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by falknerlpp
4 months ago in Design Dilemma
Is this acceptable?
We just paid $4,200 for this vanity in finished natural maple. (It was more with the counter.) The cabinet has a dark knot that faces the entry door. When the cabinet door closes, you see less of it, however you still see the dark knot that is not present elsewhere in the vanity. Would this be acceptable to you?
 
Yes, this is acceptable
No, this should be replaced
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Lkristine No.
4 months ago ·
3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Wow, that's a lot of money. I guess, I will retrain to finish carpenter. ☺
In my opinion this could be easily avoided. So I voted for NO.
4 months ago · ·
nononanna It's pretty obvious, and it will drive you crazy. I finished building a house a few years ago and toward the end I wasn't as insistent as I should have been. At first you;re just glad to have the work finished, but as time goes by the problems like this begin to really irritate. Don't fall into the "just get it finished" trap like I did!
4 months ago · ·
ters76 This is a natural wood, I personally think as a designer that all these things people complain about on a natural material only adds to the beauty of it. Now at least everyone can see its a solid wood and not a veneer. You have a very beautiful unit there.
4 months ago · ·
olldbobbi No! It would be the only thing I would see and I should be seeing the beauty of the cabinet, not the knot.
4 months ago · ·
Peggy Hill I voted no,
Believe me it will be what you will look at everytime you go into you bathroom, I had our kitchen done for 25000 and the installer used two different tones of chalking around the tile.( he had run out of the first color) so now every time I go into my beatyiful kitchen all i see if the place where the chalking don't match. and it looks awful.
4 months ago · ·
Dytecture If it bothers you, then I also vote for changing that piece of wood.
4 months ago · ·
Genevieve Are you looking for perfection ? if yes then remove it ,but if you are looking for a natural process and a touch of character then I say keep it , me I like to keep it if this is to be kept only stained and not painted ,the stain would only enhance it showing the natural process of wood..
4 months ago · ·
BeautifulRemodel.com Hi falknerlpp,

I'm presuming by the price this was a custom made cabinet. If so, then the cabinet maker has made a poor judgement call by incorporating that piece. However, if your cabinet is from a semi-custom line then hand selection of pieces isn't typically done.

While wood grain is natural and therefore varied and unique, etc, an experienced cabinet maker would select stock to give visual consistency, whether that be a certain amount of knots on other sections of the cabinet, (if the client likes them) or very few/very small knots if they don't.

Fwiw, this cabinet will most likely have to be rebuilt in order to replace that piece, I highly doubt that that piece alone can be replaced.

Steve
4 months ago · ·
Maria Billingsley of J Hettinger Interiors Its not a big deal to pop out the face frame and replace with a new one. This will of course involve taking the whole thing down.
4 months ago ·
olldbobbi I agree with Steve! (Again!). Why didn't he just turn that piece around, I wonder?
4 months ago · ·
rozajac I woted NO; it is not acceptable. It really is part of the natural wood rather than a defect but it stands out a lot and catches the eye. Think of it this way; mole above the lip might be cute but might bother some if it is on the forehead or on the tip of someone's nose which would be hard to avoid.
3 months ago ·
K&R Contractors, Inc If we would have received this for our client, we would have told the supplier to send it to auction and try again.....NEVER is that acceptable when you are paying that much!!!!
3 months ago · ·
On the Spot Furniture Revival llc Ive blended more knots than i can count. A professional furniture repairer can blend the knot in less than an hour.
3 months ago · ·
malachyte It would drive me crazy everyday looking at that! I understand that knots are part of the natural beauty of wood but that's in bad place.
3 months ago ·
Doors4Home.com For a quick fix, you might be able to apply a thin matching veneer to the piece. At the same time, part of the beauty of wood are the inconsistencies.
3 months ago ·
Jayme Hobbs Because it bothers you and it does "stick out", I would ask the finisher to fix it.
3 months ago ·
AMN Part of being a good woodworker or cabinet maker is choosing the best pieces of wood for conspicuous portions of each piece you build. If you were looking for rustic knottiness, then this would have been on-point. Since the rest of the piece is quite clear, this is unacceptable.
3 months ago ·
lewis + smith Removing the face frame is by no means an easy task and probably will not be done. I would agree the cabinet maker could have used better judgement. The cabinet may well have been made within the spec provided. While there is a knot, it does not appear to be failing, and can be considered to be a natural part of the wood. If the spec had called for clear and no knots from the architect or designer, that would be a different story. It is not cut and dry that this person has failed to do what they were asked to do. If I knew a client was this dissatisfied I would probably eat this one. In the end the budget was sufficient enought to cover better material selection and care regarding orientation. Hopefully there is a workable solution.
3 months ago ·
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