FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
Do you have a catalogue?
Are you a franchise?
Do you charge a membership fee so we can buy your cabinets or furniture?
Why choose factory direct?
Are these really pictures of your actual jobs?
Do you do remodeling? Can we buy countertops, appliances, and sinks from you?
How much does it cost?
How long is the initial appointment?
May I pay by credit card?
How long after the appointment can we get an installation?
Do you install the same day as delivery?
What kind of wood do you use?
Do you attach the unit to the wall?
How experienced are your designers?
How does particleboard compare with solid wood?
Do you put backing on your systems?
What is better, wooden or metal garment rods?
How can I tell if it is custom made?
What don’t you do?
What do you make?
Do you have financing available?
Do you have a web site?
What is type of finish do you use?
What will it look like?
Is there any spraying or finishing done at my house?
Who do I call about status of my cabinetry?
Do you do commercial work?
Can I get in time for my party or special event?
How late do the installers work?
What days are you close?
Can you match my kitchen cabinet color?
Can you move my television?
Can you connect up my kitchen appliances or components?
Do you give out finish samples?
Can you make something like the unit in the model home?
Do you have a showroom?
How should I clean my new cabinetry or furniture?
Do you color match or do custom colors?
How much does it cost?
Because everything is made-to-order and custom, the cost depends on what your choose. Depending on what you need, you determine the cost to fit your budget. All in-home design consultations are complimentary. The designer will be able to provide you with a total estimate for your design and create a design that fits your budget.
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How long is the initial appointment?
The appointment normally takes between 30 minutes to an hour and half depending on your time constraints. The following is what will happen during the in-home design consultation:
- We will begin by taking accurate measurements and pictures of the space.
- We will then discuss your needs, project goals and define the style and look of the cabinetry.
- We would pick colors, mouldings, doors style and determine the configuration of the cabinetry. This would take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
- An estimate would be provided to you after the design was completed in most cases.
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May I pay by credit card?
We accept all major credit cards but prefer Visa and MasterCard. American Express and Discover have a 2% process fee surcharge. You may also pay by personal check or cash.
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How long after the appointment can we get an installation?
The average time is 10 days to 2 weeks for closets and garages. However lifestyle colors including reds, purples, yellows, and metals may require more time. Project that need finishing can range between 4-6 weeks on average. Large projects whole house projects can range from 6-12 weeks depending on the scope of work. Installations take on average 1 day, again, this all depends on complexity and size of the project. Please plan on at least a full day of installation.
For instance, installations take on average between 1 to 1-1/2 days for 1 Entertainment Center/per area, kitchens take on average 3-5 days, large home office take on average 2-5 days per room.
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Do you install the same day as delivery?
Most deliveries are done at the same time as the installation. But for larger projects, the installation may be on a different day depending on scheduling. Deliveries are done usually in a 3 hour delivery window. We will call you normally a week prior to schedule a time for the installation.
Do you go in before or after new carpeting or flooring is installed? We can install before or after the new carpet is installed.
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What kind of wood do you use?
As a custom manufacturer, we use can use most any wood material: laminates, melamines, solid woods, veneers on ply/combo/pb or pro cores. We work normally in Maple, Alder, Oak, Birch, Cherry, Mahogany and Walnut. In addition, we have worked in bird’s eye maple, zebrawood, fiddleback maple, as well as over two dozen melamine finishes. Given the size of our projects and pieces, we prefer to use materials that are stable, do not warp and crack. As a pioneer in unfinished furniture, we have been using real wood plywoods for nearly 2 decades. Our 3/4” industrial melamine features a stable particleboard core. Our wood veneers however are on a plywood core not particleboard. Our particleboard is a green eco-friendly product.
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Do you attach the unit to the wall?
All built-in cabinetry are attached to the wall unless the piece is made to be freestanding furniture. We make cabinetry as well as fine custom casegood furniture.
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How experienced are your designers?
All of our designers have extensive experience in designing cabinetry. Our designers on average have over 10 years of industry experience. While each designer may have broad range of experience, we work together sharing our different areas of expertise. All designers are factory-trained and may even have a woodworking background.
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How does particleboard compare with solid wood?
For garage and closet applications, melamine is industry standard. We use industrial grade 3/4” melamine on a eco-friendly particle board core. It’s not painted or a vinyl product, but thermofused melamine - baked onto the surface. It is resistant to moisture, scratches, and easy to clean. I’s cos t effective and is perfect for the application
As a standard all our built-ins are made with solid wood with furniture grade veneers on 3/4” plywood. Most of our client prefer the look and natural beauty of real wood and want a furniture appearance in their built-ins.
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Do you put backing on your systems?
Since our closets are structurally sound and mounted to the wall plus supported by the floor, backings are for aesthetic purposes only. Backing are great for hiding any imperfections on the wall as a result of tearout and eliminates the need to paint the inside of the closet.
Free-standing systems and all other units come with matching backings as a standard. We make most of our pieces with furniture grade construction so the backings give the pieces structural rigidity and keep the cases square
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What is better, wooden or metal garment rods?
We only as a standard oval chrome plated rods which a specifically designed for custom closets and are preferred for their strength and durability. However, we offer traditional round rods as well. All our rods are adjustable to accommodate clothes of any length.
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How can I tell if it is custom made?
We are not a franchise. We do not use stock sizes. We do not pre-make or prefabricate anything. We make a batch of one not hundreds of pieces. Everything begins with a board or panel that is cut to the size you need it to be. Drawers sized to maximize your space to maximize it’s usefulness and space.
Our wood stained and lacquered products are made of solid wood and wood veneers on plywood as a standard. Our drawers are English dovetailed on full extension ballbearing slides or with Accuride Eclipse or Blum Tandem undermount concealed slides (lifetime warranty). All hinges are European Concealed Blum INSERTA Hinges (lifetime warranty). We offer custom color matching if you provide a real wood sample (usually 2-3 weeks for a color sample and only if a project is ordered). We offer over several hundred standard colors.
We use Computer Aided Design (CAD), 3D modeling and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) throughout our production and design process. We were an early adopter of nested based CNC technology and have combined that with traditional furnituremaking techniques. Each piece is still benchmade. We use dados, rabbets, pocket screw joinery, mortise and tenon joinery on our doors. We make our own moldings, doors and many of the components/accessories including media racks, dovetailed drawers and carvings.
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What don’t you do?
We do not do any type of remodeling, granite, plumbing, construction or electrical work-- we are furnituremakers, and cabinetmakers.
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What do you make?
We build entertainment centers, mantels, niches, desks, offices, wainscoting, storage cabinets, wardrobes, vanities, bath cabinets, credenzas, file, office in a closet, bookcases, benches, kitchens, closets, garages as well as casegood wood furniture: china, buffets, hutches, desks, home office armoires, armoires, dressers, nitestands, coffee tables, corner cabinets, corner entertainments, entertainment wall units, tv stands/consoles, islands, entertainment centers/armoires, mirrors, bookcaseseand benches. We do not make chairs.
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Do you have financing available?
Given our affordable pricing and to keep costs low and free of hidden extra costs, we do not offer financing.
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Do you have a website?
We have currently four:
www.MediaNiches.com Focusing on media niches/alcoves one of our specialties.
www.CustomBuilt-ins.com A broader range of cabinetry including kitchens, offices, wine racks, larger and more upscale projects as well as a portal to our other websites.
www.OmniGarages.com Our lifestyle themed garages which come in colors to match your favorite sports team, college or lifestyle combined with the functional and stylish Omnitrack wall system.
www.CountryFurnitureMfg.com Our original individually custom-crafted furnitureline since 1989 that can be customized and modified any way you want. Developed from people’s sketches, scribbles and photos over the last 20 years.
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What is type of finish do you use?
We use as a standard a durable industrial pre-catalyzed lacquer on most projects -- it’s over doing it but we want it to last. However on kitchens, we are using a conversion varnish -- very durable and water resistant. But for a more eco-friendly finish ask for a water-based finish
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Do you do commercial work?
We do manufacture cabinetry from commercial work. We are a certified Meganite solid surface fabricator and make Formica® laminate countertops. Please contact our office to discuss your project scope.
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Can I get in time for my party or special event?
We make every effort to accommodate your request, but your designer would need to check our schedule to give you an answer.
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How late do the installers work?
Installers will normally work until 3-4 p.m. depending on the schedule.
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What days are you close?
Office hours are Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 3 p.m.
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Can you match my kitchen cabinet color?
We have 100s of standard colors and can custom match your cabinet color. We would need a door or drawer sample from your kitchen or piece of furniture to do the color match. Color matching takes 2-3 weeks normally but it is included in your overall production time.
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Can you move my television? Can you connect up my kitchen appliances or components?
We cannot and do not since our insurance does not cover this type of work.
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Do you give out finish samples?
Finishes door samples are proprietary colors and we do not given them out. However, for our clients, we do provide color chips for you to select and shop for granite, flooring and paints.
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Who do I call about status of my cabinetry?
Please contact your designer or feel free to contact the office at 888-988-4236.
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Is there any spraying or finishing done at my house?
All pieces are finished at the factory prior to delivery. If we do spray anything in the house, it is mainly for touch up purposes.
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What will it look like?
All pieces are engineered to order. Nothing is prefabricated or pre-made. We use the latest Computer Aided Design (CAD) and 3D modeling software from every job. All projects for the last decade are put on CAD and we provide our clients with 3D virtual photo-realistic design for review before we begin production. It’s 99% accurate representation of the completed project. “It looks just like the 3D drawing” -- we hear this a lot.
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Can you make something like the unit in the model home?
Yes we can. Just show us a picture or we can take a look at it if the model is still open. We make many pieces from a photo, sketch, or drawing.
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Do you have a showroom?
We do not have a showroom currently, but encourage you to visit our virtual online showroom at www.MediaNiches.com or www.CustomBuilt-ins.com or OmniGarages.com. We are a manufacturer and have focused on keeping our pricing competitive and affordable. All our pieces are built using the the latest computer-aided design and computer aided manufacturing technology combined with tradiional woodworking techniques. Using computer virtual designs we ensure all projects are made to your design needs and specifications. You make sure it’s what you want before we build it.
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How should I clean my new cabinetry or furniture?
The fine furniture finish of your cabinetry is designed to withstand daily use. Dust with a soft dry or damp cloth (immediately wipe dry). Use a light coat of furniture polish as needed (once or twice a year, after cleaning cabinetry). Do not use wax, bleach, soap pads, vinegar-based cleaners, steel wool or other harsh abrasive materials/cleaners on your cabinetry.
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Do you do custom colors or color match?
All custom matches require an actual finished wood sample such as a swatch block, door, drawer front or floor board sample. For painted finishes, we need the brand and color or a sample of the paint. We cannot match off of a picture or photograph. Custom colors and color samples usually take 2-3 weeks and are included in your overall estimate of time. However, revisions or requests for additional colors or samples will delay your project. Colors are priority mailed and you will receive an email with the tracking information when it ships.
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