Installing kitchen cabinets

[Jim]

Am considering getting some new cabinetry for the kitchen this year. To begin some research I stopped by Home Depot for ideas.

They offer installation as an option should you not have a contractor. So I asked a very general question: "is there a rule of thumb regarding the labor to install the cabinets?" The designer woman said that would be double the price of the cabinets.

So if I pick $3,000 cabinets I figure on $6,000 to have them installed. And $5,000 cabinets would cost $10,000. All for say the same 10ft wall. Why should $5,000 cabinets be $4,000 more expensive to install?

Dilemma is I was intending to do much of the prep work myself. Items like removing old cabinetry, replacing sheetrock, painting, etc. So how should I approach HD, Lowes, or any other contractor for true bids on simply installing the stuff?

Being that I'm just getting started I haven't ruled out having the entire job done. At this point I need to determine the value advantage of various options.

[Mikey S.]

If you can replace sheetrock, remove old cabinets, etc ( as you said) and do some basic construction then you can hang the cabinets yourself too. As long as you have a helper to assist with the physical work it's really not that hard at all, I did my own kitchen last year and I just helped my brother hang his cabinets last week, as long as you take your time and make sure everything is installed shimmed straight and level it's really an easy job of screwing them together and to the wall. I really can't understand the designers pricing on that, it takes pretty much the same work to hang 10 feet of cabinets no matter who made them, so basing the installation cost on the quality of the cabinets makes no sense at all. FWIW..I used Thomasville cabinets from HD for my kitchen, with the all plywood option. I am quite happy with them though with hindsight they were on the expensive side I think. My brother bought about Kraftmade, also all plywood, and after installing them both I would use Kraftmade next time, they were definitely built just a little better and a little less expensive too.

[AutoTracer]

Don't read too much into the generalizations on pricing. It is the same with most all contractor work. You really do need then to come out and figure out all the steps before you can have a good quote and even then it may change once the work starts. There are simply too many variables to predict price.

In any case. $3000 cabnets should cost about the same as $5000 cabnets to install all other factors considered equal.

[BocesLib]

Interesting, I would have thought the Thomasbille cabinets would have been constructed better....

[Mikey S.]

That was the same assumption I made too, but handling them both convinced me otherwise, the Kraftmade were joined better, heavier materials, and finished a bit better too. I did have one person tell me that I should have bought the Thomasville from someplace else than Home D. , supposedly they build them to a lower standard for the Depot, but I don't know if that's true or not.

[3rd eye]

That price is absurd. An installer could/would make a fortune at rates like this.

[Clark Griswold]

Just got a price this morning for a 12 x14 L shaped cabinets with countertop from an independent. $1200. That's with crown molding, etc. I install the plumbing, electrical.