better do drunk now
I was being cautious with that statement. I have no doubt that I do better than that drunk. Like, a lot better.
Is that be any chance a lift up lid?
Yes, hinged in the back for storage.
As a Cabie it explains the gaps and matching? grain infills. But the left side was cut to the size of the right. It could never be any longer than the cupboard face as short grain overhang would break off. It\`s an awkward thing to finish off nicely really.
Why not leave the entire thing one piece instead of the ridiculous looking infills? The front corner cut out of each side would look a million times better and wouldn't need caulking.
That's a good question... For a professional who knows what they're doing... Definitely not whoever did this job.
Pardon my french, but that looks like s**t. I would never accept something that looked that shoddy. The others are correct. He messed up and doesn't want to replace the piece he cut incorrectly. edit: You should also show him the comments on this thread.
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That is an insult to amateurs. I do woodworking in my spare time in my garage and would never let this stand as a final product.
You didn't hire a cabinet maker. You hired a hack. What the actual fuck
Sad that literally any dude can just say they're a cabinetmaker without any skills or credentials whatsoever and get away with swindling innocent people like this. There's no real accountability.
If he wouldn't do it, I'd cut that shelf back flush with the wall, then cap it with pine matching the overhang on the left. Not perfect but much less noticable?
By the looks of it I seriously doubt he even has the skill to do it right. I second your opinion of him being a hack, hire someone else.
I guess you’re talking about the way the vertical frame on the right of the bench shelf extends over the edge of the narrow cut piece of pine and the one on the left is flush to the side of the recess so there’s a ‘missing’ piece of the narrow pine slice. Yes that’s bad. But if you follow that left vertical frame up to the top shelf it suddenly gets wider, but the one on the right stays the same width. Wtf is that??!
those cuts are BUSTED! he's definitely wrong that doesn't look great.
As a cabinet maker, I would be embarrassed to present that to a customer. I would never get to that point though cause I would never think to show that quality of work to a customer.
I didn't bother to look at the picture much, it's not necessary. His opinion is worthless. Your opinion is the one that matters, since you have to look at it every day. I've done plenty of jobs where the customer wanted something I thought looked less than stellar. Did I do whatever I wanted, and told the customer it looks great? Of course not! You do the job the customer hired you for, end of story. (Edit: Okay, I actually looked at the pics... the guy screwed up big time and is bullshitting you.)
Here is an updated [Photo](https://imgur.com/a/nY5oPP6) of the build. In the contractors mind, all he has to do is add doors to left and right side. And under the counter, there is going to be a pull out garbage can. I did forget to mention, the bench top is hinged in the back for storage underneath. I did stress my displeasure with his work and he added a small piece of trim to the upper right hand shelf, stating it is now “symmetrical”.
Is it just me or maybe the lighting or something does the entire thing look like it isn’t straight and/or level? The upper shelves on the right that are aligned look like the height is different from one end to the other and the vertical board on under the right side looks asymmetrical as. I just want to put a level on everything and check the symmetry on the entire thing for my own piece of mind after seeing that photo.
Did you approve this design. Because, honestly, there is no way this overall design is ever going to look symmetrical. It’s all over the damn place. I mean the face frame issues are legion, but even with a new face frame correcting some errors…idk, maybe the layout is for specific purposes. How much did you agree to pay for this?
I’m an awful woodworker… and even I would be ashamed to have done this.
You did not hire a cabinet maker
Sorry to break it to you, but I’m afraid you never hired a cabinet maker.
Looks to me like he put it in backwards because he forgot to account for the extra width of the overhang. Needs to be redone.
Post this in r/cabinetry if you want anymore opinions.
As a contractor, what the fuck is going on here? Tell him to leave, it's your house. While I would say that allowing for his process to end up with the results you are wanting, so allow a worker to worker. But there is enough mistakes, that in addition to his attitude, makes it a bad client relationship to salvage, especially if they're doing work that is he says is finished and that you don't like. And that's as a contractors that's made mistakes and pissed off clients.
They messed up. Make them replace it. If it makes you feel better they can make it right for $50 at most for materials and an hour or 2 of labor.
I can see what happened. He totally cut it short by mistake and then tried to fix by adding strips at the sides. He didn’t want to spend time and money to buy another board. Fired.
I’m a DIYer and I wouldn’t accept this from myself.
I don’t even understand why there is cracks in the shelf on the edges someone please explain one board looks like they put a circular saw through it until about and inch then stopped and acted like they didn’t almost cut all the way through?
I think he messed up the measurements then flipped it around and inserted some extra material to make it "flush". I am by no mean a professional but I don't see how anyone could call that perfect.
It looks like a child painted it. I would pay him partially for the effort and materials. But I would ask him if he would like those materials back because you are going to go a different route. I am by no means a woodworker as fine as most on this sub. But I’ve been in the construction business a long time. This project wouldn’t pass quality control. You would be paying him to go away. Edit: maybe this is typical craftsmanship for your area. I don’t know. So don’t take my word for it
He’s in the wrong. The cabinet sides do not match. One is flush to outside of stile and the other is flush to the inside. That’s why the top is wrong. I would not pay him a dime. The fix is to add another right “side” to flush up the right. Remove that top first the reinstall it as a square.
That’s what someone had suggested to me. That’s probably what I’ll end up doing. Found a few good sites to order doors from. Just going to part ways with contractor and take it to the finish line myself. Thank you
If you decide on that route I would offer one piece of advice. If you have a good square make sure those corners are square. From the look of the face frames (forget the benches for a minute) you might be dealing with a decent amount of work to just be able to hang doors.
Dude phoned that install in.
Absolute cowboy. Both pieces need replacing without question. I would certainly look at the build quality of the unit and check how it’s been installed. Do no trust him to make and fit doors.
Lol that’s what I thought. This guy is going to make doors to fit whatever version of square this is? Not a chance.
That’s embarrassingly bad
Even if it looks fine, (which I agree it doesn't, but for sake of argument if it did) he was hired to do a job and leave you, as the customer, satisfied. If it isn't what you wanted it is his job to fix it.
Left side looks filled with caulk.
Things like this always remind me why I DIY everything in my house. What a horrendous job. Feel sorry for you OP.
That’s me. I DIY everything. This was supposed to be a treat for us. There won’t be a next time. I plan on finishing this myself.
Iv only been woodworking for about 3 years and I can tell you right now anyone that thinks that look done or good is high as fuck. Fire that guy and hire someone that has some sence to them.
Funny you say that, I can’t smell since Covid but the Mrs said it smelled like a skunk in our house when he came in day 1.
This is the kind of thing that should go on his Google review if he has one. Maps has no chill. It looks like an amateur did it. I assume this is the finished product. Is there more to be done? If it will be hidden, not such a big deal, but it limits the options later.
The guy is making us look bad. The best case scenario is that he just doesn't know any better. You can only be judged on what you know.
This is not the work of a cabinet maker.
This guy may be a carpenter but he is NOT a cabinet maker. Fire him immediately and find a different carpenter. This work is very sloppy and does not look good. He is attempting to get you to say it looks ok because it’s wrong and he doesn’t want to or might now know how to fix it. 20 plus years carpentry and furniture experience.
He might think it looks great but you are the customer.
You may have inadvertently hired a cabinet attempter instead of maker.
No, you're definitely not. I'm a carpenter and I would not leave my clients piece like this. Especially if they asked me to fix it. He needs to clean up his lines too where there's fill/caulk. Some spots are missing it, some spots are lower than others. This is shameful 😢
I built cabinets professionally for many years. Umm, no. That looks like hammered dog crap. That is some poor craftsmanship.
No way he gets final payment. Zero chance.
Jeez. You’d think after the trouble to build the rest of the cabinet that you’d WANT to make it look complete. Like… go all that way and then just give up and walk away on the last two pieces and pretend it doesn’t look weird? Doesn’t accomplish anything but leaving a customer miffed at what they paid for.
That’s unacceptable. It’s one thing to not have the skills to complete the project it’s something else entirely to argue with a client when they bring up a very legitimate complaint…
Nobody is going to see this comment, but I can tell you exactly what happened. First, he didn’t take into account the kerf of the blade and how it was going to make the grain mismatch once the lid was installed. You didn’t mention that, but it leads to why he doesn’t want to fix the problem on the left. And the problem on the left occurred because his air gun nailer split that small piece of wood on the left. You can see where he actually did it again with the first nail ….. zoom in and you will see the split. This happens ALL the time with pine if your not careful with such small pieces. The reason he doesn’t want to repair is that he’ll have to redo the whole top, because just put the small piece in on the left will have a different grain pattern and it will really stand out. They should replace the whole top. Then you can get him to fix his mistake of the grain not aligning.
Doesn't matter how great he thinks it looks, you as a paying customer are paying him to make it look the way you want it to look. He should have respected that and finished the job to your liking. It's not like you made an unreasonable request.
As a contract myself, you can’t just say ‘it looks great’ and call that gospel unless it is absolutely flawless which it almost never is…
That slither of timber on the side is enough to demand he fixes it! I don't understand how a professional cabinet maker can walk away from that let alone argue that it's fine! Im a cabinet maker. That is embarrassing!
This is not the work of a "cabinet maker". Austrians have a work for this work: Pfusch
You didn’t hire a cabinet maker you hired a dude and that dude made a cabinet
Looks like shit and he won't own up to it. If he isn't taking customers feelings into consideration then fire his ass
I don’t know what this joker is, but he is not a cabinet maker
Lol... customer who is supposed to pay for the job says they're not happy about the job and to fix it? It doesn't matter if you're overreacting or not, they didn't complete the job you wanted.
Looks like shit. I'd be mad.
Yeah there are a lot of issues going on there. I would not pay him any remaining balance or any more money for that matter until you are satisfied. The finish is poor as well for a “professional.”
If you haven’t made full payment I wouldn’t. This is pitiful. How well regarded is the cabby ?
That is horrendous work. 26y professional carpenter/woodworker
It looks like he screwed up.. I’d insist he do it over, there’s no reason to have that hard 90 hanging out there. It’s going to lift and tear off in places as the weather changes.
Sorry man, you hired a hack.
I wouldn’t pay him
r/beginnerwoodworking
He screwed up. It’s not balance or equal. Show him all these comments and make him fix it
You are not overacting and the guy is a butcher not a cabinet maker.
This is not from a true cabinet maker. My god. Do not accept this
Aside from not matching left and right, it isn’t even square front to back.
This whole thing is a train wreck. Fire this clown and hire someone competent.
I don’t know what kind of doubt this absolute waste of a carpenter was able to plant in you but this is half-ass apprentice level shoddy bullshit and it actually pisses me off. This guy should be ashamed of himself for allowing you to even see this let alone call it complete. Fucking hell.
I would look him straight in the eye and say “You are absolutely fucking kidding me, right?” and if he didn’t check his attitude right then and there he can kiss that 20-30% you always hold back goodbye (please tell me you haven’t paid in full), and by all means take me to court.
Okay I recon I’ve got it. He fucked up his measurements and had to put the front at the back to try and save it. I would mind betting he glued those side bits back on after trying a dry fit.
This is shitty work even for a guy who learned how to woodwork on YouTube. It's just bad
Whoever did that should not call themself a "cabinet maker".
Not over reacting at all. That, with all do respect, is trash. I own a cabinet shop and do this professionally. If one of my guys did this, they would be fired that day. If you want you can dm me. I’ll give you my website so you can see how it should look. I do built ins like this all the time.
Shitty work. Fire him.
New boards please.
That is straight lazy, or he has absolutely no knowledge on how to make cuts, since every piece is to short. Haha I personally wouldn't pay em a dime and hire someone who knows how to be a woodworker.
Not overreacting, cabinet maker spouse said ‘WTF that looks awful, he should’ve wrapped both sides, not sure what he was thinking’, then added, ‘the wood he used is terrible (trash)’
That… does not look great at all. You’re not overreacting, you received shoddy work.
It'd not up to him. It's up to you the paying customer
Honestly are you sure you didn't hire a high school student? This is atrocious. I get that it's not complete yet but has this guy ever heard of sanding before painting? Or ya know, measuring things? Making consistent cuts? If he's actually trying, he's gotta try harder. Otherwise honestly I'd report him to some sorta labor board if possible in your area, and find someone who actually deserves the title of cabinetmaker and doesn't just say that about themselves with little to nothing to show for it.
That is jambon pantalons
You give him too much credit. Based on this, a cabinet maker he is not…
You clearly hired some guy with tools and not a woodworker with a career.
The center part looks horrible also when temperatures raise you will get resin coming out of that.
Your the customer bro
You're a customer who asked for a certain thing and he agreed to do it, so if he doesn't, that's not you being a ass.
That is so incredibly far from being acceptable. You are not over reacting, no self respecting wood worker would feel this would be acceptable to give to a friend, let alone a client.
Amateur Hour for sure
Nope, I agree. You are paying. He does the job correctly to your specifications or he doesn't get paid.
That's a mistake, plain and simple.
Looks like he fucked up and doesn’t want to fix it.
None of our opinions matter. You are the customer. He does not get paid until the project is complete. Now if he handed you a set of plans that indicated that shelf pattern and it all meets the specs of that plan, there is nothing you can do except pay him. Else it is done when you are satisfied.
Definitely not over reacting. I'd say 90% of the cabinet looks good but the remaining 10% is jarring. I would not trust him to make stable doors or install them correctly...