By Camille Gilles
Your kitchen is the family gathering place, the room where everyone congregates at a party and the spot where countless hours are spent preparing meals and cleaning up after them. As the saying goes, the kitchen is the heart of the home.
Naturally, you want this much-used space to feature the highest-quality materials and to reflect your own personal style, goals not lost on the craftsmen at Plumbrook Cabinetry, who understand that an integral part of a kitchen’s form and function is determined by the cabinets lining its walls.
After spending the past 22 years creating custom-made cabinets, Henry LaCroix, the general manager of Plumbrook Cabinetry in nearby Zephyrhills, knows that he can achieve the look and quality that homeowners and interior designers envision for their dream kitchens.
“Our slogan is: ‘If you can imagine it, we can create it,’” says Henry’s son, Josh, Plumbrook’s assistant GM. “We make everything.”
He explains that most cabinet shops outsource all of their cabinet doors but, “We don’t outsource anything. All of the doors are made here, and we can create any style door, cabinet or molding. If you’ve got a broken or cracked door, we can make you a new one. We make everything from crown moldings and door casings to window casings and baseboards. And, we are able to make all of those elements match in your home.”
Plumbrook proudly emphasizes its use of only high-grade materials, as Henry proclaims, “We use only real wood, not particle board.”
Josh adds, “If you go to the large home improvement stores, you’ll find that even their high-end cabinets are still particle board. And, the price for them will be more than ours — even though ours are solid, real wood!”
Another big difference between Henry’s cabinets and those purchased at home improvement stores is that Plumbrook Cabinetry hand-selects the lumber to be used for each job, matching the wood to the application and also considering each plank’s tones for the best appearance. In addition, Plumbrook never uses filler pieces or panels because the cabinets they create are all made to exact dimensions.
“Everything is made to fit the customer’s openings,” says Henry, adding that the finished end panels are actually built right into the cabinets.
Josh points out that all of Plumbrook’s products are Greenguard-certified for indoor air quality, explaining, “Since there’s no formaldehyde in the plywood or in the finishing products, there are no fumes and no odor when the cabinets are brought into your home.”
In addition to kitchens, our friends at Plumbrook Cabinetry tackle bathroom projects, wall units, entertainment centers, and built-in bookshelves. The company even recently completed a floating entertainment center, a unit mounted on a wall that gives the illusion that it’s floating off the floor.
“You’d have a hard time finding something like that (online or in stores),” says Josh.
Customers appreciate the beauty and superior workmanship of Plumbrook’s products, of course, but chief financial officer Alex Moghadasi says the company’s clients also welcome the one-on-one attention and personal interaction with the owners. “Customers will always be able to talk to the same person here,” Alex explains. “They aren’t treated like a number.”
That working relationship begins with the initial consultation, to which customers are encouraged to bring plenty of pictures of cabinets they like. Henry says the more photos you provide him, the better. It’s best to have some idea of your preferred style before your first meeting.
Typically, he will show you three or four doors. If you are rearranging your kitchen, he will sketch the new layout, which you can tweak, and then before the actual work begins, Josh will use an advanced computer software program to show you exactly how the finished product will look.
Heidi Taylor, one of Plumbrook’s kitchen remodel customers, actually discovered Plumbrook through her granite supplier.
“After searching three counties for someone to do my granite, I finally found a guy I liked in Zephyrhills, and he referred me to Plumbrook,” she explains. “Josh and Henry were easy to work with, listened to my ideas and then offered some of their own.”
An electrical engineer who purchased her mid-‘80s-built Dade City home as a fixer-upper, Heidi says she is particular about whom she contracts to do work at her home and is “extremely happy” with Plumbrook’s performance and her new kitchen. The room now features increased cabinet space and stunning cabinets made from the wood of a sweet gum tree she had actually chopped down on her own property.
Keeping Current For You
As for what’s “hot” in cabinets these days, Henry says, “The current trend is for large, dark cabinets with big hardware,” Henry comments, adding that he notices a preference for flat panels and a contemporary or Shaker style.
When it comes to hardware, Henry says soft-close doors and drawers are standard, noting, “We use the best of everything, even hinges. We use the best accessories in the industry.”
One thing Plumbrook never uses is a subcontractor. “All of the work and installations are done by us,” says Alex. Plumbrook does, however, have close ties with select granite and tile suppliers, which is helpful when a customer is totally remodeling a kitchen or bath and requires those services.
Despite the economy, business is brisk at Plumbrook Cabinetry, which currently serves customers from Boca Grande to Atlanta. To take advantage of Plumbrook’s fine craftsmanship and schedule a consultation, call 355-3974 or visit PlumbrookCabinetry.com.
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