A couple of months ago, I noticed that the trim along the top of one bank of kitchen cabinets had come loose. My husband was going to fix it, but had not gotten around to it. Then, two weeks ago, I was taking out a glass from the top shelf, and I noticed a gap inside that I was sure had not been there before. My husband looked, and the cabinet ends were pulling away from the back of the cabinet. We called our contractor, who did the installation, and he looked at it. The two cabinets with the glass doors, where I have my special pottery and china, were separating from the backing, which seems to have been attached with flimsy staples and not much glue. I do keep heavy dishes in there, but I have NEVER had a problem with cabinet strength. I have also only lived in places with old, sturdy cabinets.

I emptied these two double-doored cabinets, and the single door one at the end last night, having already reduced the dish load. Today, our contractor came and screwed the cabinets into the ceiling rafters, and installed 90 degree brackets between the back of the cabinets and the end walls. The single-doored cabinet was fine, although they went ahead and put brackets in it as well. For some reason, the cabinets with the glass doors were not as well made. We bought mid-level cabinets; I'd hate to see what the lower level are.

I thought about contacting the cabinet company, but I thought it would be a lot less hassle to have our reliable contractor take care of the problem.

I will spend this afternoon putting all the dishes back in the cabinets.