Plumb, Level + Square

Plumb - Straight up and down
Level - straight across
Square - 90° corners

Measure twice, cut once.  

What makes this industry so unique is that each project contains so many possibilities. There are so many ways to build a home. How a project comes together largely depends on style and the builder you choose.  There is no “correct” path, only what works best for you.

 

When a client first walks into Grand Banks, it’s the beginning of a journey. We want to give everyone the best. The kitchen of your dreams come true, so to speak. But in order to do that patience is a must. Good design takes time, and we think that everyone deserves the best.

Kitchen installations are one of the more complicated aspects of building and home renovations. A lot of careful detail goes into everything. Designing a layout, picking styles and ordering are all very detail intensive. And even more goes into the install. Even though you can plan things out perfectly, because there are so many pieces to this jigsaw puzzle, it’s important that every piece is exactly right. Even when all of the details have been checked and double checked, kitchen cabinetry is still not as simple as a plug-and-play.

Even ordering the cabinets involves a long process. It takes time, plans and meetings. First drafts are revised into second drafts and sometimes even a third. After you sign off on the plans we go over the details one more time, to be sure it all matches up. Then we get an acknowledgment confirming all of the details, which we check again. This entire process can take weeks and that’s before the cabinets even arrive. Depending on the cabinetry you choose, delivery can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.

After the cabinets get here, there is still work to be done. The hardest cabinets to install are the sink bases. This is because your contractor will need to cut holes for all the plumbing. Cabinetry under a cooktop can also pose similar difficulties.

 

 

The mighty shim is often a carpenters greatest tool. Cabinets, doors, windows and just about anything that needs to be installed uses any amount of shims to keep it level + plumb.

No matter what kind of cabinets you get, there will always be some level of problem solving that needs to happen on the jobsite. Sometimes the wood bows or warps just a bit. That’s when the clamps come into play. The beauty of wood is that it can be flexible, so we use clamps to straighten things out and close the gaps when necessary.

 

Each step in this journey, each piece of this puzzle is important. Picking the right people to work with is important, because you will be spending time with each other. At the end of the day what’s most important, is that the finished product is exactly what you wanted. Taking the time to make the right choices in the beginning will make the process go much smoother and ensure that in the end, your home is exactly what you pictured. Maybe even better.

Kitchen installation done by Millriver Carpenters. Stay tuned for the final product.