Any updates?

does anyone have any contact for an aluminum cabinet maker in Taiping Perak?

I do hope that you have chance to walk around few kitchen cabinet showrooms to see the reality.

With such high price, of course we'll ask.
Most if not all of them will say the charges are incurred by other contractors... not them, hence fixed price.
They can only tell the quality must be good and no other details.
Also, as I said earlier, they charge by lumpsum "per hole" instead of size or materials.

I do agree that Ikea cabinet is the benchmark.
Honestly, I did install a 14ft base 10ft wall Ikea cabinets by myself for another house.
To my surprise, the wood quality does give better perceived quality than comparable priced melamine cabinets from other vendors.
If I'm going with wood for new cabinet, I'll take Ikea anytime.

http://geoluxe.com

I've been looking at high-end stone counter-tops & came across this product from Thailand at one of their show-rooms..

it's pretty amazing. IMO.. kitchen carpentry can be basic, however, the finishing and counter-top is what makes or breaks how a kitchen feel.

benefit of this stone is it is high-end like marble, but without the hassle of maintenance & fragility of marble tops. I have a quote locally for about RM400 per sqft.. including cutting and fitting on site.

Ikea is pricey, for basic quality product.. imo la, once you start exploring bespoke suppliers, their counter-top options are very bland..

also cabinets & carpentry, I prefer aluminium these days..

https://www.apresi.com.my

these guys are the industry standards for great quality aluminium kitchen. But on the pricier side, comparable to ikea prices.

I recommend this company: https://www.bleno.com.my . cheap, good and great service.

I am building my own cabinet after surveying those offered locally if they make according to my design and specification it will cost me nearly 30-40k. I did consider IKEA but their standard size unable to fit in my cabinet area without looking odd.

The reason is their Subcon charged mobilizing cost+ management cost, which also added up the total cost. those who supply and install solid tops already expected those requests will have the capability to fulfill it with minimum cost, so is not apple to apple comparison.

Not everyone will know how to value IKEA product, they think all are made equally compared to those local vendors. if IKEA's product is so bad in value why can they keep opening stores worldwide, why do we see any cabinetmakers able to achieve what IKEA had.

Ikea uses 18mm E1 or E0 grade particleboard. most cabinet makers only offered 16mm e2 grade unless specified. their doors are all vacuum PVC MDF boards which why those doors cost a lot more compared to standard melamine edge banding doors.

Vacuum PVC door will have minimal joints between edging will create fine looking finishing.

This post has been edited by ianlti: Feb 6 2020, 11:18 AM

The one that "was" RM6.5k was nonsense. I drove all the way to deep parts of Shah Alam Jelutong side but even deeper. 1.5 hours.
He claimed that the price is RM6.5k is for the carcass only. I asked him quotation for kitchen cabinet. But apparently he gave carcass quotation only

In the end I went with Solid Top. The person in charge looked like a sifu. I was told he was the senior installer.

This post has been edited by barca96: Feb 6 2020, 11:16 AM

when ask for quotation, the quotation must specific everything including what will be supplied and what term and condition.

When is IKEA the benchmark furniture? They are everywhere because they are cheap elsewhere except third world countries. Go to US and see what people think of IKEA furniture. Only people here think it is God send.

Melamine is melamine. Granted IKEA's melamine is better melamine but it is still melamine. Wont last long time vs solid wood for example. IKEA furniture in Malaysia is not really cheap. I go to IKEA to see and get decoration ideas and bought some items but I would hardly call it as benchmark or reference.

This looks interesting. However at this price you can get Silestone or Caesarstone. They are better technically I'm terms of porosity. This one is 0.5 and Silestone is 0.05. That means water absorption (anti bacteria) and stain resistance the best of quartz still better. The marble look is interesting though

No offense but I think you misunderstand my statement, maybe you should re-read my statement.

Anyway, how many people can afford solid wood furniture in Malaysia do you have the same buying power compared to us?

Melamine is mechanically more stable than solid wood the issue is that if the finishing of melamine is bad it will tend to have exposure to moisture and cause it to swollen.

IKEA furniture has different grades too(wardrobe 10years, kitchen 25 years), it depends on what you are comparing to. What is most important to the majority of people is the value of the product.

high-end manmade stone, designed to solve most natural stone problem with a cost, looks interesting as it doesn't use resin as their bonding reagent.

I read your statements all right. It is fine if you think IKEA is good. They do have some items on sale that are good value. It has big sophisticated machines that can make even cut of materials and decent looking. But I would not say it is "world standard" system. Even IKEA itself never claim themselves to be high end but functional Scandinavian design.

IKEA's melamine furniture is as expensive as plywood furniture made from local cabinet makers. I guess for u you will choose IKEA's melamine since it is world standard? I would say some others would go for stronger and better moisture resistance plywood.

I merely addressing your assumption that IKEA keep opening stores world wide then their products must not be bad. I can give you many more examples of so so products that are popular vs equivalent competitors: Bose, Starbucks, McDonald, etc. Being popular does not equate to being best or reference.

I would agree on some of your points but not all.

IKEA is popular, that's why it can become a standard or reference.
Being popular doesn't mean good but definitely can become a benchmark to compare with others in terms of price, quality and support.

I didn't have a chance to check for plywood cabinets price.
But for melamine cabinets with the well-known kitchen vendors, IKEA price is competitive with better perceived finishing.

I'm comparing two kitchen cabinet vendors who use subcons for the worktop cutting and polishing activity.
One quoted RM850 meanwhile another quoted RM350.
For me, this is still apple to apple comparison.

I am sorry that my statement made you confused, I believe I didn't make my self clear enough as you still misunderstand what is the so-called world standard system.

Is the standard design where they sell it worldwide (i never claimed that they are furniture world standard where everyone should follow) with the same/similar specification for example 18mm thick panel, melamine foil surface finishing and particleboard core, dimension control within +/-1mm (i assume) for a fix price which you can view/refer from their website.

Their price won't have much fluctuation where you can use their price and spec as a benchmark to compare to those you engaged for a quotation.

For example Cabinet maker A quoted me this price for similar spec compares to the one quoted by IKEA.

Speaking of personal experience, those which I previously engaged for quotation many try not to specify all info a will they deliver until what kinds of standard as cabinet have don't have any (EN 13986 or CARN) standard to are if you are person with sustainable mindset you might also look for FSC, PEFC certified.

Btw higher moisture resistance plywood tend to release more formaldehyde compare to less moisture resistance one, people often oversee the risk of formaldehyde which will cause health issue, that's why in furniture industry people start moving towards E0 standard or low VOC materials.

I believe everyone comes here to look for some constructive information, I will just try my best to share what I had experienced before to help others to make a wise decision. or at least they know what they are looking for.

then is how they are being charged, they just transfer it to the client.

I had been managing with a few tendering projects recently and some company who can lump sump the job offer a better price some need to charge extra for all specifications, but we know that the company which can have extra charge will deliver a better finishing we negotiate with them so that they can meet or even lower their price.

Money is your you have the right to choose, don't let them constrain your choice always negotiate if you don't feel comfortable or just walk away.

I asked quotations from around 20 shops and none of them only quoted for carcass.. not a single one..

I think this geoluxe stone is also very durable.

The showroom in Thailand had an induction cooker built right inside the stone counter top and you could put a pan ontop of it to cook..

Then when remove the pan and you put your hand directly ontop, didnt even feel heat at all..

Thought it was some sort of magic trick.. Lol..

They were also cutting directly ontop of the counter-top. To prove it was scratch resistant..


I found a video of exact demonstration that i saw..

This post has been edited by Liamness: Feb 6 2020, 06:43 PM

Hi guys,

Just got my kitchen done and like to share some pictures of my humble little kitchen - aluminium cabinet with quartz top







paiseh for the lousy pictures

This post has been edited by lv1209: Feb 11 2020, 10:35 PM