The 10-year cabinetry warranty: what it covers, what it does not
What the 10-year cabinet warranty really covers. Where the Blum lifetime hardware and benchtop maker warranties stack on top. And how to keep stone, timber and soft-close hardware right for the long run.
Short answer: the cabinets carry a 10-year warranty in writing. Blum hardware carries a lifetime warranty on the mechanism. The benchtop carries its maker warranty, 10 to 25 years by slab. All three are listed in your name on handover day. Aftercare for a workshop-built kitchen is simpler than people expect. Wipe spills as they happen. Use a trivet under hot pans. Call us when something needs tuning.
The three warranties, and what each covers
Grainline 10-year cabinet warranty. The box, the joints, the door line-up, the finish, and the install we did on site. Written into the proposal you sign, not a sticker on the inside of a cupboard. If a box bows or a finish fails inside ten years from a bad part or bad workmanship, we come back and fix it.
Blum lifetime hardware warranty. The mechanism on every runner and hinge we fit, listed in your name on handover day. A real Blum runner or hinge fault is covered by Blum for the life of the kitchen. We hold the model list for every cabinet, so a swap is a phone call, not a hunt.
Benchtop maker warranty. The slab carries its own warranty, typically 10 years for engineered stone, 10 to 25 years for porcelain, by brand. We log your specific slab with the maker at handover so the warranty is active before you cook on it.
What none of the warranties cover, and why
Wear and tear is the honest exclusion. Hinges loosen over years of daily use. Finishes show age. A benchtop you stack groceries onto twice a week looks different at year ten than at year one. Accident damage (the cast iron pan dropped on the edge), water damage from a sink left unsealed by another trade, and appliance faults sit outside the kitchen warranty. None of those are loopholes. They are the honest cut-outs that let us write a real ten-year warranty rather than a fluffy one with hidden small print.
The four things that void a stone warranty fastest
Engineered stone and porcelain slabs are tough surfaces with two real weak spots. Heat shock at a seam is one. A hot pan straight from the stove on the join line between two slab pieces can crack the seam. A trivet solves it. The other is harsh solvents and oven cleaners left in contact. Paint stripper and the strongest oven cleaners can dull or etch a stone face if they sit for hours. Wipe spills as they happen.
The other two are about how you use the bench. Cutting straight on the stone is a slow killer. Modern stone fights scratches but a heavy knife pulled across a single point can leave a mark. A board solves it. And on natural granite, seals fail past the reseal point. Rebook the seal every couple of years and the slab stays itself.
A real warranty is short, written, and easy to claim. A long warranty with twenty cut-outs is a marketing sheet. A short one with two cut-outs is a maker who trusts what they built.
Aftercare on the day-to-day surfaces
Stone, porcelain or granite benchtops. Warm water and a soft cloth daily. Trivet under serious heat. Board for serious cutting. Reseal natural granite every 18 to 24 months. Engineered stone and porcelain do not need sealing.
Timber benchtops. Beeswax or hard wax oil every six months on the high-use sections. No standing water; mop spills fast. Not the place to land hot pans.
2-pac door fronts. Microfibre and warm water. Avoid solvent sprays in repeat contact. A small chip can be touched up by us with the original paint, kept in your job file at the workshop.
Natural timber veneer. Same routine as 2-pac. A twice-yearly wax on the most-touched doors keeps the grain dark and rich.
Soft-close runners and hinges. Visible screws for tuning. Five minutes with the right driver fixes most movement. Call us if a runner fails outright; the Blum warranty covers it.
Ask this, exactly
"Where exactly is the 10-year cabinet warranty written in the proposal, what does it cover and exclude in plain English, and who picks up the phone when I call in year seven?"
The question that splits a real warranty from a marketing one. A real warranty is short, in writing, and walkable through clause by clause on the proposal you sign.
Our promise after handover
The kitchen does not become someone else problem the day the install crew drives off. We hold the job file in the workshop with your cabinet drawings, the carcass board, the door front colour, the paint, the Blum model list, and the benchtop log. A drawer that needs tuning is a phone call. A real warranty issue is fixed by the people who built it, not handed off. Book a measured consult when you are ready to start a kitchen we will both stand behind for ten years.
Common questions
What does the 10-year cabinetry warranty actually cover?
It covers the cabinets we built. The boxes staying square. The doors staying flat. The joints holding. The finishes not failing in normal home use. And the install work we did on site. If a box bows, a door warps, a joint opens or a finish fails inside ten years from a bad part or bad workmanship, we come back and fix it. The warranty sits in writing in the proposal you sign, not on a sticker inside a drawer.
What is not covered, and where do the other warranties stack on top?
The cabinet warranty does not cover wear and tear, accident damage, water damage from an unsealed sink, or appliance faults. Blum runners and hinges carry a separate lifetime warranty on the mechanism, listed in your name at handover. The benchtop slab carries its own warranty (10 to 25 years by brand), also listed in your name. Appliances are claimed through the appliance brand, not us.
How do I keep an engineered stone or porcelain benchtop looking new?
Wipe spills as they happen, above all red wine, citrus, turmeric and any solvent. Use a board for serious cutting; modern stone resists scratches but it is not a knife block. Use a trivet under anything seriously hot off the stove, even on heat-tolerant porcelain. A daily wipe with warm water and a soft cloth is enough; the stone does not need a daily spray.
What looks after timber and 2-pac door fronts over the years?
Soft microfibre and warm water for the daily wipe. Avoid kitchen sprays with solvents on 2-pac (the propellant softens the finish over years of repeat contact). And no steel wool or scouring pads on either. Natural timber veneer likes beeswax or hard wax twice a year on the high-use doors; the rest just needs a clean. If a door ever needs a touch-up, we use the same paint or oil we built with, kept in the workshop with your job file.
What do I do if a drawer stops running square or a soft-close stops easing?
Call us. Blum runners and hinges have visible screws for tuning; a five-minute tweak will usually fix it, and we walk you through it on the phone or come out if you prefer. A real failure of the runner is covered by the Blum lifetime warranty, which we set up for you at handover, and we swap the runner on the day. The point is the kitchen does not become someone else problem after handover. We built it, and we look after it.
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