Kitchen Cabinet Sticker Shock - Need Help!

[TallyLassie]

We have bought a 40+ year old home and wanted to install new kitchen cabinets. I got an estimate for new custom cabinets - $34,500. Wow! I had no idea. There is no way we can spend that amount of money.

I am going to Mayco today and also going to get pricing for re-facing. Does anyone have any experience with either of those?

 

[pooh17]

Continue to shop around. I don't know how big your kitchen is, but this seems very high to me. Does it include installation? You can save a ton by doing it yourself.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Cabinets are expensive but you need to do homework. You can find what you want for the price you can live with.

Refacing is also expensive.

 

[Acklander]

Cabinets are very expensive and you want to get competitive bids, BUT it's also something you don't want to buy "cheap" quality on, because it could effect the resale value of your home.

 

[KimR]

Unless you have a very large kitchen, that does seem a bit high to me. We recently remodeled our kitchen with custom cabinets and it was closer to $25,000 including installation. Our kitchen is fairly large and we also added a raised bar. You might want to shop around a bit more to see if you can get a better price.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

34K is outrageous!

We just finished our kitchen remodel on a home built in '52, and we did new cabinets. I'm not sure how "custom" they are, but they're Timberlake, and we splurged for all the upgrades (dovetail drawers, crown moulding and scribes, coffee glaze). Our kitchen is small, but I know we needed 27 pieces of hardware, so figure around 27 cabinets/drawers. The cabinets themselves were right around $4,900 delivered (tax included), and we had our contractor install them for $1,200. We had to buy the hardware separately, so those figures do not include any hardware.

I see you're in FL. I am, too, and would be happy to refer you to the gentleman who took care of getting us the cabinets. He's in Orlando and personally drove the cabinets (including a replacement cabinet!) to our home in Jacksonville. Depending on where you are in the state, I'm sure he'd do the same for you. If not, maybe he could refer you to someone good and honest in your neck of the woods.

Feel free to PM me if you're interested. I'll stay online today since I'm not getting email notifications.

 

[ducklite]

I think many are missing the key word here--custom.

That price is actually about right for an average sized kitchen with custom designed and built cabinetry, especially if you add in extras like pull outs, glass front cabinets, built in spice racks, tip outs, etc.

OP--you don't have to go custom to get what you want. You can get high quality cabinets for less than half that which still have the bells and whistles, but aren't custom. Get a couple more estimates.

Our builder used Wellborn cabinets, they are "semi-custom" and we really like them. They are real wood, with quality construction including dove tailed drawers, and all of the hinges and gliders work effortlessly and quietly. You can go to their web site and find a local dealer.

Anne

 

[mickeyboat]

Yes, take Anne's advice. There are lots of cabinetry companies which can give you a semi-custom product, at a much lower price. Cabinets these days are very high quality, even the ones at Home Depot aren't bad. There are also lots of options, even in stock cabinetry.

Also, get more than one bid.

Good luck.

Denae

 

[clarabelle]

OOh I love kitchen talk
I have a large kitchen and I got cherry high end Wellbourn as well.
It did not cost that much either. I think -just the cabs were around 23,000.
Installed.

 

[clarabelle]

Consumer Reports liked Omega, Diamond and Fieldstone

 

[KristiKelly]

We were originally quoted $43,000 for cabinets for our house. That included 3 bathrooms (white cabinets) and our kitchen with Cherry. This was through a high end chain (can't remember the name now).

Anyway, we went with a man that built cabinets, had a shop behind his house. He was able to get for us solid cherry in the kitchen and white in the baths for $18,000. I believe they are semi-custom. I love them.

Definitely shop it around.

 

[tiggger1]

OOh I love kitchen talk
I have a large kitchen and I got cherry high end Wellbourn as well.
It did not cost that much either. I think -just the cabs were around 23,000.
Installed.

clara is that your kitcen? my friend has the same cabinets and the setup is the same except the frigde isnt there!

 

[Galahad]

34K is not out of line for good cabinets. We got around the problem a creative way, but you are probably not close enough to the source to do this. Kraftmade has a warehouse near Warren, OH where the receive over-runs and returns from the big stores. They open the warehouse every (or most) Saturdays. Cash and carry, first come first serve. It can be a mad-house. We live 5+ hours from there. BUT, we were able to get $30,000 worth of high end cabinets for about $5,000.

I will also second the suggestion not to cut corners if you can help it. Kitchens will make-or-break the value of your house.

 

[clarabelle]

yep-Actually the fridge has been a bit of a disappointment.
We redid almost a year ago

 

[almburr]

There is Direct buy. Ive never used but we plan to go to the tour to see if it is what we would use.

Its a company that sells at direct cost, but you must join.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

There is Direct buy. Ive never used but we plan to go to the tour to see if it is what we would use.

Its a company that sells at direct cost, but you must join.

Use caution with this company. They appear to be a scam, are involved in litigation and have tons of complaints against them.

http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

 

[almburr]

thanks for telling me that, we were going there soon and its a 3hr drive. I'll do abit of research. Thanks.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

There is Direct buy. Ive never used but we plan to go to the tour to see if it is what we would use.

Its a company that sells at direct cost, but you must join.

"Direct Buy" is just a company pretending to be a "wholesaler".
It is a scam.

 

[grlpwrd]

Definitely shop around.

You could go the IKEA route, but it is not "real" wood. I have also seen people sell their cabinets on Craigslist and ebay.

I did post an ad out for something I needed on Craigslist for a home improvement project a while back and I was surprised to get such a big response. Out with the old, in with the new, I guess.

Have you thought about refacing?

 

[azgal81]

If you are a do it yourselfer you can always do the remodeling yourself. My dad and I remodeled my kitchen cabinets and it was only a couple thousand thousand dollars. I have a fairly small kitchen though. We put them together it was really easy then he hung them.