Anyone have Diamond or Kraftmaid cabinets?

Gem11

We got 3 quotes for our laundry room cabinets. One from Home depot for the kraftmaid cabinets. They came in kind of high for us, then we went to our local kitchen and bath shop and a custom cabinet shop to get more quotes.

The custom shop was great but higher than HD, no surprise. Then the local kitchen and bath place came in the least expensive with the Diamond brand.  They all basically look and feel the same to me. All solid paint grade wood with pre-finished maple interiors.

Anyone have either brand they can tell me about? Basically looking for quality recs and wear and tear over time. 

Oh in case you care, the prices are.

Home Depot Kraftmaid $3,500

Local showroom Diamond $2,200

Local Custom shop $4,500

sharonskye

We bought a house a year ago that had Kraftmaid cabs installed in '08. They still look brand new, and I really like them. They are easy to wipe down and keep clean. I'd definitely recommend them but I haven't had any of the other so I'm not sure how they compare. 

~NB~

Doesn't HD also sell Diamond? Either HD or Lowes has them. They are the "budget" line.

AC100

We have Kraftmaid and they're terrific. We've had them in our kitchen for six years and they look brand new. The kitchen planner at HD told us she doesn't usually recommend Diamond because they're not made quite as well. That being said, they may not need to be quite as durable in a laundry room.  Good luck!

Gem11

~NB~:

Doesn't HD also sell Diamond? Either HD or Lowes has them. They are the "budget" line.

No, I just called to check. They told me the cheaper line is Thomasville there. I haven't looked at that line. 

prazenjc

i had kraftmaid cabinets in my first TH and they held up wonderfully. i had that home for 13 years. within that time i had several roommates, of whom, some were good on fixtures like cabinets and others weren't. either way, the cabinets withstood it all very well.

 

sratsey

The house we rented had Kraftmaid cabinets that were 8 years old and they looked brand new.  We were the 3rd family to live in the house.

~NB~

Gem11:

~NB~:

Doesn't HD also sell Diamond? Either HD or Lowes has them. They are the "budget" line.

No, I just called to check. They told me the cheaper line is Thomasville there. I haven't looked at that line. 

That's odd. When we built our kitchen, I priced out both Thomasville and Kraftmaid at HD here, and the Thomasville option was slightly more expensive for the same kitchen. Not by much. But the consultant said not to get Diamond!

+PuppyWuppy+

I am surprised....we quoted Kraftmaid and a custom place here in town for our kitchen and the custom place was half the cost.  What type of custom place did you get a quote from?  I would recommend getting a quote from a person that has a smaller shop with a few employees rather than a bigger place with tons of employees.  The guy that built our cabinets worked out of his garage....and our cabinets are gorgeous.

Sassystace

I saw Diamond cabinets at Lowe's just today...

lmdbww

Our guest bath vanity is Kraftmaid and we have been super pleased with it. 

Gem11

That is odd. I just spoke with the cabinet designer at HD and she said the Thomasville brand is the same company as Diamond, and the price for it in Thomasville was $3,050. So if its the same construction and manufacturing I would probably just go with the less cost and get the Diamond. 

 I think I need to research this further.

MattLCook

Currently I work at Lowe's we have both Kraftmaid and Diamond Prelude and Diamond Reflections. If you are looking for durable, reasonable, lives up to its name, I would professionally say go Diamond particularly Reflection.

 Why I say structurely Diamond is built in all plywood with front to back framing for construction and transporting.

Diamond has the largest collection of stains, wood finish, and their the only one who has the largest collection and choice of natural colours (true colour).

Diamond is cheaper then Kraftmaid because Diamond constructs with USA wood vs Kraftmaid goes abroad to find their wood.

Diamond's paint job is more professional, it is done evenly and with consistency. When Diamond does their glaze finish it is done with brush or with a fine point, to get in the cracks in the door faces and the details.

Kraftmaid hand stain their woods and set and wipe off, the traditional way, but the problem is consistency is not so much with it comes with a kitchen set, one may be done in one way while 7 cabinets are done another way, multiple people are staining these cabinets and sometime one will be off from the other.

Kraftmaid cabinet structure is made half in half the sides and front are plywood and the inside and back are press furniture board, strstructly we do not recommend free hanging a wall cabinet with out extra support with side panels or asking when ordering to get the extra construction support that adds more to the cost to each cabinet.

Diamond, ether (R) or (P), are constructed with extra support with no extra cost, their is no worry if you do free hand them alone or in a set because of the front to back braces the whole cabinet is constructively made to withstand the wait. 

So all in all I recommend Diamond

A) you will be saving money
you are getting what you paid for and some more
C) they bring value down the road because they are designed in three styles 
         -Traditional 
         -Transitional
         -Modern 
And with age they stay the same because with Traditional and Transitional their design like their aged.