Kitchen cabinet installation and refacing

Cabinets set the budget

Cabinets are usually the largest single line in a kitchen remodel, and in a bigger kitchen with a long perimeter run, a pantry wall and an island, the cabinet order can be large. The grade you choose moves the total more than almost anything else. Stock cabinets come in set sizes and ship quickly. Semi-custom lines offer more sizes, finishes and interior options. Custom cabinets are built to your exact measurements and take the longest to arrive.

HomeAdvisor puts cabinet installation at about $2,000 to $11,000 nationally, with an average near $6,400, and notes that custom work adds 50 to 100 percent. Those figures cover a typical kitchen. A large Briarcliff kitchen with tall pantry units, an island and furniture-style details will often land above them.

Refacing as an alternative

If your cabinet boxes are solid plywood or sound particleboard and the layout works, refacing can make sense. The contractor covers the existing face frames and sides with new veneer and installs new doors, drawer fronts and hardware. Angi puts refacing at about $4,200 to $10,200. Refacing will not fix a layout that does not work, and it does not change the size or position of cabinets, so it fits best when the room already flows well.

What to decide before you order

Settle the layout and appliances first. Cabinets are built around the range, refrigerator, dishwasher and any wall ovens, so a change after ordering can mean waiting weeks for a replacement box. Think about storage too. Deep drawers for pots, a pull-out for trash and recycling, tray dividers near the oven and a pantry cabinet with roll-out shelves change how a kitchen works more than door style does.

Ask how the cabinets will be leveled. Older houses and some hillside homes have floors that are out of level, and the installer has to shim the cabinets so the counters sit flat. That matters most for stone counters, which do not flex.

• Confirm the cabinet line, door style, finish and box material in writing
• Ask about lead time and what happens if a piece arrives damaged
• Ask whether crown molding, light rail and filler panels are included
• Check who handles the hardware and its installation

Install day

Most installers set the upper cabinets first, then the base cabinets, then the island. Each box is leveled, fastened to the wall studs and to its neighbors, and trimmed. Counters are measured only after the cabinets are fixed in place. If you are reusing flooring, ask whether it runs under the cabinets or stops at them, because that affects the height of the finished counter.

Typical cabinet costs

Published national ranges, not quotes. Westchester labor tends to cost more.

Ranges are rounded national figures from the sources below and are not quotes. Your price depends on the number of cabinets, grade, finish, layout and installation details.

Sources: HomeAdvisor, cabinet installation; Angi, cabinet refacing