RTA or pre-assembled cabinets, which is better?
Choosing a set of suitable cabinets for your home is undoubtedly a crucial home-furnishing decision to make. Be it a kitchen or bathroom remodel, a new furnishing, or just a replacement, certain factors will still form the basis for your decision. In most cases, style, finishing, material, and cost usually influence the choice of cabinetry.
However, many people nowadays are choosing to purchase RTA (unassembled) cabinets online. For a moment, let’s take a closer look at why RTA cabinets are so popular; why they’re preferable to pre-assembled cabinets.
RTA Cabinets Are Cost-friendly
Save some extra dollars.
Unlike pre-assembled kitchen cabinets, RTA cabinets are less expensive. They come packed in flat boxes. This means that the homeowner gets to save a significant amount of money on factory labor and shipping. The factory will not charge for their assembly time, and since the cabinets will arrive in smaller boxes, the cost of shipping is avoided. Pre-assembled cabinets, on the other hand, are heavier and require larger space, hence more shipping costs.
The downside for RTA cabinets is that the buyers will have to assemble it themselves or hire someone to do it. But the time and effort you expend in assembling (putting together the parts of) the cabinets do not really compare to the cost you save. For example, RTA kitchen cabinets take about 30-50 minutes to assemble, and as you continue with the rest, your speed increases.
They Are Easy To Assemble
That’s right. As the name implies, RTA cabinets are generally easy to assemble. Although, there’s so much more ease in ordering in already-assembled cabinetry, the RTA options are still pretty much easy to workaround. Besides, a homeowner can hire a handyman for the job. A lot of American homes would instead opt for quality RTA cabinets than the more expensive pre-assembled ones.
RTA Cabinets Are Mostly All Plywood
While being mindful of cost, RTA cabinets are usually produced with quality woods. Plywood is a top quality to look out for in cabinets. A majority of companies use all plywood construction in making their cabinets. Therefore, you want to look out for companies or retailers that market quality, all plywood RTA cabinets at affordable prices. The same applies to the finishes. Sometimes, factory-applied finishes are shabby on the inside of the cabinets, and appealing on the outside. One should be careful to avoid those. While you can be sure of great purchases, chances are that a few of the products on the market are not as good as what you see advertised.
RTA Cabinets Ship Faster
Get Your orders in a shorter time. Because of the relatively simple packing of RTA cabinets, the shipping time is faster than the heavier assembled ones (about 2-4 weeks). This means that if you would like to speed things up, RTA cabinets would be your natural choice. Besides, whether the cabinet is pre-assembled or RTA, getting a replacement for a part can be done locally and easily. Some folks would, of course, still prefer to totally avoid the hassles of ordering in unassembled cabinetry, so ultimately, the choice depends on what you’re comfortable.
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