Signature Designs

Frequently Asked Questions

& Kitchen Design Help

Here are some answers to common questions people have about buying custom cabinets, remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, planning a budget, and working with Signature Designs. If you would like additional kitchen design help, we welcome you to stop by our showroom and speak to one of our friendly designers in person.

Questions about Signature Designs

Q: What does Signature Designs do?

A: Signature Designs is a custom cabinet manufacturer and a full-service kitchen design and remodeling company. Signature can handle your entire kitchen remodel from start to finish. In addition to remodeling high-quality kitchens for our clients, we also remodel bathrooms, home libraries, offices, walk-in-closets, home theaters, garages, living room cabinets, and entire homes. Kitchen remodeling makes for approximately 85% of our workload followed by master bathrooms and other rooms. We build all of your cabinets from scratch right here in our Covina, California factory. Click here to view our gallery of completed projects.

Q: How long has your company been around?

A: The factory opened at its current Covina location in 1991. Throughout the 1990's, the factory was focused primarily on creating commercial cabinetry for schools, hospitals, business offices, police departments, and universities (including USC). Since the year 2000, the factory started building more and more residential cabinetry for kitchens and bathrooms. During that time, the business grew into neighboring office space, doubling the size of the office and high-tech factory to 10,000 square feet. In 2006, Signature Designs acquired the factory and built a full-featured showroom along with a resource library of ideas. In addition to the hundreds of homeowners who deal with us directly, we have created custom cabinets for U.C. San Diego, USC, the Rialto PD, and world-class Pasadena design firm Cynthia Bennett & Associates. We welcome you to visit our factory, showroom, and design center to see what Signature can build for you.

Q: Is Signature Designs a big impersonal company or franchise?

A: Absolutely not. We are a small, family-owned and operated business with a team of about ten full-time employees. All of our talented carpenters and designers love what they do and take tremendous ownership of their work. Our mission is to take your home one step closer to becoming more "heavenly" whether it be in your kitchen, bathroom, or other area of your home.  

Q: Does Signature Designs sell kitchen appliances?

A: We do not sell appliances or sinks, but we can give you excellent recommendations in your area for appliance stores our clients have been happy with.

Financial Questions

Q: I'm just getting started. How much should I budget for my kitchen remodel?

A: Follow the 5-15% rule. Real estate experts suggest setting your kitchen budget to between 5% and 15% of the home's value in order to maximize your investment's returns. Spending too much (or too little!) could be a wasteful investment.

Specifically, the entire kitchen budget (including cabinets, countertops, appliances, flooring, lighting, and wall coverings) should cost no less than 5% and no more than 15% of the current value of your home with approximately 50% of the total cost allocated for cabinets.

Because your kitchen has the greatest value above all other rooms in the house, following this rule will ensure a wise investment in your property. Here's an example:

For a $300,000 home, the homeowner should budget no less than $15,000 (5%) and no more than $45,000 (15%) on the entire kitchen remodel. High-end customers may justify a 20% investment in their kitchen ($60,000 for a $300k home), but real estate experts recommend against going higher than that if you hope to get your investment back if or when you sell the home.

Q: What makes Signature Designs custom cabinets a Better Value?

A: Signature Designs builds your cabinets in our own factory right here in Covina, California providing you with the best value in premium custom cabinetry without any middlemen, commissioned salespeople, shipping charges, or third parties.

Most "retail" kitchen remodeling companies sell you pre-manufactured cabinets made out of the state (or out of the country), and mark up the cabinets they sell in order to stay in business or make a profit. With Signature Designs, there are no middlemen.

Q: How much do Signature Designs custom cabinets cost?

A: Most of our customers spend from $15,000 to $35,000 for kitchen cabinets and $3,000 to $8,000 for bathroom cabinets, depending on 1) the size and scope of the cabinetry, and 2) the style and material options selected. Signature builds only one level of quality regardless of the options you choose, and we will never compromise our quality reputation. If you are prepared to invest in high-quality cabinets for your home, call or come by to schedule a complimentary design to calculate exact pricing for your project.

The best news is that you have full control of your project cost because you create the design that best suits your taste and budget and select all of the options for your cabinets during your complimentary design meeting in our showroom. 

Q: What is the payment schedule?

A: Signature works on a schedule of incremental progress payments as work is completed. Full details are available in your contract, which we provide during your free design session and estimate.

Q: Do you have a minimum order?

A: Yes. Signature has a minimum cabinetry order of $3,000.

Q: Do your prices include installation?

A: Signature's cabinetry pricing includes installation. Our up-front pricing is all-inclusive and you will not have any hidden costs, delivery charges, or financial surprises.

Q: Do your prices include demolition, lighting, plumbing, countertops, etc?

A: For clarity, these items will be priced separately from your cabinetry quote. Signature Designs is a full-service, one-stop shop for your complete kitchen and/or bathroom remodeling project. Signature's in-house general contractor and countertops supervisor will work with your designer to manage your entire project from start to finish.

Remodeling Questions

Q: How long will I be without a kitchen? My friend's kitchen was out for several months.

A: Your kitchen downtime is carefully managed by Signature Designs. Unlike other companies that remove your existing kitchen in advance, we do not remove your existing kitchen until your new cabinets are built and ready for installation. From start to finish, your kitchen downtime will be limited to 3-4 weeks. Major construction (such as moving walls or building an addition) will extend this timeframe. In such cases, our contractor will provide you with a more precise timeline before you sign up.

Q: How long does it take to build my cabinets? 

A: Your cabinets are built from scratch in our Covina factory. Our carpenters make all of your cabinet doors, drawer boxes, and cabinet boxes using both high-tech computer-controlled machinery and time-tested woodworking techniques.

Cabinets are built in your choice of four guaranteed turnaround times:
4 weeks (Lighting Speed)
8 weeks (Priority Rush)
12 weeks (Standard)
16 weeks (Reduced Rate)

Keep in mind that your existing (old) kitchen will not be removed until your new cabinets are built, so your kitchen "downtime" will not be affected by this timeline (unless you already don't have a kitchen!).

Q: I'd like to remove my old kitchen myself. When should I start?

A: We strongly recommend that you DO NOT remove your existing kitchen until your new cabinets are fully built and ready for installation. Otherwise you will have to live without your kitchen for an unnecessarily long time.

Q: Who installs my cabinets?

A: Signature Designs believes that the quality of the final product is only as good as the installation and final touches. Unlike other remodeling companies, we do not use third parties or general contractors to install our cabinets. In order to guarantee the finished product and maintain our highest level of quality, we insist that the same fine finish carpenters who build your cabinets also install them. 

Q: Am I required to use Signature's contracting team for the prep work?

A: Not at all. Keep in mind, however, that if you are using your own general contractor or if you are trying to manage the remodeling schedule yourself, you will not have the benefit of Signature's experienced team working smoothly together to minimize the disruption in your home. Many of our customers have discovered that the overall process goes much more smoothly when one unified company is in charge of the entire process.

Cabinetry Questions

Q: What is the difference between "Fully Custom" and "Semi-Custom" and cabinets?

A: Signature's "Fully Custom" cabinets are manufactured in our Covina, California factory exactly to your kitchen size and specifications down to 1mm in all dimensions for precise symmetry and maximum usable space. With Signature, your style, color, and wood options are unlimited, and your style and color choices will never be "discontinued" since we make all of our cabinets exactly the way our customers want them!

"Semi-Custom"  cabinets, which we don't sell, are sold at retail locations and are mass-produced at specific sizes in 3-inch increments (e.g., 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 inches…). Large fillers are often used to "fit" the cabinets to your kitchen. Expect less visual symmetry, more design limitations, and more wasted space with these cabinets. With these "semi-custom" or "stock" cabinets, your style, color, and wood options are limited by the manufacturer's current offerings and may be discontinued in a few years.

Q: What brands of cabinets do you carry?

A: We only sell our own high-end custom-made cabinets which are built right here in our factory. Our cabinets are built for life and are never discontinued. The cabinets we built 10 years ago can still be made the same way today. In fact, many customers come back to us years later to add new cabinets to their homes that perfectly match the old ones.

Q: How many door styles do you offer?

A: We lost count! We have over 200 distinct door styles in our showroom, and each style can be customized to your liking. Your options are endless. We often create custom one-of-a-kind door styles for customers who ask. If you need help deciding, come see our showroom's "Hall of Doors" that shows what other customers have done in their homes. We will even make a custom sample just for you!

Q. What is the quality of Signature Designs' cabinets?

A: Signature builds heavy duty cabinets that last. Our factory is mechanized to produce only a single level of premium quality regardless of the design or materials you chose. Our "Fort Knox" cabinet box construction (standard for all cabinets) is earthquake-resistant and is unmatched in the industry in terms of durability.

Not only do we build the most durable and earthquake-resistant cabinetry available, we also take care to ensure all of the plywood and panels we buy are made in the USA under strict standards for quality. Many companies are producing cabinets using imported plywood due to its significantly lower price but at a terrible cost to structural durability and to your family's health.

Q. Can lower-end cabinets really affect my health?

A: Unfortunately, yes. Imported plywood (primarily from China) is produced under lax environmental regulations and contains excessive amounts of formaldehyde. This emits harmful fumes into the air not only during the manufacturing process but also throughout the life of the cabinets while they are in your home. Known symptoms of excess formaldehyde exposure include burning eyes, congestion, sore throat, coughing, breathing difficulties, frequent sinus infections or rashes, and difficulty concentrating.

Since your kitchen cabinets are used to your store dishes and food, isn't your family's health worth an investment in quality cabinets? We think so. That's why Signature Designs is firmly committed to building cabinets that are sturdier and healthier by using trusted American-made component parts.

Finishing Questions

Q. What is the quality of Signature Designs' finishes?

A: Signature Designs recently upgraded its Covina manufacturing facility to include state of the art finishing technology, ensuring the quality and durability of its 21-step finish process. Our deep penetrating stains resist scratching and allow more of the beauty of the wood to shine through. The best news is that all finishing occurs in our licensed and fully-enclosed dust-free spray booth unlike many companies that finish their custom cabinets in your home or driveway.

Q. Do you offer furniture refinishing?

A: Our high-end finishing process is surprisingly expensive and very time consuming. In addition, stripping and refinishing furniture is much more time consuming than finishing raw wood from scratch. Most customers find that the inherent value of the furniture is lower than the cost of professional refinishing services. Therefore we do not offer furniture refinishing except in very unique situations.

Q. Can you custom-match a stain sample?

A: Yes. Our talented finisher can match any stain color on virtually any wood. Stop by our showroom to see examples of stain matching we've done for previous customers.

Q. Why does the color on my cabinets look different in different lighting?

A: It is important to understand how differences in lighting can dramatically affect one's perception of color even within the same room. Incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lights, and daylight during different parts of the day all cast varying colors of light which affect our perception of color. Wood itself also has slightly iridescent qualities (somewhat like a hologram), so that when you look at a piece of finished wood from one angle, it may look quite different when you turn it 90-degrees.

Reflections from a colored surface, such as a painted wall or granite countertop, will also affect your perception of color wherever the reflected light hits the cabinets.

In one situation, a homeowner believed her painted bedroom cabinets were two distinct colors. It turned out that sunlight reflecting off of a yellow bedspread nearby was the cause. In another situation, a client thought that the cabinets on one end of her kitchen were different in color than the cabinets on the other end. However, when we brought the cabinet doors next to each other, it was clear that the difference was in the lighting alone. As you can see, light alone can have an amazing impact on perceived color.

Q. How much variation should I expect to see in the final finish?

A: If you are ordering custom wood cabinetry, understand that hand-finishing is a work of artisans that involves a degree of variation in the final finish that is both expected and desirable. In fact, variation is what gives your wood cabinets real beauty and character. Cabinets without any variation tend to look plastic and sterile by comparison, which is why the "machine" finishes on mass-produced cabinets don't look nearly as interesting as Signature's hand-applied finishes. For wood stain finishes, you should expect to see variation as much as 25% in the hue, saturation, and darkness.

If strict uniformity is preferable to you, please consider solid painted or plastic-faced thermofoil cabinets which are beautiful and easy to clean. Keep in mind, however, that even with painted or plastic cabinets, which are consistent in color, you may still perceive variations due to the varied lighting in your home.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact any member of our design team (Walter, James, or John) at Signature Designs.