Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
KraftMaid Construction in Fontana, CA | Elmstead Remodeling
We provide independent KraftMaid cabinet installation, refacing, and full-kitchen remodeling across Fontana, from the flat east-side grid up to the foothill lots along Baseline. The thing that separates our KraftMaid work here from anywhere else is simple: we plan every cabinet run around what Fontana’s expansive clay soils do to a post-tension slab. Call (949) 850-9896 for a free estimate, and we’ll put a written price in your hands before any work starts.
You won’t find a page like this on a national KraftMaid site. That’s because nobody’s writing about how a 1987 Choice oak cabinet box reacts to 108°F summers and a heaving slab in Fontana’s east-side tracts. We are. Graham Stein founded Elmstead Remodeling as a Cedarwell company, and his crews have been reading plans and setting cabinets across Los Angeles area homes for going on two decades, including Riverside Kraftmaid service. For Fontana homeowners, that means a crew that knows KraftMaid door styles, drawer-box systems, and finishes well enough to tell you honestly when refacing makes sense and when it’s throwing good money at a racked frame.
We’re an independent remodeling contractor. We are not manufacturer-affiliated or authorized by KraftMaid. What we bring instead is hands-on experience with KraftMaid Momentum, Vantage, and Choice lines in real Fontana kitchens, and the judgment to use OEM parts where they matter and solid aftermarket hardware where they don’t.
Why Fontana Residents Choose Us for KraftMaid Service
Most Fontana kitchens from the 1980s – 90s build-out came with builder-grade KraftMaid Choice cabinets. We know those boxes, their hinges, their drawer glides, and their failure points. We also know the newer KraftMaid Vantage and Momentum lines well enough to spec them correctly for a house that sits on expansive clay.
Our approach is unhurried and specific. We name the drop cloths, the shoe covers, the quiet tools during nap hours, the pet-safe products where there’s a choice. Every project carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if it’s not done right after we finish, we make it right. And the written price comes before any work starts, every time.
Graham Stein learned framing, finish work, and project sequencing at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College on South Grand Avenue, where instructors expected a set of plans read before a tool was picked up. That training shapes how we handle a Fontana kitchen: we measure, we check the slab, we write the scope, then we build.
Styles & brands we work with
Common KraftMaid Construction Problems We Solve in Fontana
- Thermofoil and painted finishes blistering or peeling. Fontana summers routinely push past 108°F, and cabinet faces near windows and range hoods take the worst of it. We see delamination on older KraftMaid Choice doors every season and replace them with painted maple or a more heat-tolerant finish.
- Particleboard sink bases swelling and warping. Slow slab drainage is common in Fontana’s flat east-side tracts, and a small leak under the sink saturates an MDF box fast. We swap damaged bases for plywood and check the drain slope while we’re in there.
- Hinges and drawer glides loosening as the slab shifts. Expansive clay under Fontana’s post-tension slabs heaves with winter rains and shrinks in the long dry season. That movement racks cabinet frames out of square, and doors start binding. We shim and re-square runs, then reinstall hardware so doors close clean.
- Sagging or delaminating upper shelving. Heat and humidity cycling degrades shelf pins and box joinery over 30 – 40 years. We rebuild upper boxes or replace them with Vantage uppers, depending on the condition of the framing behind them.
- Out-of-square cabinet runs after slab movement. This is the most Fontana-specific problem we see. Before the doors stick or the counters crack, a racked cabinet box is often the first sign the slab has moved. We’ll bring in a structural engineer’s assessment before we set new boxes on an east-side slab.
KraftMaid Service in Fontana: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Cabinetry
Because so many Fontana kitchens sit on post-tension slabs poured quickly during the 1980s – 90s steel-era growth surge, we pull a structural engineer’s slab assessment on east-side remodels before we set a single KraftMaid cabinet box. Expansive clay under the flat east-side grid shrinks dramatically in the long dry season and heaves with winter rains, causing diagonal cracking and differential settlement across thousands of slabs in this city. If that movement has racked a cabinet run out of square, new boxes installed on the same footprint will rack too, within a season or two. No amount of shimming fixes a slab that’s still moving. The written scope is the promise: if it’s not on the paper, we have not agreed to it yet.
Our crew was called to a 1987 tract home off Baseline Avenue where the original KraftMaid Choice oak cabinets had swollen at the sink base and the upper doors stuck against each other every summer. We shimmed and re-squared the cabinet run after a slab assessment confirmed only minor differential movement, replaced the water-damaged sink base with a new plywood box, and installed KraftMaid Vantage painted maple uppers with soft-close glides and new quartz counters. The homeowner kept the original lowers because they were still square, and that saved her thousands compared to a full replacement she didn’t need. For similar Kraftmaid repair in Ontario, we apply the same measured approach.
KraftMaid Models & Products We Service in Fontana
We install, reface, and repair KraftMaid Momentum, Vantage, and Choice lines in maple, cherry, and painted finishes. The KraftMaid sales & service work we handle in-house covers cabinet box repair, door and drawer front replacement, hinge and glide upgrades, and full kitchen remodels. For hardware, we use OEM KraftMaid hinges, glides, and door fronts when they’re available for your series. When OEM is discontinued, we move to quality aftermarket Blum or similar hardware, and we tell you that’s what we’re doing and why it’s the better part for your kitchen.
See the difference
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AfterKraftMaid Service Pricing in Fontana
Fontana pricing for KraftMaid work tracks the Los Angeles market, and here’s what that looks like in real numbers:
| KraftMaid Service | Fontana Price Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Cabinet Installation | $4,000 – $13,000 |
| Countertop Installation | $2,000 – $6,500 |
| Backsplash Installation | $800 – $2,500 |
| Kitchen Island Installation | $3,000 – $10,000 |
What drives the spread is box damage from slab movement, the condition of the framing behind the cabinets, and whether you’re refacing versus replacing. A free estimate from us includes the slab assessment recommendation when we see east-side movement patterns. Call (949) 850-9896 for an exact quote.
Serving Fontana, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Fontana area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – KraftMaid Construction in Fontana
We can match the door profile and finish on many 1980s KraftMaid Choice oak and maple lines, but the original particleboard boxes are almost always past their useful life in Fontana’s heat and humidity. We typically reuse the face frames where they’re solid and replace the boxes with plywood. Call (949) 850-9896 and we’ll tell you honestly after seeing the kitchen.
Summer sticking usually means the post-tension slab under your kitchen is expanding with the season’s first real humidity cycle, and the cabinet run is moving with it. It’s rarely the hinges. We’ll check for slab movement and shim the boxes square if the movement is minor. If it’s not minor, we’ll recommend a slab assessment before any cabinet work proceeds.
Only if the slab assessment shows the kitchen footprint is still stable. Refacing a racked cabinet run is a waste of money because the new doors will bind the same way the old ones did. We’d rather tell you that before you spend, not after. Call (949) 850-9896 for a free assessment; the recommendation comes with the written price.
Yes. We handle cabinet installation and quartz or granite countertop installation as one scope, which means the counter template accounts for any shimming or re-squaring we did on the cabinet run. That’s the only way to get a counter that sits flush on a Fontana slab kitchen that’s moved a little over 30 years.
Painted maple on Vantage or Momentum lines holds up better than older thermofoil, but nothing survives direct sun on a cabinet face near a west-facing window. We’ll spec a finish that makes sense for your kitchen’s sun exposure. Call (949) 850-9896 and we’ll walk you through it.
Service Areas Near Fontana
We serve Fontana and the surrounding Inland Empire communities, including KraftMaid service in Moreno Valley, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, and Bloomington. If you’re just outside Fontana, call us and we’ll confirm coverage. We also provide KraftMaid service in Oxnard for coastal Ventura County clients. Our full Fontana service area page lists every neighborhood we cover.
Book Your KraftMaid Service in Fontana Today
Call (949) 850-9896 to schedule your free KraftMaid estimate in Fontana. A live person answers, day or night, and your written price comes before any work begins. We’ll bring the shoe covers, the drop cloths, and the slab assessment if your east-side kitchen needs it.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner at Elmstead Remodeling, serving Fontana since 2005.
