Handsome, solid and worth the money, but with flaws
Just finished assembling it. First the good: The unit and its components are solid. The composite wood is dense and true. The enamel coat is smoothly applied, although there are a few chips here and there. The overall finished appearance is handsome. The instructions are clear, but it is important to pay attention to detail to avoid placing the wrong peg in the wrong hole. Now the bad: For those of us who care, the packaging is an environmental nightmare! Loads of unrecyclable styrofoam to add to the waste-stream. The cabinet doors do not meet nicely in the center of the unit as depicted in the illustration. There is a 7/16 inch gap. Although it is not noticeable upon casual inspection, the doors are slightly vertically misaligned as the guide holes in the blocks for the hinges are imperfectly predrilled. The assembly instructions depict the use of a rubber mallet to nail the cardboard back panel to the unit. Forget it! The wood is too dense and youll never drive the nails. The nails are also nigh impossible to drive with a metal hammer (a tribute to the solid composite) and you are likely to ding and dent the surrounding wood in the attempt. I gave up, predrilled guide holes and applied the backing with 1/2 inch panhead screws--dont even bother with the nails.
Handsome, solid and worth the money, but with flaws
Just finished assembling it. First the good: The unit and its components are solid. The composite wood is dense and true. The enamel coat is smoothly applied, although there are a few chips here and there. The overall finished appearance is handsome. The instructions are clear, but it is important to pay attention to detail to avoid placing the wrong peg in the wrong hole. Now the bad: For those of us who care, the packaging is an environmental nightmare! Loads of unrecyclable styrofoam to add to the waste-stream. The cabinet doors do not meet nicely in the center of the unit as depicted in the illustration. There is a 7/16 inch gap. Although it is not noticeable upon casual inspection, the doors are slightly vertically misaligned as the guide holes in the blocks for the hinges are imperfectly predrilled. The assembly instructions depict the use of a rubber mallet to nail the cardboard back panel to the unit. Forget it! The wood is too dense and youll never drive the nails. The nails are also nigh impossible to drive with a metal hammer (a tribute to the solid composite) and you are likely to ding and dent the surrounding wood in the attempt. I gave up, predrilled guide holes and applied the backing with 1/2 inch panhead screws--dont even bother with the nails.