deciBel Designs

RickB

Jun 25, 2021

• Report

I purchased a hand made wooden Stereo Cabinet from this company. The owner Peter, is a fine craftsman. I selected a cabinet that allowed me to store a record collection in the bottom, with wood doors, and 5 shelves in the upper cabinet, one a slide out for a turntable. I was given the choice of finish from Minwax stains. I also chose a tinted glass door, with locks. The build included 6 plastic double caster wheels. The only hinges and knobs available are black and metal. The locks are plastic and not worthy of the unit. Overall a very nice cabinet.

Some of the things I would change is to allow the customer a selection of knobs and hinges to chose from, I recommend steel casters as plastic breaks to easily. I was not happy with the construction of the back, even though it was wood. It was two pieces of 1/4 wood tapped down the center, and brads were provided to nail it on. I purchased and used small screws. The back was not stained not even a clear varnish, and in my case included overspray and handprints of the varnished used on the rest of the unit. I had to provide the wood glue. The instructions for assembly had to be downloaded, and did not include any information about hinge adjustment, or placement of the locks, and adjustment and/or the placement of the back was vague. I spent over two hours trying to adjust the doors to be even on both sides, an impossible task, I had not idea how to install the locks, but after emailing for instructions, installed them, then took them off and threw them away.

There is no way the locks would prevent anyone from getting into the cabinet, they were just plastic junk. To be fair, I must say that Peter gave me 3.5" wider shelves to accommodate my wide receiver, for no addition cost. ( The extra wood equaled the width of a normal shelf.) The doors and locks are included with the base price of the cabinet even if you don't want them. The slide out was $29, and the stain ( I chose Gun Mental) was $127.00. Base Price was $636, with my add -on's I paid $763.00 a very far price. My biggest aggravation came to the method of packing, The cabinet came in two boxes that were stapled, taped and glued closed. Peter wrapped the parts in clear wrap, and then used spray foam insulation instead of Styrofoam, to fill in the empty spaces. On one side of the box, he sprayed circles of the foam to cushion the product and fill the space. I was left with one large green plastic bag of foam to throw away. It literally took me 1.5 hours just to open and remove the parts.

Perhaps the dumbest way to pack wood, Overall I got a nice product with a lot of aggravation. I certainly will purchase some bookcases in the future, as long as he promises not to use spray foam for packing.