February 2024 by Marcus C.
I used the services of Geoff Strong at Georgetown Woodworks in 2019 through Diana Bastone ( who was working for me as the designer and project manager to renovate a condo unit. Diana claimed that she has been using the Geoff's services for 10+ years. Geoff was given the job of making the cabinets (including cabinets in the kitchen, pantry, bathrooms, master's bedroom, family room, and laundry room). I had a very dissatisfying experience. Firstly, the delivery of the cabinets was 2 months later than the original delivery date provided, despite Geoff took the full payment of more than $64,000 before the scheduled delivery date. This issue caused delays in other parts of the project. Secondly, a year after the cabinets were installed (i.e. 2020), some cracks started appearing on the panels of the kitchen cabinets. I reported those conditions, and I was told that it is a common occurrence due to expansion and contraction. Two years later (i.e. 2023), more cracks appeared on the kitchen cabinets (refer to photos) and I also noticed that some cracks started appearing in the cabinets of the bathrooms. When I reached out and inquired about this issue, Geoff told me that this was due to humidity and exposure to sunlight. I felt very puzzled about the explanation, as my open concept kitchen is next to the family room, and the cabinets of the wall unit in the family room do not seem to exhibit the same phenomenon as the cabinets in the kitchen. Moreover, the cabinets in the master's bedroom and the laundry room do not have the issue of having cracks appearing on the panels either. In late 2023, I had a personnel who has worked in the cabinetry industry for 20+ years to examine the cabinets in the condo. We were SHOCKED to find out that some cabinets were made of wood, while some cabinets were made of painted MDF. When examining the cabinetry in the master ensuite, we found that there is one panel door made of wood while there is another panel door of the exact same profile made of painted MDF. The materials used for the panels and panel doors were NEVER provided in any forms of writing in the quotation. It was NEVER disclosed to me that different groups of cabinets were made by different materials. There was NO TRANSPARENCY and NO HONESTY regarding the products delivered. Half of those cabinets have become an eye sore in the condo within 4 years due to cracks appearing on the panels. The quality of the cabinets does not match their price tag.
