Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Why Los Angeles Homeowners Choose CWS Construction
We provide Cws repair in Los Angeles, focusing on the kitchens, baths, and built-in cabinetry that carry the C.W.S. mark from the 1980s and 90s. Mason Remodeling Co Los Angeles is not affiliated with or authorized by CWS, but our crew works on CWS-built homes across Los Angeles every week and knows how these cabinets, counters, and doors fail in Southern California’s dry, shifting soil. We repair what’s fixable, replace what isn’t, and put every price in writing before work begins. Call (213) 632-5711 for a free estimate.
Our connection to CWS work isn’t theoretical. Isaac Pruett, our owner, spent nearly two decades on residential and light commercial jobs across Los Angeles County before running Mason Remodeling Co, and CWS-era kitchens show up constantly in the pre-1990 housing stock that dominates neighborhoods from the flats of the Valley to the hillside lots above Echo Park. The face-frame cabinets, solid-surface tops, and solid-core doors from that period have identifiable quirks. Knowing them means we diagnose faster and stop chasing symptoms that don’t point to the real cause.
Why Trust Mason Remodeling Co Los Angeles for Your CWS Construction?
You want someone who has actually opened a CWS cabinet and seen what’s behind the face frame. Our crew has. The CWS “Malibu” line, for example, used hardwood plywood boxes with face-frame construction, but the end panels were particleboard. That combination is predictable: the boxes hold up fine, while the end panels swell after a decade of sink or dishwasher spray. A contractor who hasn’t worked on CWS units sees a swollen panel and quotes full cabinet replacement. We see a panel that can be rebuilt with marine plywood while the original face frame and doors stay on the wall. That distinction can save you thousands.
We also understand the Los Angeles-specific behavior of these builds. Slab-on-grade homes settle differently than raised foundations, and CWS full-height pantry cabinets rack out of square as the concrete moves. Doors bind at the top corner or catch the frame at the bottom. The fix is a combination of hinge adjustment, face-frame shimming, and occasionally planing the door stile, not replacing the pantry. Isaac’s training at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and his years on Valley and Westside job sites taught him to look for structural cause before cosmetic symptom.
Every CWS repair or installation we perform follows the same rules we apply to all our work at Mason Remodeling Co: you get a written price before anything starts, a written guarantee with plainly stated terms, and a free return visit if something isn’t right. We never waive the written price, and we never leave you guessing about who’s showing up or what happens next.
Styles & brands we work with
Common CWS Construction Problems We Fix in Los Angeles
Here’s what we see most often on CWS-era homes in Los Angeles:
- Particleboard end panels swelling and delaminating. CWS base cabinets built with particleboard end panels absorb water from repeated sink overflows, dishwasher leaks, and P-trap drips. The panel swells, the laminate peels back at the edges, and the drawer glides get pulled out of alignment. By the time drawers start sticking, the panel has usually been wet for months. We rebuild the end panel with marine plywood and re-laminate to match, or we replace the panel entirely if the swelling has reached the face frame.
- Full-height pantry cabinets racking out of square. Los Angeles slab-on-grade homes settle, and tall CWS pantry cabinets don’t flex with the movement. The cabinet frame twists slightly, and suddenly the top door binds while the bottom door catches the frame. Homeowners sometimes call us thinking the doors warped. They didn’t. The cabinet racked. We square the frame with shims, adjust the hinges, and plane the door only if absolutely necessary.
- Solid-surface countertop seams yellowing and cracking at the sink cutout. The 19mm CWS solid-surface tops, especially older Corian-style installs, often had expansion gaps omitted at the time of installation. Southern California’s heat cycles cause the material to expand and contract, and without the gap, stress concentrates at the weakest point: the sink cutout. Seams yellow, crack, and eventually open. We repair seams when the material is still sound. If water has gotten underneath and the deck is swelling, we quote full replacement instead of patching it forever.
- Brass cabinet hinges seizing and snapping at the knuckle. CWS houses from the 1980s and 90s often used solid brass hinges. In dry Los Angeles air, the lubricant inside the knuckle breaks down, the hinge seizes, and the door movement puts stress on the knuckle until it cracks. Once one hinge snaps, the door hangs by the remaining hinge and chips the adjoining face frame. We replace seized hinges before they fail, and when they have already snapped, we hunt exact-era brass replacements through regional salvage suppliers.
- Solid-core doors with sagging hinge plates. CWS solid-core interior passage doors are heavy, and the original brass hinge plates were often screwed into soft wood framing without long enough screws. Decades of use work the screws loose, the plate pulls away from the jamb, and the door starts rubbing at the strike side. We re-set the plates with longer screws, repair any stripped holes, and bring the door back to a clean, quiet close.
CWS Parts & Our Repair-vs-Replace Approach
We don’t guess with parts. For CWS pulls, hinges, and touch-up needs, we hunt exact-era pieces through regional architectural salvage yards and marine-plywood suppliers across Los Angeles. Cws in Van Nuys salvage lots have been a reliable source for period brass hinges. When we rebuild drawer stacks, we use modern undermount glides rather than trying to source obsolete side-mount hardware that was never great to begin with. The face frame, doors, and visible hardware stay original. The parts you can’t see get upgraded to something that will outlast the original.
For CWS solid-surface tops, our rule is simple: repair seams and heat-warped aprons when the material is sound. If the deck is swelling from water intrusion, or the seams around the sink have opened to the substrate, we quote full replacement. Patching a water-compromised top repeatedly costs more over two years than replacing it once, and we’d rather tell you that on the first visit. Call (213) 632-5711 and we’ll assess your CWS pieces and give you an honest repair-or-replace recommendation with a written price.
Our CWS Service Process – Step by Step
- 1
Diagnosis. We inspect the CWS cabinetry, countertop, or hardware in your Los Angeles home, identify the exact failure mode, and show you what we found. You’ll know what’s wrong and why before any work is authorized.
- 2
Written price. We deliver a line-item quote covering parts, labor, and timeline. This is not a verbal estimate. It’s a written price that doesn’t change once we start.
- 3
Repair or installation. We perform the work using OEM-compatible or era-correct parts, and we rebuild structural components with materials that handle Los Angeles conditions: marine plywood for wet areas, hardwood for face frames, and undermount glides for longevity.
- 4
Testing and cleanup. Every drawer cycles cleanly, every door closes square, every seam sits flush, and the job site is left cleaner than we found it. You get a written guarantee with clear terms: 365 days from the completion date, with a free return visit if something fails.
CWS Products We Service & Install in Los Angeles
Our crew works on the full range of CWS-era residential construction across Los Angeles, including the CWS “Malibu” line of custom kitchen cabinets with face-frame construction and hardwood plywood boxes, standard CWS solid-surface countertops with integrated walnut edge profiles, CWS “Sierra” electric cooktop ventilation hoods in 30- and 36-inch widths, and CWS solid-core interior passage doors with the original brass hinge hardware from 1980s and 90s builds. We stock common fasteners, glides, touch-up kits, and hinge plates locally, and we can source era-correct pulls and hinges within days for most Los Angeles projects.
We emphasize cabinet installation and refacing, quartz and granite countertop installation, and kitchen island construction on CWS homes. An existing CWS kitchen doesn’t need to be gutted to add function. We can match new cabinetry to the original face-frame proportions and door profiles, add an island without touching the perimeter cabinets, and install a new countertop that sits cleanly against the original CWS surfaces.
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AfterWe Also Service These Brands
While CWS work is a regular part of our week, we install and service cabinetry and surfaces from KraftMaid and Wellborn, quartz and solid-surface countertops from Cambria, Silestone, and Caesarstone, and fixtures from Kohler, Moen, Toto, and Grohe. That breadth matters when you’re mixing original CWS pieces with modern replacements. We’re not tied to one brand’s limitations, so we can spec the right product for your project rather than the only product we sell.
CWS Construction Pricing in Los Angeles
Here’s what CWS-related work typically costs in Los Angeles, based on projects our crew has completed across the city:
| Service | Typical Los Angeles Price Range |
|---|---|
| Cabinet Installation & Refacing | $4,720 – $15,340 |
| Quartz & Granite Countertops | $2,360 – $7,670 |
| Kitchen Island Installation | $3,540 – $11,800 |
These ranges reflect what we’ve quoted and completed in Los Angeles on CWS-era homes. Your price depends on the condition of the existing cabinetry, the linear footage involved, the countertop material, and whether we’re repairing, refacing, or replacing. You’ll get a written line-item quote before any work begins, with no change orders and no rewritten invoice at the end.
One recent job captures how we approach CWS work. Our tech pulled a water-stained CWS vanity base in a Silver Lake bungalow and found the particleboard side panels had wicked water from a leaking P-trap for months, leaving the drawer stack blown out. We rebuilt the box with marine plywood, reused the original CWS face frame and solid maple doors after light sanding, and swapped the corroded 1970s CWS brass hinges for period replacements from Cws service in Beverly Hills and nearby salvage lots. The customer kept their original cabinet look, and the drawers now glide straight. That’s the standard we hold for every CWS repair in Los Angeles.
FAQs – CWS Construction Service in Los Angeles
Yes. CWS face frames on the “Malibu” line are solid hardwood and usually worth keeping. We reface by replacing or re-laminating doors and drawer fronts, cleaning and sanding the face frames, and matching the finish to the original. The cabinet boxes stay on the wall, which cuts the job time and the cost significantly. Call (213) 632-5711 and we’ll inspect yours and give you a written refacing quote.
Your pantry cabinet has racked, not the door. Los Angeles slab-on-grade homes settle and shift with the dry, compacting soil, and CWS full-height pantry cabinets are rigid enough that they don’t flex with the movement. The frame twists slightly, and the doors bind at the top or catch at the bottom, most noticeably in the hot months when wood expands. We square the cabinet frame with shims and re-align the hinges. In most cases, the doors themselves are fine and don’t need planing.
It depends on the condition of the surrounding material. If the seams around the cutout are cracked but the deck is still dry and sound, we can often cut back the damaged section, refinish the cutout, and install a new sink. If the deck has swelled from water intrusion, or the seams have opened to the substrate, patching won’t hold and we’ll recommend full replacement. Our first visit will tell you which path makes sense, and you’ll get a written price either way.
We stock common hinge plates and fasteners, and we source era-correct CWS brass hinges through architectural salvage yards and hardware suppliers across Los Angeles. The Van Nuys salvage lots, in particular, have been a consistent source for period brass hinges. If we can’t find an exact match, we’ll tell you upfront and show you the closest period-correct alternative before we install it.
Yes. We build islands to match the original CWS face-frame proportions and door profiles, so the new piece sits naturally with the existing cabinetry. We match finishes, trim, and hardware, and we can install a complementary countertop that ties the kitchen together. You don’t need to lose your original CWS cabinets to gain an island. Call (213) 632-5711 and we’ll measure the space and give you a written quote for the work.
CWS cabinet installation and refacing in Los Angeles typically runs $4,720 to $15,340. Quartz and granite countertop work on CWS kitchens generally falls between $2,360 and $7,670, and kitchen island installation ranges from $3,540 to $11,800. The condition of your existing CWS cabinets, the materials you choose, and the scope of the repair all affect the final number. We price every job in writing before any work starts, so you’ll know the exact cost before you commit. Call (213) 632-5711 for a free estimate.
Book Your CWS Service in Los Angeles, CA
If your CWS cabinets, countertops, or hardware need work, call Mason Remodeling Co Los Angeles at (213) 632-5711 for General Contractor services. We’ll schedule a visit, assess the damage, and give you a written price before anything starts. Know who’s coming, know what it costs, know it’s guaranteed – everything else is just noise.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner at Mason Remodeling Co Los Angeles, serving Los Angeles since 2004.
