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Fabuwood vs Forevermark: Which Cabinet Actually Lasts? · USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast

• 0:04
  Welcome back to The Cabinet Room, the show where
• 0:07
  we open the drawers and tell you what is really
• 0:10
  going on inside your kitchen cabinets. I am Chris
• 0:13
  with me as always is Jessica. And today we are
• 0:16
  settling one of the most common questions we
• 0:18
  get on the showroom floor. Fabuwood versus Forevermark.
• 0:23
  Two brands on almost every short list. And I
• 0:26
  want to say upfront because people appreciate
• 0:28
  honesty. We are a Fabuwood dealer. So we are
• 0:32
  not neutral. But the goal today is not to sell
• 0:35
  you Fabuwood. It is to help you actually decide.
• 0:39
  Because for some projects, Forevermark is the
• 0:41
  right call. And we will tell you exactly when.
• 0:45
  Right. On paper, these two look like twins. Both
• 0:48
  imported, both KCMA certified, both all plywood
• 0:51
  with dovetail drawers. So most people just pick
• 0:54
  on price. Where does that go wrong? It goes wrong
• 0:58
  because the differences do not show up on day
• 1:00
  one. They show up in year five or six. And a
• 1:03
  dealer sees those years. So let us start with
• 1:06
  something most buyers never even think about.
• 1:10
  Who actually makes these cabinets? Okay, who
• 1:12
  does? Fabuwood imports components and does final
• 1:15
  assembly and quality checking in a 1 million
• 1:17
  square foot plant in Newark, New Jersey. The
• 1:21
  cabinet shows up at your house already built
• 1:23
  and squared. Forevermark is a brand of a company
• 1:26
  called the Shekia Group, or TSG. based in Edison,
• 1:30
  New Jersey, but the cabinets are made overseas
• 1:32
  in Asia. Historically China, now shifting to
• 1:35
  Vietnam, because of the anti -dumping duties
• 1:38
  the U .S. put on Chinese cabinets. So neither
• 1:40
  one is really made in America. Correct, and anybody
• 1:43
  who tells you otherwise is selling. Both are
• 1:46
  imported. The honest difference is Fabuwood assembles
• 1:49
  and stands behind it here, while Forevermark
• 1:52
  ships globally sourced product through a U .S.
• 1:55
  distributor. If country of origin matters to
• 1:57
  you, Ask the dealer to put the current manufacturing
• 2:00
  country in writing because the brand site does
• 2:02
  not state it plainly. Good tip. Now let us get
• 2:05
  into the cabinet itself. When you inspect a brand,
• 2:08
  what is the first thing you look at? The back
• 2:10
  panel. Every time. It is the part you never see
• 2:14
  after install. And it is the part that decides
• 2:17
  whether a run stays square for 20 years. Fabuwood
• 2:21
  uses a single -piece half -inch plywood back.
• 2:23
  You can screw it into a stud anywhere across
• 2:26
  its width and it resists racking, which is the
• 2:29
  slow twist that happens when a heavy quartz top
• 2:31
  sits on the base cabinets. And Forever Mark?
• 2:34
  Forever Mark uses a half -inch picture frame
• 2:36
  recessed back over 3 eighths base bottoms. A
• 2:39
  thinner center panel inside a frame. Anchored
• 2:42
  into studs properly, it is fine for normal loads
• 2:45
  and it keeps the price down. It is just a lighter
• 2:48
  build with less shear strength. That is a real
• 2:51
  structural difference. Not a cosmetic one. And
• 2:54
  it is exactly the kind of thing a buyer never
• 2:56
  sees, which is why we point it out. What about
• 2:59
  the drawers? That is where a kitchen takes a
• 3:01
  beating. This is where they are genuinely close,
• 3:03
  and I will not pretend otherwise. Both use solid
• 3:07
  wood dovetail drawer boxes, the joint that keeps
• 3:09
  the face from pulling loose. Fabuwood is 5 eighths
• 3:13
  solid birch, and the Illum line steps up to the
• 3:16
  Bloom Marivaux box metal system. Forevermark
• 3:19
  is around 17 millimeters solid wood. Sometimes
• 3:22
  eucalyptus grandus. If you only looked at the
• 3:25
  drawer box, you could not pick a winner. So where's
• 3:27
  the real separation? Hardware. If one thing decides
• 3:30
  quality over 20 years, it is the hinges and glides,
• 3:34
  because they wear out long before the box does.
• 3:37
  Fabuwood puts bloom on every main line as standard.
• 3:40
  200 ,000 cycle rating, its own warranty, and
• 3:43
  a part supply so deep you can still get the exact
• 3:46
  hinge in 15 years. Forevermark uses generic soft
• 3:49
  clothes that varies by series. It feels fine
• 3:52
  out of the box. The problem is, years later,
• 3:55
  matching a worn, unbranded part is hard. That
• 3:58
  replaceability point is underrated. It really
• 4:01
  is. And there is a credential angle, too. Fabuwood
• 4:04
  has its own internal Q12 standard, but more importantly,
• 4:08
  it's a Lure line -earned Architectural Woodwork
• 4:10
  Institute premium grade, which is independent,
• 4:13
  tested to over 2 ,000 pounds on tall pantries.
• 4:17
  Forevermark has KCMA, which both brands have,
• 4:20
  but no independent premium grade. Where Forevermark
• 4:24
  wins the certification race is environmental.
• 4:27
  It adds GreenGuard Gold and FSC on select lines.
• 4:31
  If low emission, sustainable materials matter
• 4:33
  to your house, that is a real Forevermark advantage.
• 4:36
  Let us talk warranty because I know there is
• 4:38
  a gap. Big one. Fabuwood is limited lifetime
• 4:42
  on its main lines to the original owner. Forevermark
• 4:46
  is two to five years, and painted doors are only
• 4:48
  two years. Painted white is the most popular
• 4:51
  finish and the most likely to chip, so that two
• 4:54
  -year term matters. Some dealers advertise a
• 4:57
  Forevermark lifetime warranty, so get the real
• 5:00
  terms in writing. And you always tell people
• 5:02
  something about how claims actually work. Yes,
• 5:05
  because this is the part only a dealer sees.
• 5:07
  The big majority of cabinet warranty issues are
• 5:10
  shipping damage, not defects. Fabuwood's process
• 5:13
  is thorough. Photos required, and sometimes they
• 5:16
  want the damaged part back before they ship a
• 5:18
  replacement. That can slow a contractor down.
• 5:22
  So the move with either brand is to inspect every
• 5:25
  box the second it comes off the truck, photograph
• 5:27
  any damage before the driver leaves, and file
• 5:30
  before install day. We build that into how we
• 5:33
  hand off an order. Now the big one for a lot
• 5:35
  of people, price. Forevermark wins on price.
• 5:38
  Clearly. About $23 to $2800 for a 10x10 versus
• 5:43
  around $4400 for Fabuwood. And Forevermark has
• 5:46
  a ready -to -assemble option that saves even
• 5:48
  more upfront. But here is the contractor math.
• 5:52
  RTA moves assembly labor to you. A 12 -cabinet
• 5:56
  kitchen is about 4 hours of skilled labor, and
• 5:59
  the savings are around $500. So once your crew
• 6:03
  rate passes about $128 an hour, that labor eats
• 6:07
  the savings. And there is a tariff angle this
• 6:09
  year, too. There is. A 25 % tariff has been on
• 6:13
  imported cabinets since October 2025, with a
• 6:17
  bigger increase pushed to 2027. Both brands import,
• 6:21
  so both feel it. What it does is shrink the old
• 6:24
  price gap that fully imported RTA lines used
• 6:27
  to enjoy, which quietly helps the domestically
• 6:30
  assembled option. OK, give me the clean recommendation.
• 6:33
  Choose Forevermark for a rental, a flip, or a
• 6:36
  strict budget. especially if you can use RTA,
• 6:39
  or if the eco -certs are your priority. Choose
• 6:42
  Fabuwood for a primary home you plan to keep,
• 6:45
  where the stronger back, the bloom hardware,
• 6:48
  the independent grade, and the lifetime warranty
• 6:51
  earn out over 15 years. And honestly, whichever
• 6:54
  brand you pick, the layout matters more than
• 6:56
  the logo. Say more about that, because that is
• 6:59
  the part people skip. The regrets we hear months
• 7:02
  later are never about the brand. They are about
• 7:04
  the layout. Put drawers, not doors, on your lower
• 7:08
  cabinets in the prep zone. Plan more outlets
• 7:11
  than code, and never put a small appliance station
• 7:14
  on the same circuit as a major appliance. Wire
• 7:17
  under cabinet lighting before the boxes go in.
• 7:20
  Fix the deep pantry with pull -outs so cans do
• 7:23
  not vanish to the back. And order all your cabinets
• 7:26
  in one batch, because finish can vary between
• 7:29
  production runs. That is the kind of advice that
• 7:31
  actually saves a kitchen. Great place to land.
• 7:35
  If you want to see this in person, both brands
• 7:38
  sell only through dealers, so the dealer's part
• 7:41
  of what you're buying. We carry the full fab
• 7:44
  you would line up in stock at InStock Today cabinets.
• 7:49
  Open the drawers, feel the bloom, look at the
• 7:52
  back of a cabinet. Visit Alexandria, Fairfax,
• 7:56
  Columbia, Houston, Roselle, or Bayer, Delaware.
• 8:00
  Or start a free design consult online. We also
• 8:04
  put the full written comparison on our site at
• 8:06
  iscabinets .com slash fabwood versus forevermark.
• 8:11
  Jessica, thanks as always. Always a pleasure.
• 8:13
  Thanks for listening everybody and we will see
• 8:15
  you in the next one.