I don't know if this question belongs here or not. I am currently exploring options of getting into the laminate cabinet side of commercial bid work. I do some commercial now but not laminate. I know nothing of laminate cabinets, never built one. I am not talking only melamine here. Most jobs i am looking to bid here in Iowa call for laminate. So i am looking for someone to lay up the laminate,(sometimes 1 side laminate second side melamine, and sometimes both sides laminate) Then cut it, band it, and ship it to me. All i will need to do is assemble and ship to job site. If any one is interested please send an e-mail. This is just in the planning stages right now but i would like an idea as far as prices are concerned. I could e-mail an old print along with spec's if someone has the time to figure something up.
Denny,
We also do LOTS of commercial laminates for our own business as well as production sharing. We lay up the sheets before cutting and do any laminate the customer wants. Frankly, the commercial stuff has saved our bacon this year as residential has been slow. But everybody wants in on it now since residential is slow! Just be careful that you know what and who you are getting into as these are not always as straight forward as they might appear. Email me if you would like us to assist you.
Mike also has a quality shop doing a good job. He is definitely right about this being very competitve and that there is more lead time involved as laminates are hard to come by right now, depending on color and manufacturer.
I understand about the competetive side of it and that is why i am not 100% sure about doing it. Within the past month i have had probably 8 calls from respected contractors asking me to bid specific jobs. I just hate to leave possible work go like that. Of course i have to figure out the costs associated with all this including the outsourcing. I am not sure why i started getting all these calls, i can only guess that demand is greater than supply right now.