VW
Valorie Werner
Sep 15, 2026
Mad City was hired for cabinet refacing, cabinet door replacement, and new laminate countertops. Measurements were completed May 14 and again May 28 to resolve questions. The initial installation took place the week of July 20, with a second installation on September 11 to address problems.
While the employees were professional, the quality of the work has been disappointing.
Countertops — first installation
* Countertops were not level.
* Gaps between the wall and countertop.
* Seams were poorly executed and chipped.
* One countertop was mis-measured.
Countertops — second attempt, 41 days later
* The countertop was mis-measured again in the same way.
* Bubbling was discovered in the previously installed new laminate countertop.
* After the countertops were reinstalled, the seams, leveling, and gaps were worse than before.
* The island countertop was damaged during the second attempt, and one support has since come off.
Other issues
* Replacement roll-out drawers were 2–4 inches shorter than the originals due to mismeasurement. This was corrected during the second installation.
* I requested in writing and verbally a sink measuring 16–18 inches front to back, similar to our old sink, which they measured. The contractor arrived with a 22-inch sink that would not fit. I had to purchase the correct sink myself and was later reimbursed.
* One piece of corner trim fell off within days of installation and was repaired during the second visit. Another corner still has no trim despite multiple requests.
* One cabinet door was installed scratched and later replaced. Another door has already chipped.
* My husband and I both recall asking the salesperson for the very visible undersides of the cabinets to be included in the refacing. We unfortunately had no documentation of that request, so we will have to resolve this ourselves.
It was very disappointing that the obviously mis-measured countertop had apparently been noticed by both the installer and project manager. When I pointed it out during final sign-off, they said something to the effect of, “Yeah, we saw that. We just wanted to see if you didn’t mind it.”
Numerous cabinet doors and drawers were uneven or installed at different heights, and several drawers were difficult to open. These issues were corrected when we pointed them out during final sign-off, but I suppose I expected noticeable issues like these to be identified and corrected before asking the customer to sign off.
Part of the appeal of refacing was the promise to “finish in 3–5 days.” The initial installation took five days, but it was another 41 days before the replacement countertops arrived, and our kitchen remains incomplete.
We chose refacing partly to avoid the cost and disruption of a full kitchen remodel, since we rent our home for productions, and an incomplete kitchen can cost us up to $1,500 per day in lost income.
Given the installation quality, bubbling, chipping, scratching, and repeated measurement errors, I have very little confidence in how well this work will hold up to standard use. It is also worth noting that during the 41 days after the initial installation, the kitchen was not even being used for 24 days because we were away for vacation and business travel - After just 17 days of standard use, this installation experienced issues.
In the end, the extended installation time, lost income, and repeated problems have created a level of cost and inconvenience similar to what we were trying to avoid by not doing a full remodel. I regret hiring Mad City and would not recommend their services.