I ordered 3, knowing about the complaint about the hinges, but thought it would be all right. They ARE a little tricky to align (but doable), and I noticed it was because the sides of the cabinet were consistently warped in the center. This warp also made it difficult to install the shelves in the center of the cabinet (still doable, though).
The hinges are the biggest point of contention because the warp causes a small misalignment, but also because there was NO WAY I could have screwed them in without my drill. The included screws would not otherwise go through their holes in the hinges, in which they came seated in.
The instructions say to install a (detachable) side of the hinges onto one side of the cabinet, in the first step. When I did this ing my first cabinet, it was a bit difficult to get the door (with the other half of the hinges) to snap into place and I needed help holding it (the door seems to be the heaviest side). It took a few tries and is tenuously attached. So far, so good.
I DID find a workaround for the bad hinge alignment but it takes a little care. In ing the second cabinet I waited until it was time to install the door, to attach the hinges (skipping them in the first step). I laid the cabinet on its side, and did not separate the hinges into two pieces as instructed I just kept them together, and laid the door down next to the assembled cabinet before screwing in any hinge.
The trick, though, is to make sure the door is supported so that its weight doesnt bend the hinges too far. The door should sit at an angle where the hinges pop in without being bent in an odd way.
The rest of assembly is easy. The cabinets look fine but were dirty out of the box, and most boards were scuffed. The doors were not, on the fronts (though one had a small scratch) which is why I didnt return them. Theyre nice looking for the price.
Hinge assembly difficult, the rest is fine
I ordered 3, knowing about the complaint about the hinges, but thought it would be all right. They ARE a little tricky to align (but doable), and I noticed it was because the sides of the cabinet were consistently warped in the center. This warp also made it difficult to install the shelves in the center of the cabinet (still doable, though). The hinges are the biggest point of contention because the warp causes a small misalignment, but also because there was NO WAY I could have screwed them in without my drill. The included screws would not otherwise go through their holes in the hinges, in which they came seated in. The instructions say to install a (detachable) side of the hinges onto one side of the cabinet, in the first step. When I did this ing my first cabinet, it was a bit difficult to get the door (with the other half of the hinges) to snap into place and I needed help holding it (the door seems to be the heaviest side). It took a few tries and is tenuously attached. So far, so good. I DID find a workaround for the bad hinge alignment but it takes a little care. In ing the second cabinet I waited until it was time to install the door, to attach the hinges (skipping them in the first step). I laid the cabinet on its side, and did not separate the hinges into two pieces as instructed I just kept them together, and laid the door down next to the assembled cabinet before screwing in any hinge. The trick, though, is to make sure the door is supported so that its weight doesnt bend the hinges too far. The door should sit at an angle where the hinges pop in without being bent in an odd way. The rest of assembly is easy. The cabinets look fine but were dirty out of the box, and most boards were scuffed. The doors were not, on the fronts (though one had a small scratch) which is why I didnt return them. Theyre nice looking for the price.