Update on Lowes Kona Kitchen Remodel

OK, so no surprise here that our Lowes Kona kitchen remodel is still not finished. Part of the problem is we bought our cabinets from Lowes in Kailua-Kona, the Shenandoah line, exclusive, it seems, to Lowes. In retrospect, if I had more time, it would have made more sense to order custom cabinets from any of the fine cabinet makers in Kona. But I had to get back to Sacramento to continue selling Sacramento real estate.

I placed the order for our Lowes Kona kitchen remodel in June, along with signing a contract with Lowes to buy most of the supplies from Lowes. However, Lowes did not do the remodel nor adequately oversee the job. Lowes hired a third-party contractor to do the work. So I probably would have been better off hiring my own contractor, but that is water under the bridge.

The cabinets arrived at the store in August but nobody inspected the cabinets until they were delivered to our house in November. At which point, they discovered a few of the cabinets were damaged and part of the order did not arrive. Were the missing pieces ordered in the first place? I dunno. It would have been better if Lowes had been equipped to inspect the delivery when the cabinets arrived instead of wasting 3 months, but no, the cabinets quietly sat damaged in storage.

If I had been aware they were to arrive and be delivered without inspection, I would have driven out to Lowe’s storage bay and unboxed them myself to check. As it is, all work came to a screeching halt in early December to wait for another shipment.

In early December, Lowes ordered replacement cabinets and they are arriving tomorrow, in early February. An unexpected twist — when I called Shenandoah directly, I was informed that Shenandoah had discontinued the cabinets in August and did not tell us.

Lowes had to go an outside vendor to get the replacement cabinets. If I hadn’t called Shenandoah, I would not have known this little fact.

Jacob at Shenandoah says he has worked there for 3 years. He said it takes 8 weeks to get the replacement cabinets because, although almost every cabinet they sell is made from maple, well, the cabinets are maple. He also said the glaze was, well, special. I don’t know how well they will match the other cabinets, but I will find out tomorrow. No amount of begging or bribery would deliver those cabinets any sooner.

Which means the finish work, depending on the condition of the replacement cabinets, will begin on Friday. It is possible the Lowes Kona kitchen remodel, which began in November, might be completed before Valentine’s Day.