Why Us

Just like everyone out there, we are consumers just like you. To help educate you on the products and companies out there, we created this cheat sheet and information guide. As a disclaimer – 

PLEASE fact check against the information below yourself and DO YOUR OWN research. If you do feel something is inaccurate, or have updated information, please send us an email or a call and we will happily correct it! 

All the above pricing is based on an 18” wide shelf, Bottom Mounted, Maple Bottoms, with Full Extension Rails (if possible). Pricing will increase with most companies the wider the shelf is. 

Standard Side Height 

We are the clear winner in this category. No other company out there offers sides as high as ours standard and everyone else does it because they can get 2-3 more shelves by shorting you on materials. 

Joinery

We are also the clear winner in this category as well. Rabbet joinery is NOT interlocking.  It is however the cheapest and also the easiest way to save time. Some companies but put 2 pieces together at a 90 degree angle with nails and call it a day. Blind Dovetails are indeed an actual joint, but we have seen shelves fall apart because they don’t use glue or nails – Another short cut. Want proof we have the superior joint? This is the Butt Joint tested (https://youtu.be/CE147Ow7RmM?t=856) This is a FULL Dovetail which would be at least 2x stronger than a Blind Dovetail used by A Quality Roll Outs (https://youtu.be/CE147Ow7RmM?t=1130) What about the Drawer lock joint we use? Closest example is the mitre joint except ours interlocks (https://youtu.be/CE147Ow7RmM?t=1233)

Height Loss

Another clear category we are indeed the winner in. Why is our height loss so much less than the competition? Our own custom and Patented bracketing system! Also the fact our Dado’s are cut in deeper, and shallower than the competition- We can do this because we use glue on the bottom of the shelves as well.  

Lacquering

This is a tie across the board, except for Shelves that Slide. The quality of the lacquering isn’t great in our opinion. Shelf Genie (Edit: no longer in business as of 2023) does offer some really interesting options that include hardwoods and white enamel (which of course, costs even more). 

Slide Type

This here is the big one. No other company except A Quality Roll Outs offers full extension ball bearing slides standard and they only offer the cheapest 80lb rated. Some companies don’t even offer it as an option at all! Why? Because it takes twice the time to install ball bearing slides, and only a true artisan and professional can install ball bearing slides due to the fact the tolerances are +/- 1/32nd of an inch- and +/- 1/64th for Soft Close. Most companies will push ¾ Euro slides on you and say things like “it’s only a difference of 3 inches” or “you don’t really need full extension, these ¾ Euro slides will work just fine and hold 100 lbs”! Both statements are LIES. LIES. LIES. LIES.

Why? The average kitchen cabinet is 23” – 25% or ¼ of 23” is 5 ¾  inches. So you’ll actually be leaving closer to 7+” in your cabinet when they’re fully extended. The 100 lb rating they are talking about? Is ONLY when the shelf is IN your cabinet (by that logic we could claim our shelves hold 500lbs). When extended some manufacturers will claim 50 to 75lbs but the reality is ¾ euro slides failure rate is drastically high once you get past 50lbs – The thin metal slides will bend OR the Nylon wheels will. They are just simply not made for heavy duty applications. Need proof? These are what the manufacturers say on their websites; (https://www.knapeandvogt.com/product-page/roller-slides) (https://tinyurl.com/ycxtajzd) (http://www.grassusa.com/downloads/grass_catalog_epoxy_slides.pdf)
Need more proof? Take a look at all of the failed slides we’ve replaced over the years, Here. 

Soft Close

It’s important to note that our Soft Close Slides are PREMIUM, just like our full extension slides. It’s also important to test your product and hardware. We selected Knape and Vogt “G-Slide” soft close slides not because of the cost, but because they’re the ONLY Soft Close slide we tested, that we couldn’t break the Soft Close mechanisms on. We offer a lifetime warranty on our product and we have to stand by it, which means we have to stand by the hardware we select as well. We’ve installed 100,000+ shelves and have NEVER had a full extension rail or soft close full extension rail fail. Not even when people fall into them. 

Depth Intervals

This is important information to the unsuspecting customer. Remember the 23” Average cabinet depth dimension? This means that companies out there building at 2” depth intervals could be cheating you out of shelf space. It might not sound like that much, but 2” of depth loss across an average kitchen is equivalent to an ENTIRE cabinet or more of lost space. Most Competitors are building shelves at a 21 or 21 ½ Inch Depth to put in a 23 inch cabinet. Shelf Theory would be installing a 22 ¾ inch shelf in that space. 

Pricing

We’re not the bargain basement cheapest company out there, and when we started Shelf Theory, we never set out to be the lowest price in town. We set out to be the BEST company and product out there

for the money. If the bottom line is all you care about is price, sorry to say, we’re not the company for you and point you to A Quality Roll Outs or some prefabricated metal wire units from China available at Home Depot.

If you read any of the hundreds of real customer reviews out there – You’ll see our customers think so too. If none of this convinces you – We welcome you to get a quote from any competitor out there and to save you time, we’re providing you with their contact information below. 

Shelves That Slide – 623-780-2555 or 1-800-598-7390 (Shelvesthatslide.com)

Slide Out Shelves LLC – 1-866-374-3583 (slideoutshelvesllc.com) 

A Quality Roll Out Drawers – (480) 326-9494 (aqualitycorp.com)