Lowe's Budget Off-The-Shelf Kitchen Cabinet Install & Review. DIY Diamond Now Cabs for around $2K?!

Have you ever passed those pre-assembled, off-the-shelf kitchen cabinets at your local home improvement center and wondered, “Are those any good?” “Are they worth the money or will I totally regret not ordering custom cabs?” Well, I have, and a project just fell in my lap where I am willing to roll the dice to find out so you don’t have to. In this video I am going to show you how I install the Diamond Now Arcadia line of kitchen (or bathroom, or laundry room, or garage...) cabinets that are available today at Lowe’s. When the dust settles I’m gonna tell you what I really think, and I won’t sugar-coat it!

00:00 Intro
00:56 Initial thoughts about Diamond NOW Arcadia White Shaker Kitchen Cabinets
02:41 Original 1982 kitchen cabinet demo
03:09 Cabinet unboxing
03:41 Initial installation prep & how to determine cabinet size
06:08 Attaching the face frames of all the base Cabinets
09:35 Making sure base cabs are flat along the face, level & plumb
10:12 Shimming & mounting base cabinets plus trimming shims
10:50 Installing ledger board for upper cabinet install
11:34 Installing upper cabinets by yourself
14:12 Mounting upper cabinets to the wall and attaching the face frames together
14:28 Installing filler strip
15:14 Ditching the dishwasher and end panel
16:06 Installing OSB or plywood between the base cabs for added strength and support
16:52 Mounting the toe kick and scribe molding
17:16 Door re-install & reveal
17:52 About my experience and cons of the Diamond NOW cabinets
19:18 Pros of the Diamond NOW cabinets
23:26 Price Breakdown for Diamond NOW cabinets in a small kitchen
21:41 About the upcoming countertop video
22:37 Halloween prank

Diamond Now Cabinets at Lowe’s:

Arcadia Filler Strip:

Arcadia Toe Kick:

Arcadia Scribe Molding:

Cabinet Screws:

MortonPhotographic

[LongshotGarage]

People are MAD about the dishwasher! 😂 So here's a question, keeping the dishwasher would have cost around $1400 in custom (granite for $1660) countertops. Would it have been worth the time and money, and what would my return on investment have been?

[innox]

I installed these same cabinets. The nice thing about this set is they have a lot of different sizes. I even made a kitchen island out of them with butcher block top. Overall was happy for the price.

[andreagoad]

I like how you explain everything and take your time and make sure it is done right. I hope I can find someone this good to do my kitchen this year.

[stevenbullock]

About 15 years ago, I purchased Lowe's off-the-shelf cabinets ( a lot of them) to replace the stick-built ones in our new-to-us '60's home we had just purchased. Cabinets are dark cherry w/ solid wood doors, and still function as new. Got a lot of them as discounted, customer returns that had bangs, scratches on the backs and sides. As long as the damage was hidden after install, I didn't care. They had everything I needed- including tall pantries- except a double-oven cabinet. I took a door with me and special-ordered one from a different mfg., and you wouldn't know. Installed knobs, handles and had custom solid-surface countertop installed. Still get compliments. Thanks for the video!

[davida]

I always find it easier as a DIY'r to put in a temp ledger board on the top (like you did) and install the top cabinets first since it hurts my back leaning over the lower cabinets. Also after the first time I put in cabinets I bought these really cool cabinet clamps from Amazon that apply normal clamping pressure but at the same time you can align the front of the cabinet face. Best $25 bucks I've spent. Great job!

[mattp]

My high school woodshop teacher instructed us on the soaped thread trick. The plywood insert between cabinets is a great idea. Lowes wants $199 for their cabinet design service, but videos like this are a much better value.

[Brenda-fcth]

I was quoted 9 months out for custom Lowe’s cabinets. This is my 3rd kitchen remodel so I’m not interested in buying $30k kitchen cabs. I’m going to do exactly your project with Diamond stock cabinets too.

[engineking]

The Lowe's cabinets worked really well with us. No issues, if installed properly. More than a year later and it's holding up. Definitely will last. 15-20years, at least. Maybe not 100 but still decent for the price

[terryswails]

Thanks man my wife and I just bought some of the diamond cabinets from lowes, and your videos will help me greatly, thanks again 👍

[orlandob]

I purchased these only for extra storage and countertop space. I wanted to do real wood but it wasn’t in my budget. I plan on doing a full update of my kitchen in five years anyway so if it lasts til then It would be nice.
They were an easy install and the finished product looks nice.

[lauriegrube]

A cheap solution to installing new cabinets. Great video. I splurged for drawers and pull-out shelves vs. dead-spaced cabinets along the bottom.

[phop]

putting the plywood between the cabinet gaps was genius!

[johnhoyle]

excellent video! Wish you would have shown more on the corner / lazy susan cabinet as I find that one most confusing.

[JamesDye-okex]

I have had these for 2-3 years still work fine. They're not greatest quality but they were still cheaper than most. I hung mine myself... pretty lightweight and straight forward, I am not a carpenter. My old cabinets were flush with ceiling, so I didn't need to do any leveling just pushed up new cabinets to ceiling and screwed them in.

[GoonSquadiMAGE]

We're remodeling a house in Texas and looking to pick these up for a project. Seems like they came out pretty nice. Thank you for taking the time to capture each step.

[mrbing]

These cabinets are garbage. I have them in my kitchen, When they get a little bit of water on them, they start to bulge because it's fiber board on the doors. They are cheaply made. You have to make sure that if water leaks on them from cooking and washing dishes that you quickly wipe it off. Or you will get the bulging on the shaker area of the cabinet. You did an incredible job on your installation

[RichT-sr]

Love the shirt, I always rode Skyway TA’s but really liked the PK Rippers. Specially the ones the same color as the shirt.

[lounagy]

Nice video--I learned a lot. I noticed that between the demo and the install you seemed to have installed a floor. What kind of floor? If it's a floating floor I heard you shouldn't install cabinets over them but I could be wrong. Saw your laminate countertop video too. Thanks.

[mjar]

I got some beautiful countertops from lowes for around 6k with soft close doors. I couldn't be happier.

[cjsg]

I've had lowes cabinets for about 8 years now and besides the door hinges liking to come loose and need re tighted I've had no complaints or issues and the look good enough