We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More ›
Bob is in the Punta Gorda house with Jack Ballantine of Ambassador Kitchens, where builder line kitchen cabinets have been installed. These Maple cabinets from Cardell Cabinets of San Antonio, Texas, have maple faces, solid wood frames, and pressboard boxes. The hinges are from Blum and are fully adjustable European or concealed hinges. The drawers feature a builder-grade box, which means it’s of consistently high quality but not of the company’s highest grade. A builder-grade cabinet will feature baseline construction with custom features like cabinet faces and wood selections. The benefit, Ballantine explains, is that the cabinets are delivered on time, consistently. A special rate and quality service are extended to customers, like Ambassador Kitchens or Mercedes Homes, who outfit a number of homes with their line. In Florida, where the demand and wait times are significant, a delivery period of three to four weeks is terrific. Richard Wagner of Wagner Cabinetry is in Punta Gorda for the installation of Cardell Maple cabinets. He starts with an overhead box that is marked for placement using a laser level. Since the exterior walls are concrete and the wall studs are steel, Bob asks how they handle installation. Wagner explains that as with wood, it’s a matter of finding a stud and tacking with a finish nail before screwing the cabinets in place. Once tacked, the cabinets are checked again for level and screwed together with 2 1/2-inch flathead, square drive, zinc-coated screws with wood master tips that are serrated and cut through wood like a drill bit. With these screws, Wagner can avoid pre-drilling. After the doors are reattached and adjusted for swing, the crew moves to the base cabinet, which is nearly level and needs only be shimmed in the back. It is checked with a laser line at the wall and two feet out before being drilled in and finished with a toe kick. Bob shows the crown molding that is glued and tacked in place at the top of the cabinets for a finished look.
