Unfinished Cabinets

We often get asked if Conestoga will do their cabinets without any finishing. Unfinished cabinets are available at a tremendous discount to stained/painted cabinets. Here are some things to be aware of regarding their unfinished cabinetry:

  • There is no separate ‘line’ of unfinished cabinets. Any cabinet, door or accessory they sell can be ordered and just don’t request a finish.
  • Any specie is available unfinished, including MDF
  • Cabinet interiors will still be finished when cabinets are ordered unfinished. Interiors will be UV acrylic clear finish on birch veneer. If you prefer unfinished interiors (so that you can finish yourself), cabinets must be ordered WITH the matching interior option. When ordered this way, the interior will be the same specie as the exterior (standard species only: Cherry, Hard Maple, Soft Maple, Red Oak). For custom species, no such option exists and you will need to either use one of the standard species and stain/paint it to a close match or order loose veneers and skin the insides of all the cabinets (not advisable as this is a huge time and money expense)
  • If you can tell us how you plan to finish your cabinets (stain, paint, etc), we can best determine if any sanding options will help you. For instance, if you plan to stain your cabinets, we can add the cross grain removal and lip sand options which cost very little, but drastically improve the level of quality of your final finish as the sanding scratches will have been removed for you using Conestoga’s state of the art sanding process. Not ordering this option will result in more sanding preparation time for you prior to applying your finish.
  • On average, unfinished cabinets will save 20-30%. Unfinished option is not a flat % deduction, so the amount your kitchen may be impacted is dependent on other options (door style, accessories you have requested, cabinet options like finished ends, etc). For an accurate proposal, please submit your project for quotation.
  • While unfinished cabinets will save you a bit of cost on the cabinet order, keep in mind that unless you have the ability to spray your final paint or topcoat layers, you will have a hard time coming close to the level of quality Conestoga’s catalyzed conversion varnish offers. So, you may save up front expense, but you are adding an enormous amount of labor and time to your project and may end up with far inferior results. We do not recommend painting kitchen cabinets with latex paints or brush applied finishes. Nothing comes close to a baked on, catalyzed conversion varnish, so be sure you have thoroughly researched your finishing options before ordering products unfinished.

Below is a brief video overview of Inset Cabinetry.