[danieleise]

We are buying Ikea kitchen cabinets and are trying to decide how best to have them installed in the New York City area. We are not going to do it ourselves, so we are deciding between having our contractor do it and having Ikea (or a special Ikea subcontractor that they use) do it. Our contractor initially said he thought Ikea might be better, faster and cheaper b/c they specialize in Ikea's products,
but I have heard mixed reviews about Ikea's own installers, esp. since it is almost impossible to get any answer from customer service on the phone. any thoughts or suggestions? anyone used Traemand or the Kitchen Couple? one thought is to have Ikea simply assemble them and then have our contractor install them (he says he would prefer to work with cabinets already assembled). Also, any thoughts on whether it is worth it to use Ikea's own home measuring service before finalizing the kitchen plan - do they do anything that you can't just do yourself? thanks...

[jgsearls]

Danieleise - we didn't use an Ikea-certified installer just a regular ole' contractor to do our cabinets. We assembled them ourselves (and when I say we, I mean hubby). Most of them were put together while he was avidly watching the World Cup matches this summer so it's not reallya complicated thing to do. I should add that we are in no way - handy. We can put together Ikea bookcases but balk at anything more complicated than that.

That said, Tony, our contractor, had absolutely no problem with the installation of the cabinets and in fact, other than a small snafu with the wall cover panels, did a fabulous job. It's really not complicated and any competent contractor can handle it. There is a short CD that Ikea gives you (and you can download from the Home page here) that is worth looking over.

[Tigratrus]

Depends on how flexible your contractor is? Assembling the cabinets is no big deal, with a brad nailer they go by quite quickly once you do your first one and figure out to figure out the system. I know there are several NY folks here but I can't remember if there was a consensus on the local installers? I know that with a somewhat tradition bound contractor things can get ugly, but with one that's open minded, the Contractor can generally do the cabs and install them in a fraction of the time they *think* it's going to take .

I don't know that IKEA will assemble the cabs for you, I've never heard of them doing that actually, but assembing them is really no big deal.

Hopefully one of the NY folks will chime in with their take on the local installers.

James

[Eileen]

does anyone have a reply to this question about NYC installers?
We are in the same boat. We are in the process of getting an estimate from Traemand, but we want to make sure the guy they send is good. Our Ikea salesman from the Elizabeth, NJ store said they did his whole kitchen in one day. Just want to make sure we get the same guy.

[kelly]

Hi Eileen!

madp67 used Chuck Shapiro (I will disclose Chuck is a moderator on this site) and loved him. He was actually the first IKEA certified installer in the US, and I have never seen a question about any IKEA piece that stumped him!

http://www.ikeafans.com/forums/insta...k-shapiro.html

Check out the other installers that work from Elizabeth as well. IKEAFANS allows installers to post their information, but we do not make recommendations beyond our personal experience or the experiences of our fellow fans!

As far as doing it in one day...while an IKEA kitchen can move quickly in competent and experienced hands, kitchens take a great deal more time depending upon the complexity of your renovation. Kitchens have it all- electricity, plumbing, gas, flooring, countertops...not to state the obvious, but all these things take more time than say, putting a PAX in a bedroom. And there are the inspections.

HTH,

Kelly

[Eileen]

Kelly, thanks for your response. I have emailed Chuck already and waiting for his reply. I really didn't expect a one day install in my kitchen, just thought I would pass along that amazing bit of info that the ikea salesman told me about his kitchen. (It was probably just 4 cabinets??)
And speaking of kitchens, I went over to your gallery of photos... I have looked at a lot of kitchens in my year or so of research and this is one of the best I have seen. It looks soooo beautiful.
A couple of the items that you have installed I have been trying to find..... The toe kick that automatically opens up a pull out door. We want one for the top mount wastebasket cabinet. Rev a Shelf had one but discontinued it. I emailed Hayele b/c I couldn't find it on their site.
I'm also hoping to use those Mockett pop up elec sockets that you have, but I have no room to put a small shelf like you have behind yr counters under the windows. I am hoping I can figure out somewhere that they won't interfere with the drawers.
Thank you again for your great information

[kelly]

Hey, thanks Eileen!! That's very kind!

That's just a regular 24" drawer with the drawer front above it attached on the inside with metal strips- no middle drawer glides. No special hardware at all! You can just set a waste can in there- again, nothing special needed. We have a regular top drawer there. You'll see the same thing with people using pull out shelves usually installed in pantries instead of the actual bottom drawer, and attaching a tall door to the front. Ours is just the "faux drawers" version.

The mocketts are a lot of fun...but took some real finagaling to get to happen- had to build those cabs out 7", and they caused our granite installers no end of needless confusion and us extra money. Again, very simple things, but sometimes that stymies people!

Thanks again for the nice comments- this kitchen still isn't done, and we started in April. Now you know why I'm so sensitive on the one day installs.

[Eileen]

Hey Kelly,

Just want to make sure that I understand that auto door open thing for the trash before I order the cab.

We want to put a hole in the counter over this trash cab, so we can just sweep in the food trash from the top and the other bigger trash through the door. To do this we would need a full height door, so nothing is obstructing the trash drop.

I am figuring the cab we order will be the 18" Single Door, eliminate the shelves and either go with a full ext rationell deep drawer attached to the door OR buy one of those bottom mount double trash bins from rev a shelf
see link below

Double 35 Quart Containers, Door Mount - Wood/Polymer-White > #4WC-18DM2 > *4WC Series - Rev-A-Shelf

And then just need that toe kick from hayele? Does this sound like it has all the right components?

[kelly]

OK, now I understand the confusion- I don't have that Hafele toe operated door opener on there! I am considering it for the garbage just like you are, but not for the Ladybug enclosure...

For a waste can in a space that is configured like my Ladybug enclosure, use a regular Rationell drawer box. If you want it to look like drawers, attach the middle two drawers together using an aluminum bar (easy to drill through) or plate. Then, attach only the bottom drawer front to the drawer interior. We went ahead and used the top drawer normally. You could attach all three drawers to one another using this process, but I would definately use an aluminum plate to ensure stability when opening them. Either would work to allow you to sweep refuse from the counter right into the open waste can.

Then, just get an appropriately sized waste can (nothing special needed- the slide out is pulled out by the drawer fronts) and put'er in there.

Hope that makes sense!

Kelly

[Eileen]

Ok, Kelly,

I see why you attached the 2 drawer fronts....so they would continue the line you have going from the cab next to it. But in my case, I don't have to do that, so they single full height door would work best for me, as long as I can get trash bins tall enough, I have to measure that.

By the way, I am intrigued by your lady bug. It's a steam cleaner and you use it for everything? (floors, counters, stovetop, oven, with different attachments??) And is there a long hose that just leads from it so your don't even have to take it out of the drawer?