| RTA or Ready-To-Assemble Cabinets have been | | | | make sure that they use a cam lock assembly. What |
| around for quite a while, but because of manufacturing | | | | is a cam lock assembly? A cam lock assembly is |
| improvements over the past couple of years, there | | | | simply a locking system that you turn using a |
| are now more and more companies manufacturing | | | | screwdriver to interlock the cabinet panels in place. It |
| and selling Ready-To-Assemble Kitchen & | | | | comes in two versions: one is a hidden assembly that |
| Bathroom Cabinets (RTA), with higher quality | | | | uses a combination of pegs and rotating locks, while |
| standards. Lets face it, the kitchen is one of the most | | | | the other one is an exposed cam lock which also uses |
| expensive rooms in a house to build or renovate. | | | | rotating locks. Both systems are simple use and do not |
| Other than your countertop selection, kitchen cabinets | | | | require any assembly experience, which makes it a |
| are going to be the most expensive part of your | | | | great option for home owners and/or novice DIY |
| kitchen remodel. Custom kitchen cabinets can cost | | | | Handymen. |
| anywhere from $10,000-$100,000 depending on the | | | | Availability is another huge advantage to using RTA |
| type of wood, brand name, and amount of detail you | | | | Cabinets for your kitchen or bathroom project. One of |
| are looking for. With the current state of the mortgage | | | | the biggest problems with custom cabinets is the lead |
| industry, and slowdown in the housing market, most | | | | time required to order and get your cabinets in time for |
| people are looking for a way to increase the resale | | | | installation in your house. Most require 6-8 weeks in |
| value of their home without a huge financial investment | | | | order to produce and ship your cabinets. With RTA |
| that they may or may not get back when they sell | | | | cabinets, you can walk into a home supply store and |
| their house. Is there such a thing as budget kitchen | | | | buy them as needed, or most RTA Importers |
| cabinets? | | | | Distributors traditionally ship with 1-2 weeks (some |
| RTA Kitchen Cabinets are the solution. RTA stands | | | | even faster). This allows you to adjust to the inevitable |
| for Ready-To-Assemble. This category of cabinets | | | | changes that will occur in your project, plus it doesn't |
| includes everything from the particle board cabinets | | | | slow you down in the event of miscalculations... a |
| you find at Ikea that you assemble yourself, to the | | | | miscalculation with custom cabinets could delay your |
| pre-assembled cabinets you find at Home Depot or | | | | project for an additional 2-3 months. |
| Lowes, or the RTA cabinets that you find on-line that | | | | What it ultimately comes down to with (RTA) |
| have plywood sides and come ready-to-assemble in a | | | | Ready-To-Assemble Kitchen Cabinets is the cost. A |
| box. As you can see by the descriptions, there are | | | | full kitchen of ready-to-assemble cabinets can cost as |
| different levels of quality and material used in | | | | little as $2,500 whether as the same kitchen built with |
| Ready-To-Assemble (RTA) cabinets. Some of the | | | | custom cabinets could be 5x, 10x, or even 20x that |
| RTA cabinets that you find on-line end up being | | | | cost before installation. With Ready-To-Assemble |
| stronger and sturdier than the name brand cabinets | | | | cabinets, you could easily assemble and install the |
| because they are using a solid plywood cabinet box | | | | cabinets yourself and avoid the high labor costs |
| for their construction. When looking at the structure of | | | | associated with custom cabinet installation. If you are |
| the cabinet, always make sure that they are using solid | | | | interested in finding some simple design tools to get |
| wood for the cabinet face and stiles, plywood for the | | | | started on your kitchen, check out some of my other |
| cabinet box itself, and a plywood or solid wood back | | | | articles at Squidoo and Hubpages under Nealon52 for |
| for a strong connection to the studs in the wall. | | | | step-by-step instructions on how to measure your |
| The key to a high quality (RTA) Ready-To-Assemble | | | | kitchen, along with step-by-step instructions for installing |
| cabinet is how the cabinet is held together. Some of | | | | them. |
| the lower end RTA cabinets use wood glue and | | | | I have been using RTA cabinets in both my rental |
| staples or screws to hold the cabinet box together. | | | | properties and my flipped houses for several years. |
| These types of kitchen cabinets have a tendency to | | | | After a lot of research I have discovered a way to |
| separate or split apart where the staples or screws | | | | save thousands on each kitchen. |
| connect to frame. For a high quality RTA cabinet, | | | | |