Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Re: Powder post bugs in cabinets

You would need to hire a bug expert (an entomologist) to testify in person that the bugs indeed do lay dormant in wood for many years -- and, seemingly conversely, that the cabinetmaker should have known they were there and could have reasonably taken steps to prevent the infestation. Like all expert witnesses, entomologists charge by the hour, and most of them have plenty of work testifying in homicide cases (don't ask). In other words it will cost you a lot of money just to get to trial, and then there is no guarantee that you would win, or that if you won you would recover the cost of the expert (although there are some laws that, in some circumstances, provide for this).

Re: Powder post bugs in cabinets

Before you talk to an attorney, talk to an expert on bugs or an expert on cabinet making to find out what the standard is and whether the cabinet maker did not follow the standard. If he did, you are out of luck. If he did not, you may have a case, but it may just be a small claims court case if it is under $7,500.