Westridge kitchens.

sewerrat · #1 10-24-2013, 07:53 PM

Well it is fall , winter is coming I just got my new garage, now wifey wants a new kitchen, went and spoke with a few kitchen people, Anyone dealt Westridge cabinets, or even Ikea? how do their cabinets stand up. What do we look for?

diamond k · #2 10-24-2013, 08:17 PM

Westridge very ggod quality but over priced. Ikea ok quality but install is not included and getting parts or fill trim is not always easy to get on some colors.

artie · #3 10-25-2013, 01:26 AM

have someone make your boxes out of good plywood instead of that comprised sawdust they use that won't hold a screw.

DarkAisling · #4 10-25-2013, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artie

have someone make your boxes out of good plywood instead of that comprised sawdust they use that won't hold a screw.

X2.

Or, if you have plywood cabinets, refinish them or get them refaced. I loathe particle board cabinets.

AppleJax · #5 10-25-2013, 06:35 AM

Baltic Birch plywood cabinets are the way to go. www.nawoodworking.com

midgetwaiter · #6 10-25-2013, 10:09 AM

My house has Westridge Cabinets. They are pretty decent looking and the experience at the showroom picking them out was fairly painless.

A few weeks after we moved in, mid January or so, the hinge on the cabinet over the fridge came out, the screws were over tightened and it stripped. I saw the first Westridge service guy in April, he wanted to put longer screws in to secure the hinge into the gable of the pantry beside the fridge. I said no, fix it right, replace the side of the cabinet.

A few months later the next guy shows up, he had difficulty removing the cabinet to replace the side. It was screwed in from the side and nailed from the top, he got it out eventually but now the bottom of the cabinet was damaged.

Several phone calls between myself, Westridge and the builder later I find out they have been trying to order "parts" for another 3 months. It would seem that 2'x2' pieces of particle board are VERY difficult to come by or something. I finally get another service guy here in September, he uses a portable table saw on my porch to cut the "parts" he needs. I haven't figured out if the whole "parts" thing was a delaying tactic or not, seems like it. Maybe they only have one guy who can use a saw? Mind you the reassembled cabinet is about 1/8" out of square and had to be installed by beating on it with a deadblow for an hour, maybe I should have held out for the factory part after all.

While I think the first delay was because my builder's service people are incompetent and more than a little shady after April this mess was 100% Westridge. 9 months to replace one piece.

Ronji · #7 10-25-2013, 02:39 PM

I am in the home renovation business, and i would go with a more reputable company such as Delton, or Kitchen Craft. Avoid Huntwood.

Wes_G · #8 10-25-2013, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

My house has Westridge Cabinets. They are pretty decent looking and the experience at the showroom picking them out was fairly painless.

A few weeks after we moved in, mid January or so, the hinge on the cabinet over the fridge came out, the screws were over tightened and it stripped. I saw the first Westridge service guy in April, he wanted to put longer screws in to secure the hinge into the gable of the pantry beside the fridge. I said no, fix it right, replace the side of the cabinet.

A few months later the next guy shows up, he had difficulty removing the cabinet to replace the side. It was screwed in from the side and nailed from the top, he got it out eventually but now the bottom of the cabinet was damaged.

Several phone calls between myself, Westridge and the builder later I find out they have been trying to order "parts" for another 3 months. It would seem that 2'x2' pieces of particle board are VERY difficult to come by or something. I finally get another service guy here in September, he uses a portable table saw on my porch to cut the "parts" he needs. I haven't figured out if the whole "parts" thing was a delaying tactic or not, seems like it. Maybe they only have one guy who can use a saw? Mind you the reassembled cabinet is about 1/8" out of square and had to be installed by beating on it with a deadblow for an hour, maybe I should have held out for the factory part after all.

While I think the first delay was because my builder's service people are incompetent and more than a little shady after April this mess was 100% Westridge. 9 months to replace one piece.

Why would you not have just gone with the first suggested fix and let them put the longer screw in. Would have taken 30 seconds and it was done. The cabinet looks and functions the exact same way. I dont know how Westridge assembles there boxes but in our shop everything is glued and doweled together. Its next to impossible to get a gable off a cabinet without damaging it in other places. Its also not easy to get one cabinet out once its installed. So replacing the whole cabinet just becasue of one stripped hinge plate doesn't make sense.

I wont comment on the amount of time it took for Westridge or the quality of there fix though. Thats totaly up to them.

midgetwaiter · #9 10-26-2013, 12:07 PM

I'm about as far from an expert on cabinets as you can get but the builder had made a bunch of mistakes already at that point. Mistakes big enough that the city was involved and an engineer was doing an evaluation of the exterior. I was not very inclined to go along with "good enough" because I don't trust them.

I have fixed stripped screws in wood before so I know they had other options too. I never understood why they didn't glue in a piece of dowel or something. Does that not work in particle board?

Wes_G · #10 10-26-2013, 04:28 PM

They probably could have just just glued a dowel in and then screwed it again, but if you had said that you wanted the whole gable on the cabinet replaced then thats what they are going to do, even though its definately not the easiest way to fix it. The customer is always right... right?

To the original poster. I would check out a bunch of custom cabinet shops in Red Deer as I am sure there are a few. I would go with a place that makes the stuff themselves and not a place that orders everything in because it is much harder to get service from a company that doesn't actually do anything themselves. I work in a custom cabinet shop in Lethbdge and countless times we have had people come in that bought cabinets from somewhere else needing service.

sewerrat · #11 10-26-2013, 07:13 PM

To the original poster. I would check out a bunch of custom cabinet shops in Red Deer as I am sure there are a few. I would go with a place that makes the stuff themselves and not a place that orders everything in because it is much harder to get service from a company that doesn't actually do anything themselves. I work in a custom cabinet shop in Lethbdge and countless times we have had people come in that bought cabinets from somewhere else needing service.[/QUOTE]

We have an appointment with KCB kitchens in Red Deer, and Westridge is doing an estimate as well, We checked out Ikea today , I like their cuboard fronts and their ideas, but hate the metal drawer.

Our kitchen is from the 50's , they did replace them with new doors probably 15 years ago, and the configuration sucks , so we are moving a few things around and add an dishwasher, which we don't have .. oh yes I'm the dishwasher.

Handyman · #12 10-26-2013, 07:29 PM

Can't comment on Westridge but we are building a new house and are going through Woodmaster. We like what we have seen so far in our builders 2-3 houses we have been in but haven't seen ours yet.

Another awesome cabinet builder is GW Woodworking out of Sylvan Lake. Just had cabinets and counter top job done by them for a Commercial Kitchen at work and they are awesome. Small family run shop that does a perfect job. they build everything themselves and I bet put the big shops to shame.

My 2 cents worth.

220swifty · #13 10-27-2013, 10:36 AM

I've used woodmaster on jobs, and my parents also have them in their home. Worth a look for sure, much better than Westridge quality wise.

martinnordegg · #14 10-27-2013, 10:46 AM

We looked at Westridge then eventually went with Legacy out of Calgary. Couldn't have been happier! The design guy we had gave us some great ideas on maximizing space and functionality of the kitchen. Their final design was great, the installers were awesome (man and wife team) and really took pride in his and his wifes work. We had two larger doors than warped and they replaced them quickly and with excellent workmanship. There were a couple pieces of leftover wood and they built the wife a nice shelf in her laundry room to put some antiques on at no charge. There sure are alot of new fangled gadgets and features out now so for sure shop around you'll get some great ideas. I'm glad we went with Legacy.

BEL · #15 10-27-2013, 11:05 AM

We went with Sadona cabinetry out of Red Deer. They custom build from scratch and are associated with a counter company. Great looking stuff. Service was very quick when we had a couple of problems which were not related to their work or installation. House shifted a bit. BEL