What Should You Check When Your Kitchen Cabinets Are Delivered?

Kitchen delivery day is exciting, but it is also an important handover point. Before the fitter starts opening boxes, moving cabinets or making adjustments, you need to know that the right items have arrived and that they are in suitable condition.

Quick answer: When your kitchen cabinets are delivered, check every item against the delivery note, inspect the cabinetry and finishing pieces for obvious problems, and make sure everything can be stored in a clean, dry and heated room. Report any missing or damaged items promptly. Painted Kitchens requires delivery issues to be reported within 48 hours, so do not leave the full check until fitting begins.

Prepare the access and storage area before delivery

A delivery check is much easier when the route into the property is clear and there is a sensible place for the cabinets to go. Painted Kitchens normally contacts customers around two weeks before delivery to discuss access and the handling of larger items.

Tell the team about narrow lanes, restricted parking, steps, low bridges, tight doorways or other access problems in advance. Delivery is to the ground floor unless another arrangement has been agreed, and the route must be safe for the delivery team. A large cabinet cannot simply be lifted over an obstacle or taken through a window.

Access can also affect how the kitchen arrives. Some particularly large pieces may need to be supplied flat-packed if a fully built cabinet cannot pass safely through the property. This should be discussed before delivery rather than discovered while the van is outside.

You also need a suitable storage area ready. Wooden cabinetry should not be left in an unfinished, damp or unheated room. Newly plastered spaces must be fully dry, windows should be fitted and the temperature should be reasonably stable. If your project is not ready, contact Painted Kitchens before the delivery date instead of assuming the cabinetry can sit safely on site.

Use the delivery note as the first checklist

Painted Kitchens brings a delivery note and checks items as they come off the van. Follow that process rather than relying on memory or counting only the largest cabinets.

The delivery note is your first check that the physical items handed over match the planned delivery. The signed order remains the definitive record of what was ordered, so keep that available too. If something appears to be missing, the team can compare what was ordered with what was signed for.

A practical check has two stages:

• During unloading: check the items against the delivery note and raise anything obviously missing or damaged.
• Immediately after delivery: complete a careful inspection while everything is still easy to identify and report any issue within the stated 48-hour period.

Do not wait until the fitter arrives several days later. By then, packaging may have been moved, components may be harder to identify and the reporting window may have passed.

What should you inspect when kitchen cabinets arrive?

Start with the overall order, then work down to the details. The aim is not to begin fitting the kitchen yourself. It is to confirm that the delivery appears complete and identify anything that needs attention before work starts.

Cabinet quantities and types

Check that the expected base cabinets, wall cabinets, tall cabinets and any island units are present. Refer to the delivery note, signed order and kitchen plan rather than judging the order by the number of packages alone. A tall appliance housing and a larder can look similar while protected, but they do very different jobs in the finished kitchen.

Doors, drawers and visible cabinet parts

Look for obvious knocks, splits, distortion or damage to doors, drawer fronts, frames and cabinet edges. Open or remove packaging only as necessary and handle the cabinetry carefully. If you are unsure whether an area needs attention, photograph it before the cabinet is moved or altered.

Panels and finishing pieces

End panels, fillers, plinths, skirting and cornice can be less visually prominent on delivery, but they are essential to completing the kitchen. Check them against the paperwork rather than assuming every long or narrow component is interchangeable.

Smaller parts and accessories

Confirm that any separately listed handles, fittings, internal storage items, touch-up materials and other accessories are present. Keep small components together in a clearly identified, secure place. They are much easier to lose on a busy building site than a cabinet.

Primed exteriors and oak-coloured interiors

Painted Kitchens supplies its traditional cabinetry with primed external surfaces ready for final preparation and hand painting. The cabinet interiors have an oak-coloured lacquered finish. Inspect both areas, but remember that they are finished differently and are repaired differently.

Does every mark on a primed cabinet mean it is damaged?

Not necessarily. One advantage of cabinetry supplied in primer is that minor marks from production, delivery or fitting can usually be filled, prepared and covered during the final painting process. Painted Kitchens supplies a small touch-up kit with each order, along with an oak-coloured wax pencil for minor marks inside the cabinets.

That does not mean you should ignore a concern. Photograph anything that looks more substantial than a minor surface mark and report it within the required period. Do not fill, sand, paint or otherwise alter a questionable area before asking for advice, as that can make the original issue harder to assess.

If you want to understand why the visible surfaces arrive primed, the Painted Kitchens FAQs explain the repairable hand-painted system in more detail.

How should kitchen cabinets be stored before fitting?

Once the delivery has been checked, keep the cabinetry in the agreed dry, heated and secure space. Timber responds to changes in moisture and temperature, so it needs suitable site conditions and time to acclimatise.

A garage, unfinished extension or recently plastered room may look convenient, but it can expose wooden cabinets to moisture and unstable temperatures. Do not store or fit the kitchen in a room that is still wet, has no heating or windows, or is not fully dry after plastering and painting.

Keep the route through the room organised and avoid repeatedly moving cabinets to make space for other trades. Protect the order from dust, water and unnecessary handling, while retaining enough access to identify individual items when fitting begins.

Why should the order be checked before the fitter starts?

A fitter can only work efficiently when the cabinetry, panels and essential components are present. If a missing item is discovered halfway through installation, it may interrupt the sequence and create avoidable costs or delays.

Painted Kitchens advises customers to book trades only after the order has been delivered and checked. If you need to plan further ahead, discuss provisional timing with the trades involved, but do not treat an expected delivery date as confirmation that every part is ready for fitting.

The wider kitchen ordering process explains how the quote, sign-off, access check, delivery and aftercare fit together. You can also review current availability using the kitchen delivery calendar.

What should you send if something is missing or damaged?

Clear information makes a delivery query easier to investigate. When contacting Painted Kitchens, include:

• your name, order number and delivery date;
• the item or cabinet concerned;
• a short description of what is missing or wrong;
• clear photographs of any damage, including a wider image showing the complete item;
• a copy or photograph of the relevant delivery-note entry if useful.

Keep the affected component safe and avoid modifying it until you have received advice. The current Painted Kitchens terms and conditions require issues to be reported within 48 hours of delivery.

Make the delivery check part of the kitchen plan

Delivery day should not be treated as the moment between ordering and fitting when everybody simply hopes for the best. Allow time to receive the cabinetry, check the paperwork, inspect the order and store it correctly before installation begins.

If you are still planning your kitchen, browse the Shaker kitchen ranges or contact Painted Kitchens to discuss the design, delivery access and whether larger cabinets should arrive built or flat-packed.

Final thought

The most important delivery-day checks are simple: match the items to the delivery note, inspect them promptly, keep them somewhere dry and suitable, and report concerns before fitting starts. That short pause protects the cabinetry, the installation programme and your ability to resolve a problem while the details are still clear.

Kitchen cabinet delivery FAQs

Do I need to unpack every kitchen cabinet while the driver is there?

Check every item against the delivery note at the time of delivery and look for obvious problems. Complete the detailed inspection promptly after unloading and within Painted Kitchens' 48-hour reporting period.

How long do I have to report a missing or damaged item?

Painted Kitchens requires delivery issues to be reported within 48 hours. Inspect the order as soon as it arrives rather than waiting for the fitter to begin.

Can I store new kitchen cabinets in a garage?

Only if the space is dry, heated and suitable for wooden cabinetry. An unheated or damp garage, unfinished extension or recently plastered room can expose timber to damaging moisture and temperature changes.

Should I book my kitchen fitter for the day after delivery?

Do not commit trades until the order has arrived and been checked. Leave enough time to identify and report any missing or damaged items before fitting begins.

Are small marks on pre-primed kitchen cabinets a serious problem?

Minor surface marks can often be repaired during preparation and final hand painting. Photograph and report anything more substantial, and ask for advice before filling, sanding or painting the affected area.