Pre-made island experiences?

[JeremyH.]

Hi everyone,

My mother tells me months ago you must build me an island! Today she says, "I'm ordering one for less than half what it would cost me to have you build one." True... but what will she be ordering? I was going to make it fast and painless by ordering Barker cabinet parts to make it so it'd be plywood and the best hardware including roll-out drawers for the storage she wants. And then put a good maple top on it.

From what I can see the premade things are MDF, shit hinges and drawer guides. Other comments?

 

[bobfog]

Difficult to compete with mass production. Though I'd say the bottom line is if the person you're building for:

a) doesn't appreciate or value more traditional materials/techniques over mass produced materials/methods then on the face of it, it's hard to explain where the extra money is going.

b) the reality is, whilst it probably won't last 100 years, if it's not abused, the pre-made island will probably be more than fit for purpose and last a reasonable amount of time.

So if she's aesthetically happy with the mass produced version it's probably the right thing to do.

 

[JeremyH.]

She's probably dead set on it. It allows her to have more money for a motorized awning (more junk).

But it's highly irritating for me. I won't make any money now, and I've got a new Mafell KS400 that isn't being used for an even longer amount of time. (not that this would have paid for it mind you, but I got it for doing all sorts of things and now no one wants any of it)

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Hi Jeremy,

Have you used Barker before?  I've used them for some drawer boxes, which were fine.  I have some test cabinets on the way, and I'm preparing to use them for an office worth of cabinets.  I'm just wondering what other's experiences with them were.

Thanks!

 

[kevin clifford]

The reality is that usually people can buy a product that will fit their needs that is built out of particle board or mdf from IKEA or the like. I have more then once bid a piece of furniture for friends and had them say they would buy the one at IKEA after seeing the price.  More then once I have heard "I can buy that for $60 at ______!"  I am not getting out of my Lazyboy chair and building anything for $60! Some people want custom and will pay for it, others want the appearance of custom even if it won't last. Family also forgets that your time and shop supplies cost money, not the same as other customers, but still has a cost. 

 

[teocaf]

My mother tells me months ago you must build me an island!

Well this is probably too late to help you in this job, but family or not, it's not good practice to put off potential business for months.  You should have closed the sale, had an order form ready at the get go, taken a deposit, ordered the stuff and knocked it out in a couple of evenings, before she changed her mind, shopped around, you got super busy, etc.

If you're irritated now, well that's on you.  You're probably missing out on some referrals from friends of hers that would have seen it and ordered from you.  Best you can do now is file the experience for future use. 

 

[JeremyH.]

My mother tells me months ago you must build me an island!

You're probably missing out on some referrals from friends of hers that would have seen it and ordered from you.  Best you can do now is file the experience for future use.

That is the worst part of the situation. Well and in general I'm sick of the throw away culture but...

She wanted to check her taxes.

I used Barker doors for a pre-existing bathroom cabinet built into a wall. I think I could make them a hair straighter but overall they make somewhere like Decorative Specialties look like hacks (based on a few previous jobs). Aside from not being the most absolute straight doors I've seen (which would be ones I've made) at 3ft or so doors they're still quiet good. I would use them again for doors for sure. They lines and joints are sharp like you want. The sanding is good, the edges are very uniform. I didn't see any tear out or anything which was nice since they're Maple doors. I was impressed how good they looked. They got some oil finish on them and were hung, nothing else required.

 

[JeremyH.]

Well I put together the pre-made for her. The wood is so soft screws want to strip, you can't glue the drawer boxes because its got enough oil that it smells a fair bit (whole thing). The drawers were wonky so I tried to fix them with their shit guides but they're still not perfect and since they have no adjustment ability it's make a new hole for every change... you run out of holes. It's mostly put together with posts and turning discs. It's kind of ugly, too. Oh well.

Wouldn't recommend it.

 

[sancho57]

I know this is way late. But I'll voice my opinion anyway.

The beauty of building your own ILO buying a pre made one is that with a custom built island, you can make it exactly the size you want, out of the materials you want plus and this is the biggie, innovation add your own ideas , make it unique get creative

 

[Tinker]

[member=49284]JeremyH.[/member]  I don't know what sort of arrangements you have with your Mom about doing things. It sounds as if your time involvement was very much like mine used to be.  she would ask that i do something for her. "Yea Mom.  i will do it next week."  Of course next week was always "NEXT WEEK" and so on.  I also plowed her driveway after every snowstorm.

When guys get married (I'm guessing you are still single), most moms are glad because her son is finally growing up.  Or mabe they are glad because her son is finally out of the house.  Reasons like that. My mom was real happy when I got married because she knew she would no longer be LAST ON THE SNO PLOW LIST.  Of course that meant she was #120 on the list, but she knew somebody else would be #121 on the list.  Of course, she could have bought her own shovel.  :

Tinker