it is so varied by the material, brand, upgrades,where you live,that it is hard to say. i paid less (about $370, I thnk), but have few drawers and other upgrades -- and thermofoil, not wood. EXPO, by the way told me to estimate $600/lf for Venecia thermofoil; I assume they assumed a lot of upgrades.

This seems extremely high for semi-custom cabinets but again, it depends on where you live. I had my kitchen cabinets installed for about $5800 (or $5600, can't remember) for 56 linear feet. They included molding, toe kicks, end scribes, undercabinet lighting and end panel for the peninsula. It is solid 3/4 inch beech shaker style door front and 3/8 for the box made of plywood. It included spice pull out rack, full extension drawers an lazy susans.
I had estimate up to $250 a linear feet for semi-custom cabinets.
Where do you live?

Greetings from "everything is more expensive" NYC. My contractor quoted $1400 per linear foor for custom cabinets. I'll need 15 linear feet (very tiny kitchen). I want custom because it's a quirky space and I want a lot of space-saving, storage-maximizing, bells and whistles.

silvia, I'll submit that 3/8" is awfully thin for the cabinet box. You should make sure that any countertop you are installing over it will be adequately supported. My cabinet boxes are twice as thick at 3/4" so no worries on cabinet loading, granite etc. I've heard that even 1/2" is okay for framed cabinets to support most cabinet loading and a stone countertop. However, 3/8" is thinner than even that - you really should make sure about what sort of counter it will support and how much cabinet loading that box will support.

Mindstorm- Typing error. It should be 5/8 inch for the side and back of the cabinet box. 3/4 inch plywood was placed over the installed base cabinets before the granite was glued on top.

Thanks for catching it and your concern

Thanks for your responses so far. I am in metro Wash, DC, and yes it's expensive here. But all the kitchens and baths I have redone have been here, so I know it's more expensive than some other areas. I will give some more detail below.

The cabinets are by Shilo, and they are all wood and plywood, no MDF. The custom cabinets my KD offers have a lot of MDF and vinyl coating inside the cabinets. The Shilo offer wood laminate (not vinyl) insides, plywood shelves, etc. I think the boxes are 5/8 or 3/4, can't remember.

The door style is a beaded Shaker (see link), but it is in the more expensive category of their line. The KD provided me with a price book (although they discount it all) and it looks like I would only save $20 or so per cabinet by going with a less expensive cabinet. The current estimate is for a full overlay, which I have decided I do not care for as much as the traditional look. But again, its only about $20 a cabinet more for the full overlay.

I have about 53 feet of cabinets (uppers and lowers separate) with 16 drawers, a trash pullout, and a super lazy susan in one corner.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shilo Cabinet chosen

Cherry wood is expensive. In fact, I think it is the most expensive wood for cabinets. I don't know the pricing in Washington but you may want to do some comparison shopping to see if $500 is about the price to pay for your area and cabinets.

Wait- are you doing stained glazed cherry (as in the link) or painted maple (as in the opening post)? I assume that glazed cherry is more expensive, and I hope nobody is painting cherry ! :)

I just received a couple semi custom quotes (using Medallion) AND a custom quote. I am figuring that I have 43 LF some of that area has no upper cabinets. The semi custom prices were coming out at $46,000 and $49,000, they are a glazed cherry and a painted island. There are no pull-outs, except for the garbage bin. The dishwasher and refrigerator are paneled (take approx. $3000 off for that). so, the lowest price comes to about $1000 per LF! (this does NOT include counter-tops). To be fair there is a 5' section of cabinets which is a "baker's pantry" and they broke that price out to be $5000!!!

Now I have a custom cabinet price from the same place. They make their own - and frankly - I don't care for them as much, but because of the savings - that's the way I am going to go. The same kitchen comes to $860. Per LF (or $37000.00). This happens to be our 4th kitchen too, and I am feeling a little ripped off truthfully. I know it can be done for A WHOLE LOT LESS, but we are building with a builder that does things a little different - and hence, we are using his "vendors". The other higher price though came from an independent vendor we picked.

I sat down and the kitchen designer/owner was fair and should me his cost. They put in a 190% mark-up!! Claiming that the installation, shipping and sales tax takes up a big chunk and then the overhead and building another.

muscat, I am doing a painted maple. The maple is standard, cherry was a 5% up charge. Painting is a 10% upcharge. All glazing, distressing, etc. are "free."

tinker_2006, the is not MY fourth kitchen--I helped design and install kitchens in my SIL's rental and my BIL's old house. This is my third kitchen where I actually paid for everything! Last one was in 1992, so some sticker shock there, but I used semi custom cabinets in my baths in 2006, so I kinda know what to expect. 190% mark up!!!! Yikes.

I got Kraftmaid painted maple with a glaze, all plywood construction, with crown molding and light rail and decorative panels for the island and ends, tons of drawers (dovetail, but not the other upgrades you have), but none of the super pricey frou-frou like corbels and legs. Door was a level 17 (max 19). By my calculation it cost $210/sq ft.

I'm not sure the price per linear foot my cabinet maker is charging. However the quoted price of $55K for custom maple glazed cabinets for my entire house (3 baths of which have 27 linear feet of vanities plus the tub surround in the master, 5 linear ft butlers pantry - upper/lower, 12 linear ft in the laundry room less washer/dryer, and the kitchen has about 25 linear ft of uppers/lowers and two islands - 3.5'x5' and the larger is 15' angled with cabinets on both sides.

My quote also includes pull out shelves, full extension drawers, 4or5" crown, furniture base molding, stacked upper glass doors in kitchen, appliance panels, and hardware. There are probably more things but I can't think of them right now.

Is my price fair? I hope so! They've already taken 10% off but DH wants them to throw in dove tail drawers and undermount glides,$2K, for the $55K. So we'll see.

Anyway, he said they normally charge $1000/linear ft for cabs to the ceiling (which I am doing in the kitchen -10' ceilings) and $800 ft otherwise for uppers/lowers. Still seems way high to me.

We used Kraftmaid Ginger Glaze in Cherry, and they were expensive, but I can't imagine that much. We live in the same area and it's really important to listen to what people are saying - shop around. It's no more expensive here than anywhere else for kitchen stuff. For our granite, we got varying estimates from the $60's-200 a foot... just crazy. We used Just Cabinets in Frederick - they are supposed to be slightly cheaper than HD or Lowes but you have to bring your own measurements.

Silvia - I am curious, at that price what brand cabinets did you get?

Teched - We are just in the very early stages - but looking at Shiloh as well. We like the cabinets - but to make sure we are going to get a fair price, I plan to get quotes from 2 other companies as well for different semi-custom brands and see how everything shakes out

I don't think it is a big company so no brand name. The kitchen designer (also the owner of the cabinet shop) used to work at a cabinet warehouse place for many years. He has good hook ups for inexpensive cabinets. They are like the ikea type because they come in a box and he had to assemble them. No MDF or particle board but plywood.

Very good job in installation and very nice cabinets. I had compliments from EVERYONE that came over. Not so much my giallo veneziano granite or my completely redone living room but my cabinets.

As others have said, please check around other pricing. When I thought about re-doing my kitchen, I had quotes of $9k to $13k just for refacing. Also, one general contractor was going to charge me 1k to paint the new doors and drawer front and then $1500 to put the hinges in for me. How ridiculous of a price can this be just for putting hinges on the doors.

The kitchen company I went through charged me just a touch over 1k to install my kitchen cabinets. It took 2 guys two full days to complete it.

Has anyone done that--taken another KD's layout or cabinet list and had other cabinet companies "bid"? I read with interest the post about the idea of buying the sink base from one supplier and another cabinet from someone else, etc.

After reading some of the prices here, I wonder if I am just in sticker shock. My quote is for around $27,000, but I think after reading some other posts here and testing out friends' and relatives' kitchens, I may scale back some items--I really do need dovetail drawers, but I don't think I need the full extension or blu motion. I also think I will wait on the integrated panel on the refrigerator until I see them installed. I am definitely giving up the 5 piece drawer heads too.

I spoke with a KD at a local design shop who sells Brookhaven/Woodmode. She estimated $550-$600 per linear foot as a rough estimate, but came out at about $60,000 for about 63 linear feet (that would include a large built in fridge and a 6' X 2.5' step-in pantry closet, plus I have planned very few uppers). I guess she was doing magic math, because that price is about 2X her linear foot estimate. She also wanted 90% of the entire project cost (not just cabinets) before the job starts ($5,000 non-refundable "design fee" to be applied to cabinet purchase + 50% of entire project at time of cabinet order + 40% of entire project when cabinets arrive before demo/construction begins, leaving only 10% in reserve for completion). I said no thanks to her terms. I'll be checking out the Omega/Dynasty and Shulers cabs at Expo and Lowes.

Teched, I have Shiloh cabinets, and mine worked out to $420 per linear foot. That's cabinets only, not sales tax, installation, hardware, or glass.

Mine are cherry, in the "Square Flat" door style. That style and wood should be cheaper than your painted maple Essex. And I don't have fridge panels. But I got the 5-piece drawer fronts and LOTS of bells and whistles - island legs, two lazy susans, two spice pullouts, lots of drawers (all dovetailed, full extension, and Blumotion), trash pullout, tray dividers, lots of beadboard details, plenty of crown molding and light rail, custom hood enclosure, customized hutch and buffet, etc. I also have two rows of uppers - 15" uppers with glass doors stacked on my regular 36" uppers.

Given that I'm in a less expensive region that you are, your estimate may not be that far off. But you should definitely shop around - with your design - and see if you can find a better deal.

Hope this helps!

Thanks ksfaustin. Have they been installed yet? They seem like great cabinets, but not many people seem to have them. I love the idea of the 2 rows of uppers, but I am afraid to price that out! I have definitely changed my mind about the cabinet style. Once I can get the KD on the phone this morning, I will be changing to a simpler door and ditching the 5-piece miter drawer front. Once I started to look around, I realized that in the painted finish, I really prefer the simpler cabinet fronts. I think that will help save some on the $$$ per linear foot.

Just as a datapoint, my kitchen has 56 linear feet of cabinets (counting uppers and lowers seperately) including a tall pantry, a wall oven cabinet, a fridge end panel, and a finished peninsula back. They are frameless cabinets made from quarter sawn red oak, in a simple shaker style and stained finish. They custom sized, including several that were deeper than normal, all-plywood construction, wood veneered interiors, solid wood dovetailed drawers, with pull-outs everywhere. However it does not have any light rail or crown moulding which I felt would detract from the simple clean lines.

The price for the cabinets (not including installation) was $17,200 or so. Which makes them price out at about $310 per linear foot.

Well, met with the KD today and discussed some options. She had spoken with the GC (her DH, but she works for another firm), and he had lots of cost saving suggestions. He had her remover the cabinet company's bead board and crown molding from the estimate. He will purchase them from a well-known lumber yard (not HD or Lowes!) that does custom wood work and moldings. That shaved 85% off the cost of those items alone. He had us change the placement of the cabinet with glass doors and suggested we use after-market products for the cutlery and tray dividers. We also changed from a shaker 5-piece door and drawer to a more colonial/traditional look and took advantage of the things our cabinet company does as part of its standard pricing: distressing, sand through, and customized edge profiles on the slab drawer fronts. She has been remarkably quick at getting plans and pricing to us, so I hope I can report back on the progress by the end of the week.

I don't get the anti hd/lowes snobbery. Do you think that they get the cabinets from the manufacturer and then rough them up or something? Overpaying for something doesn't make you a better person.

We got amazing cabinets from Lowes, around $11k for 48 linear feet plus a 3x4 island of high end glory. Tall classical crown moulding, castling, all finished end panels for any exposed ends. All solid wood full extension dove tailed drawers. Large glass corner doors with lights inside. Light rail with extra trim. Toe kick floor boards all around for that built in look. Solid cherry, nice doors with roman arches, extra glaze on top of a stain. Lots of pull outs, slide outs, 2 super susans, 2 appliance garages. built in fridge look. Etc etc. $11 grand.

Also, 10% off lowes coupons are easy to find (saved about $1500 with that) and put it on the lowes card for no interest financing for 12 months. Good deal.

Meanwhile, before we were at this show and this builder of custom cabinets was showing off his crap and said this dinky ugly kitchen that looked like my first apartment was $70k, ya right dude, you're overpriced.

We did save money by doing some of the trim ourselves (I wanted a rope inlay in a contrasting color to attach to the crown molding and light rail (black on brown look). So I bought the plain rope moulding myself from lowes, and stained and installed it, rather than pay for the cabinet company's version, same for the rosettes. Also, $11k was the purchase price, our own contractor installed it, I forget what he charged, $3k maybe.

They were also very good on damages. Any scratches/broken bits we reported and they sent out replacements free of charge.

Remember, overpaying for something does not make it better.

Now we have a gorgeous kitchen that looks like it is out of a magazine with cambria countertops and brazilian cherry flooring as well as the nice cabinets. Everyone who sees it gushes with compliments.

Wow, where are you located Kevin. Great pricing!!

I know this is an old thread, but can someone explain how the linear feet are measured? Is it as simple as taking the measurements from the floor plan of lowers and adding it to the uppers. Include all appliances? I'm just trying to make some simple comparisons here, I understand there are a lot of variables after that.

Regarding the Lowes/HD snobbery: we've spent a lot of time in the big box stores while building our house. One day we were in Lowes, and wandered by the bathroom cabinet display. Many of the cabinets were in the higher price ranges, but when I looked at them I saw all kinds of flaws: crooked doors, staples sticking out of the particle board, drawers that wouldn't close completely. When I asked a passing sales clerk if all of the cabinets were constructed like those on display, she assured me that the display cabinets were of the same quality as those we would receive if we ordered them...so yes, I've become a bit of a snob about the big box store cabinets!

With the linear foot pricing - I don't think it's a valid price to use in shopping. Any company can give low prices for the boxes, but then charge massive prices for things like doors, drawers, etc. Lowes charged extra for things like frameless cabinets, etc - those were standard from our custom cabinet maker.

I'm a kitchen cabinet builder and installer and I have to say in this day and age given the amount of options for material and accessories that pricing per linear foot is just about the least accurate way to price these days. it's better to charge by the cabinet and add in any upgrades. I supply 2 different levels of cabinetry, a standard line that's semi custom and a full custom line with better hardware and more accessory options. I find j have to price by the cabinet now, its the only accurate and honest way to do it.

Might as well judge buying a car by the pound. And the thread is 7 YEARS OLD. Prices have done nothing but go upwards.

This thread is pretty old but there are some truths that still remain. I'm a custom builder in SoCal. We do it all from design to install and everything in between. We work in homes with a range of clientele and it's pretty hard to exceed $650 pr. ft. and even at that number we are talking about the most expensive everything from upgrades to mouldings with gold flake accents. The average cost for a custom builder for the raw materials can range from $60-$110 pr ft, unless you are talking about a crazy over the top exotic like African Wenge. Assuming an average cost of $75 pr ft, anything over $300 pr ft is kind of a stretch. As a smaller company 3-4 guys, are buying power should be towards the bottom of the scale and if we can buy material and turn a profit at those margins, anyone our size or larger should be able to do the same, at least here in SoCal. I will say we have a smaller shop and intentionally shopped when looking for a location so we didn't have to pour a ton into lease and or rent. We survived the crash and were selling at $225.00 for alder and $235.00 Cherry. We are now a little closer to the $265 range. We are talking 3/4" cabinets with 3/4" melamine interiors and plywood finished ends as well as solid raised panel doors. Dovetail drawers on Blum soft close slides. LArge crown mouldings and custom finish with endless color choices.

Can anyone speak to current fair pricing in Colorado? I am planning my kitchen remodel for next summer, will have my 1st cabinet estimate come back in a week or so. We are pricing out Decora maple cabinets and after reading this I'm afraid the estimate is going to be about 30k - I want a nice kitchen but that is a LOT! I have estimate that we have just under 60 linear feet of cabinetry for the kitchen w island and the bar, but now I'm thinking I need to just count the individual cabinets. And when estimating, does an appliance count as a 'cabinet', since they will be built in? Hoping this thread gets active again, I need it lol!

LWO- LOL!

60 linear feet of cabinets? Wow, I have 21 linear feet. You have a huge kitchen, meliisamgreen. Yeah, expect to pay for that many feet of cabinetry. An appliance can count as a cabinet if there is cabinetry around it. For example, a separate cooktop is set in a cabinet so it would count. A range would not. A fridge that has cabinets around it would count, a free-standing fridge would not.

60 linear feet and you don't want to spend $30K? I think you're in for a surprise. We have 34 linear feet of uppers and lowers (counting uppers and lower separately, so 25 feet of lowers, plus 10 feet of uppers) and used a middling brand (Bellmont 1900) and the cost was about $15,000 two years ago.

I just paid 30K for 80 linear feet of cabinetry. Some of it goes to a 10' ceiling. It's painted, and I have a lot of inserts (trash, knife block, tray storage, etc). That included installation and hardware for a 15x12ft kitchen with a 9x4.5ft island + 16 linear feet of built in cabinets (to 24" high) + two double vanities + 5 linear feet of bookcase type built-ins.

The cost breakdown was:

Kitchen perimeter - uppers to 10', lowers. All at ~20 linear feet so 40' total = 11K

Kitchen island - 9x4.5 ft with cabinets around 65% (overhang for stools is rest) = 5.5K

Great room built ins = 16 linear feet at $2600

Laundry - one standard upper, one standard sink base = $1200

Master bathroom - 7ft vanity with built-in linen to 9' ceiling and custom mirror surround = $3100

Hall bath - standard double 7ft vanity = $1200

Den - library built-in with file storage 5 ft wide by 8ft tall, adjustible bookshelves on top half = $2800

Plus tax @ 9%

I feel like we paid a fair price for what we got. We quoted the work with another cabinet builder and it would have been double. We got the builder's price, no kickbacks. His fee was built in to the allowance already.

Mama Rachel thanks so much for the #'s, very helpful - can you tell me what brand of cabinets you went with? Are you happy with them? Where are you located, it sounds like you got a lot of work done for a great price.

Funkycamper Thanks for the response on the appliance issue, I am still flailing about in all of this! Yes, my kitchen is pretty large, but filled with very bottom line cabinets (as in 1" reveals, plain stark white, ugh) ceilings are 10', I have a 10.5' stretch of lowers and uppers (considering a 2nd tier of shorter uppers w glass fronts on top to go to the crown moulding) as well as a 7' stretch of same + an island that is curved and hard to measure, we are changing it a bit but it's currently 3 lower cabinets w a cooktop. We are also re-doing the bar and that's adding another 14' liner feet, so it ends up being a lot. Looking at Decora maple w a stain right now, totally plain slab doors. Our first estimate should be back in about a week, 2nd guy coming on Friday to measure. I will post #'s as I get them. i guess if 30k is right that is what we will do, maybe I just need to adjust my expectations! I have decided on Crema Bordeaux granite and found a local place that has it for 65/sq ft so I'm happy about that...doing honed slab travertine for the backsplash. Thanks again for the input ya'll!

Do you have your layout done yet? We love to help folks with those around here. Why don't you start a separate discussion and post your design to see if the folks here can help you with anything?

@Iwc951. Where in So Cal are you located? I'm looking for a cabinet maker/installer to customize my kitchen.

Melissa, I'm really happy with what we got but it's brand new so time can only tell on the overall quality. We used a local shop in SW Washington state.
All of my cabinets and drawers in the entire house are soft closing as well. I did full overlay in the kitchen and partial everywhere else. About 1/2 of my cabinets are painted, 1/3 stained and glazed, and the rest just stained. Those choices did make a big impact on my price.
I know I did not pay retail for this work. My builder does a lot of homes and I'm sure he gets a substantial price break which I pay actual invoice on. YMMV.

Prices vary so widely according to location, quality of the materials, detail in the products chosen ... here's the best advice I can give:

1. Get multiple quotes from a wide range of sources. I know my mom was shocked when she learned that a local cabinet maker could make custom cabinets for her (simple style but solid maple, stained) for approximately the same cost as a big-box store's cabinets. That kitchen is now 20 years old, and her cabinets still look brand new. She chose wisely.

2. Make yourself a list of how you could "downsize" if the price is just too high. Would you give up the furniture look stuff? Would you eliminate glass fronts? Would you do without drawers in some areas? Go ahead and have a "back up plan" in mind.

You have so much space in your kitchen if you have all that cabinetry, you may want to look into buying a used kitchen out of somebody's high-end home. There are frequent posts on craigslist and there are companies that specialize in this.

There's also the location "discount" as my husband puts it.

I just started doing my quotes.

Two vendors who sell from the same exact manufacturer gave me two different prices. The one who knows my address doubled his price vs the other one who didn't.

You just have to do your research.

Started a new thread here for my project: Colorado kitchen and bar