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eks6426

Cost of cabinet installation?

eks6426
14 years ago

I had custom cabinets made. Originally, my husband and I were going to do the install so that was not figured into the price. Now, some other things have come up that takes our time, so we're considering letting the cabinet shop folks do the install.

We asked for a price and it came back high to us. But we don't have much for comparison.

We have 8 lowers and 7 uppers plus a shallow can storage type cabinet. Crown that will go on the cabinets plus the rest of the way around the room and light rail. The cabinet shop gave us a price of $1,600. That comes out to about $100 per cabinet. Does that sound high or normal?

I am in the medium size city in the midwest...so not generally a high rent district. Average home pricing is under $100K here.

Comments (25)

  • Stacy Rahn-Dennis
    14 years ago

    I'm sure more knowledgeable folks with chime in (and I'll be listening) but I've been heard about 10% of the cabinet cost from several vendors. When I first started looking at cabinets Home Depot was advertising installation at $79/box which I don't think included crown, etc. I'm in Texas.

  • calypsochick
    14 years ago

    Ten percent of the cabinet costs is about right from my experience so far, and I'm in NYC.

  • joep_2009
    14 years ago

    I'm in NJ. Some of the quotes we got came as high as $150 per cabinet including crown and knobs/handles. For a while last year, HD was advertising $99 per cabinet.

  • chrisdrew
    14 years ago

    Lowe's told me 4-5k for a 9x14 L.. Um, yeah, I'll find someone else is what I said.

  • weissman
    14 years ago

    You are probably better off having the people who built them do the installation - that way if there are any problems or issues they'll be able to fix them for you.

  • Circus Peanut
    14 years ago

    I'd say about $1600 for that size sounds about right (slightly top end) for my area (Maine). Definitely consider sticking with your manufacturers for the install -- they will know what to do if any glitches come up, and might well be more flexible with any potential mismeasurements etc, which could save you $$ in the long run.

  • marcolo
    14 years ago

    weissman has a point--all else being equal, it's nice when a contractor has no one to point fingers at except himself.

  • portland_renovation
    14 years ago

    hmmmm... sounds like I am getting a bargain at $500 for my install.

  • denisef05
    14 years ago

    I am paying $2000 for my GC to install them and I think it is worth every penny. Turns out my kitchen floor is very unlevel and his guys are making sure the cabinets look as good installed as they did out of the box.

  • stuktu
    14 years ago

    I agree with live wire oak, installing cabinets is much more that hanging a box on a wall. Installed properly, inexpensive cabinets can look great and high end cabinets can look spectacular.

    The cost of cabinets will vary greatly depending on the quality of the cabinets, the wood, the door style, the finish, the internal accessories and the external embellishments (ie decorator end panels, stacked crown, carved mouldings, columns etc.). Most of those things do not impact the time it takes to install the cabinets so it is not realistic to expect the price of installation to be a percentage of the cabinet price.

    In Northern California it is realistic to expect to pay $2500 - $3500 for installation of an average size kitchen with crown moulding and other trim work.

  • eks6426
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Well, it sounds like the cabinet guys install pricing might be a little high for my area, but not much. The advice I'm reading is that it is worth it to pay for them to do it. Right?

  • lindalp
    14 years ago

    I'm in Northern California, just had about 16 cabinets installed for $1500. Home Depot wanted nearly twice that much, after they added in all the little extras, like putting down paper to protect the floor etc.. If I were you, I'd get another bid, and if it's close to the cabinet makers bid, I'd go with the cabinet maker.

  • sue36
    14 years ago

    $100 per cabinet sounds very reasonable to me. Usually I would say that if there is light rail, crown molding or any scribing or other issues I'd say it sounds too cheap. Since the cabinet maker himself is giving you estimate I'd say go for it, he is being very fair for the scope of work (light rail, crown).

  • covingtoncat
    14 years ago

    Are you and DH experienced DIY'ers? Is this the sort of thing you could do EASILY? If not, I think you should have the shop do it. It seams a reasonable price and if there are any issues, you have someone to go back to. My time and lack of expertise would make the $1,600 seem cheap in comparison. But I have no idea how to do that kind of work. I do know that if its not done properly, it will cost so much more for the pain in the butt factor alone. Just my .02, YMMMV.

  • eks6426
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    My husband and I are very good DIY people, but we are not finish carpenters. On this project, we did all the demo, all the electric, plumbing, gas lines, ceiling repair, venting, painting etc. We did not do window install or flooring install.

    Generally, we are not afraid to try anything, but my concern at this point is that the final look could turn out bad. I know the devil is in the details.

    We are considering seeing if we can do the base cabinets and then have them do the uppers which has the crown/light rail etc. But not sure how much they would cut their price for that.

    Still on a kitchen remodel that is already over budget, $1600 is a lot of cash. At this point, I'd be using one of the zero interest credit card offers that landed in my box. I just paid off our other credit card debt before this project so I hate to go back down that path again....

    Cabinet guys said they can do it next week. If hubby & I do it, it will probably be at least 2 weekends worth of work. We can't really do much during the week because we both work full time AND I go to school 2 nights a week and have to do homework on the other nights.

    So,it comes down to "can we get it right ourselves" and "how long do we want to wait?" If I pay the $1600, I can probably be cooking in my new kitchen before the first day of spring. If we do it ourselves, realistically, it'll be Easter.

    Tough decisions.

  • sabjimata
    14 years ago

    I am in central Florida. We got our quote from lowes. It was around $18k for the cabs and $2k for the install (18 foot long galley kitchen, uppers only on one side). We were told if we used their installers there would be no sales taz.

  • sue36
    14 years ago

    "We are considering seeing if we can do the base cabinets and then have them do the uppers which has the crown/light rail etc."

    Uppers go in first.

  • padola07
    14 years ago

    "Uppers go in first."

    Not necessarily. I installed my cabinets alongside an experienced pro he goes lowers first. He has a good reason for it but i forget. He uses a small lift/jack to move the uppers in place. So if you're hiring a pro for the uppers the lowers installed shouldn't be a deal breaker.

    $100 per cabinet is on the high side. Home depot charges about that and thats after they pay the actual contractor and also make some money off the top.

    Someone said 10% of the cabinet cost. By that logic cherry cabinets should cost more to install than oak and thats not the case.

  • Jumpilotmdm
    11 years ago

    With all you've done on the job so far you should be able to handle the cabinet install yourselves. Respect it, but don't be afraid of it. Try the DIY books or You Tube for coaching. I've fixed 6 appliances in my house all using the web for advice.
    Is the floor basically level? If not, cutting a cabinet's base to install it level on a floor that's out 2 ways can be a real challenge. Also, the crown requires a compound miter, and unless you've done that and have the right equipment???
    Those are the 2 areas i'd watch out for the most.
    Consider hiring a skilled guy to be on the job and work as his helper. I did a roof that way years ago and it worked great.
    All previous posts are right in one way or another, but a "per box" price is something I'd be concerned about. Kitchens are a lot of things, but simple is usually not one of them.

  • munibrokr2
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Not more then $125 per cabinet, including knobs and crown molding.

  • millworkman
    7 years ago

    munibroke2, is that today's price or the 2012 price when the question was asked?

  • St23
    6 years ago

    So my reaction to a $30,000-$35,000 estimate to install cabinets being ridiculous is not out of line? I’m working with someone at Lowe’s who first gave me a cabinet cost of $56,000 for cabinets only. I switched to a different cabinet door and now the cabinet cost is $36,000 however the installation costs as quoted at 30-35K. And I crazy?

  • Joe Macker
    4 years ago

    @St23 How much did the install turn out to be? Is there a typical correlation between cabinet cost and install cost?

  • Aglitter
    4 years ago

    @Joe Macker This is a very old thread with outdated pricing. Today's current estimates would put your installation costs around 16% of the cabinetry cost for a quality installation of mid- to upper-range cabinetry.