As seen on TV, not as easy as it looks
Sometimes watching TV personalities complete renovations on kitchens leave you with the impression that just about any home improvement project, with a little elbow grease and time, can be completed easily.
Really, just how hard could it be to modify and install kitchen cabinets? Well, one Kelowna couple, whose names will be withheld to protect their identities, found out the answer to that question the hard way.
A good friend and fellow contractor of ours, Dean, recently came across a Kelowna couple who had attempted some radical DIY kitchen cabinetry, only to find themselves amidst a nightmare. To be fair, the couple did shop around and obtain quotes from several local cabinet makers and had given the quotes careful consideration. Ultimately, as a cost-saving measure, they decided to take matters into their own hands and give the project the old ‘college try’ without the help of a professional as seen on TV.
Like many DIY projects, what seemed to get going quickly enough stalled many times, with weeks blurring into months, evenings spent measuring and cutting wood, their home resembling a woodworking shop, day-after-day. Anyone who has braved a DIY task before understands the toll it can take on marriage and this scenario was no different. Still, they pressed on through and with the end of the project nearly insight, to their horror, realized that many components of the cabinetry were not assembling as easily as expected, with run ends and cabinet pieces not properly fitting into their intended spaces.
As a last attempt, they decided to try and further modify the kitchen cabinets, by cutting into the prefabricated materials, in order to make it work with their plans and dimensions but no luck Sigh.
Shortly before the holidays that year, they threw in the proverbial towel and with Dean’s help, finished the project in time to enjoy Thanksgiving in their brand new kitchen. When the dust settled (no pun intended), looking at their costs and losses in both time and money, it was a lesson they won’t soon forget. Sometimes the shortcut turns out to be the longest path.
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