Custom cabinet cost estimate unreasonable?

10 years ago

We recently received a bid for custom cabinets from the contractor that our KD works with and were surprised by the cost. The total came in at $33,500. I would love to have yall's feedback on whether or not you think they sounds unreasonably expensive.

The cabinets are frameless construction. Boxes are manufactured with 3/4" birch plywood with conversion varnish finish. Doors and drawers to be mitered with a raised panel in stain grade solid knotty alder. I will post a picture of the door style below. The drawer boxes are 3/4" plywood construction and drawer guides will be Blum tandem self closing undermounted. The hinges will be Blum soft closing.

I calculated that we will have about 64' linear feet of cabinets. The price includes installation, a trash pull out, upper and lower spice pull outs, cutlery organizer, moveable dividers in the drawer below the range top, the cabinet above the oven, and the drawer below the oven, and an appliance panel for the dishwasher.

We will be recessing the bank of cabinets on the short wall by a couple of inches to be able to make those cabinets 14" deep. Our counter tops will be 38" high and we have 48" upper cabinets. The cabinets on the refrigerator wall ail be 30 1/2" deep. We will also have applied door panels on the exposed sides of the cabinets.

Below are pictures of our cabinet elevations. What are your thoughts? Does that price seem unreasonable?

Featured Answer

scpalmetto

10 years ago

That actually sounds in line to me, we too were shocked by the price of cabinets. On the up side, it made the price of the appliances seem quite reasonable by comparison.

Comments (11)

_sophiewheeler
10 years ago
It actually sounds on the low side for that many cabinets with that many details, and with the extremely deorative mitered door with applied molding that you've chosen. That'ss a VERY expensive door compared to a plain shaker.
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ajc71
10 years ago
Sounds like a steal to me....I would expect to pay double that
crl_
10 years ago
That Is about what my mom paid in a low cost of living area many years ago. So it doesn't seem high to me. But why not get some other bids?
live_wire_oak
10 years ago
Not at all high. Cheap. Suspiciously ridiculously cheap for that huge amount of cabinets with that level of ++++ upgrades. It's 2x-3x the size of an "average" kitchen. You've probably got 2-3K worth of just drawer glides in there, and the hood is about 4-5K, without the blower. And yeah, those doors are an expensive profile.

I'd have to see examples of his work for that price for sure. (I would want to anyway.) But, I'd want to have a sample door and subject it to my own KCMA testing. It's the finish that usually is the weak point in custom cabinets. It's never as durable as a factory finish. So, I'd want to be sure it was at least durable enough to pass my own lifestyle test.

Here is a link that might be useful: KCMA testing. Do your cabinets pass?
sjhockeyfan325
10 years ago
I have about 33 linear feet of cabinets if you include the refrigerator which is paneled. I paid slightly under $15,000 for semi-custom mid-range cabinets, and thought those were very fairly priced. So no, I don't think $33,500 is at all high for what you are proposing to do.
magsnj
10 years ago
Are you all considering that these are frameless? Frameless are supposed to be less expensive than traditional framed cabinets (that doesn't make them worse, it's just the way it is b/c they take less material to make, and there are other reasons I'm not recalling) so you can't compare the cost of the two. Apples and oranges. Based on the cost of my custom frameless cabinets, the price isn't out of line, but I think it could be about 5k less, but I'm basing that on my pricing and I went straight to the cabinetmaker, so I didn't have the added built in cost of a KD or General Contractor.
amberm145_gw
10 years ago
I have spoken to a few custom kitchen manufacturers, and they all say that custom STARTS at $30k. That's frameless, small kitchen, not too many upgrades.
amberm145_gw
10 years ago
I have spoken to a few custom kitchen manufacturers, and they all say that custom STARTS at $30k. That's frameless, small kitchen, not too many upgrades.
Texas_Gem
10 years ago
amberm145- I think it depends greatly on what part of the country you are in.

My cabinets for my U shaped 12 by 12 kitchen cost 5300.
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
Does it sound unreasonable? No. Not in the least.