Cabinet work in Converse

Builder kitchens and what they came with

Most Converse houses are newer subdivision builds and the kitchen arrived in the builder's standard package. Thermofoil or laminate doors, particleboard boxes, one bank of drawers, and a row of deep cupboards you have to kneel on the floor to reach into. It all works fine until that white film starts lifting beside the oven.

Thermofoil cannot be painted, which catches people out after they have already bought the paint. Once the film peels, the honest answer is new doors, and the good news is that the boxes underneath are often square and sound enough to carry them. We look at the boxes first and price it both ways so you can see the difference.

Getting more out of what is there

The cheapest real improvement in a builder kitchen is usually not new cabinets. It is converting those deep base cupboards to drawers inside the same box, adding roll out shelves, and putting a proper pantry cabinet in the gap the plans left by the fridge. That work takes a day or two and you feel it every morning after.

When the boxes genuinely are finished, and in the cheapest builds they sometimes are, we build new. Plywood boxes, solid wood face frames and soft close hardware cost more than what came with the house, and they will still be doing their job when the next family moves in.