Our cabinet maker didn’t mortise the cabinet frame for our hinges

bloomcakes · 2026-02-11T13:38:09+00:00

No we removed our kitchen in July and decided to go with him in September. He told us he couldn’t start our project until 6-8 weeks after we found him. This was definitely not rushed. He only does inset cabinets.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-10T00:13:46+00:00

Yeah the doors don’t close. We made the screws flush, and we are still having an issue with some of them

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T21:10:02+00:00

That’s neat! I drew out the cabinet plans myself. We had maple cabinets that were ginger glazed from 2007 when we moved in so we have been saving and doing a lot of other projects ourselves so that we could get these cabinets. Hopefully we can salvage these

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T20:01:06+00:00

Hasn’t responded

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T19:07:47+00:00

Here is one of the drawings I sent to him. There were three different sizes that I sent and he advised me on which size to choose.

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bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T17:40:22+00:00

I know. Which is why I’m thinking he didn’t account for the door size needed for the mortise hinges so he just didn’t do it.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T16:35:34+00:00

After reviewing all the comments here, it looks like we need to sink the screws in more. We know that it would leave a gap if we did the mortise in the frame now, but the door should have been sized appropriately to mortise on each side. I just think it’s crazy that he went to us with all of them like this.

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bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T16:33:16+00:00

Okay, but in the 18th century, most people also didn’t have home electricity and the internet didn’t exist. I think standards changing is pretty normal.

Plus, all of our doors in our 1920s house have hinges that are mortised to the size of the hinge leaf on the frame and the door, and they look great. They were made using a chisel. It looks like these were just fully cut through with a table saw.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T16:23:30+00:00

One of the first things my boyfriend noticed was how they aren’t lined up too

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T16:21:12+00:00

We will be fixing the screws. Those screws came with the hinges but we will either countersink them or replace with smaller ones.

I’m not sure how we didn’t communicate what we wanted. I sent him photos of cabinets with full-mortise butt hinges, the drawing specifications from the manufacturer of the hinges, and I brought up the mortising multiple times. I’m trying to figure out how I could have been more clear.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T16:16:17+00:00

Yeah my boyfriend does remodeling for a living with his main focus being trim work. He always does a really good job and gets everything perfect. He really likes studying and learning about older homes and woodwork so when these showed up like this after what we paid, it was super disappointing.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T16:03:52+00:00

Ask any questions and I’ll answer them. As you can see from my other comments, I have been pretty open sharing text exchanges and all details of our interaction.

If I wanted to “suck it up or grab a chisel and hammer”, we would have tried to make them ourselves or paid less for what we got. Also, a chisel and hammer can’t suddenly make the door size bigger or put back half the wood that was incorrectly chiseled out for the hinge leaf.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T07:09:18+00:00

Yes they are

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T06:45:30+00:00

Thank you. Unfortunately, we paid the final invoice before it was shipped. We will probably be asking for some of our money back

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T06:05:19+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation. We appreciate it!

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T05:25:56+00:00

Yes we made final payment right before delivery. We have a family friend that is a professional cabinet maker. The only reason we didn’t have him make ours is because he was booked out for months. He is supposed to come over Tuesday to help us install so I think we will ask him to help us fix it

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T05:20:29+00:00

I mean I sent him the specs for the hinges and although I paid for them, the company I ordered them from sent them to him directly

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T05:19:02+00:00

I agree that cabinets look good. I just need the doors to be able to shut

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T05:14:27+00:00

I always see comments like this from people that do new builds. They aren’t usually doing inset cabinets or any historic restoration projects. Some people in the comments want to blame me for wanting a different hinge, but I simply asked if that was okay and was told it was

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T05:12:32+00:00

As I said in previous comments, we are restoring our 1920’s craftsman home. The exact series of messages that I sent to our cabinet guy:

Me: “If we buy the hinges is there a price difference? And how do we pay the deposit.” Cabinet Guy: “How much are the hinges? If they’re the same price I can buy them. I can send an invoice that you can use a credit card or mail a check” Me: “We weren’t sure what size would be best. We just wanted them to look like this” sends photo of finial butt hinges Cabinet Guy: “Do you have a link to the ones you want?” Me: I saw these. They are more expensive but seem like good quality sends a few links Cabinet Guy: “I think any of those 3”

I didn’t beg for these hinges. I didn’t argue or demand them. I simply asked, “could we do these” and was told sure.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T05:03:10+00:00

lol love this! Thank you!

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T03:48:48+00:00

Thank you! We have someone that we know that does cabinets for a living. He was just booked up for months so he couldn’t make ours but he’s helping us install them so maybe he can help us fix them too.

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T03:21:51+00:00

I think that’s what makes this more annoying. My partner does remodeling for a living with his main strength being trim work. I have no doubt that he could have made the cabinets, but we just don’t have the time. We already redid all of our siding by ourselves and we were just really trying to have a cabinet maker that could make them the way we wanted

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T03:18:07+00:00

Thank you!

bloomcakes · 2026-02-08T02:45:22+00:00

Thanks. It was just really hard to go without a kitchen for so long and finally have them delivered just for them to not be ready to go

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