# building your own kitchen cabinets



## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

hey all

we are about to build an in-law suite for my wife's parents. project will likely start in October.
I'm looking for ways to save money on the job… problem is we are trying to get them in there as fast as possible since they are paying rent now..so every month the suite is not finished means about 1000$ gone to the landlord.,..so I can't do it all.. I would, would be fun to build the entire thing but it's just not realistic..
that being said I'm trying to figure out where I can do things that will save me money . I'll build the deck for instance since there's no rush for it and the saving on labor is substantial.
another area I thought I could do are the kitchen cabinets/pantry and bathroom vanity. as soon as I have plans I can start on them basically..meaning I could have them all done before the house even starts…
I'm wondering if any of you have ever done that built all the cabinets for a kitchen and how much do you truly save? I'm not afraid of the project but if I only end up saving a 100$ then it's not really worth my time…

just curious if anyone ever did the math

thanks…


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## rhett (May 11, 2008)

You can buy an entire set of manufactured cabinets for the price of the materials needed to make a low/midgrade set of cabinets.

What's your time worth?


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

+1 to rhett…

if you have the time and materials at hand - it would save money, plus you could custemise many things your way, but if you don't have either - it'll actually be more expensive to build it


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

I have the tools and skills needed,,,, my time…well, i enjoy woodworking so I can't factor it in…it's a hobby…keeps me out of the bars


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Greetings Pabs,

I agree with rhett and Purplev….. I would go to Lowes or Home Depot and purchase the kitchen cabinets.
By the time you buy all the material and chase down parts, etc., you could have a lot of the cabinets already 
installed…You'll greatly save a bundle by doing the labor yourself….you'll just be out the cost of the cabinets.


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## GMman (Apr 11, 2008)

All depend on what you want, if you want real wood do it youself, if you don't mine press wood "imitation" covered with a tin coat of plywood and melamine you can buy at a lower cost.


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## JiminPA (Jan 31, 2008)

I'm currently building a complete set of cabinets, and even though I thought I knew how much was involved, there's more. For instance: finishing. Doing it right makes all the difference, but it's as much time and hassle as any other stage of the build, if not all of them put together. Doors and drawers are also very labor intensive, and the hardware costs are significant.

I'm getting cabinets that will be much better than I would have bought, so I'm glad I'm doing it. But I'll know a lot more before I decide to do it again!


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Buy them!
Then replace with your own built cabinets.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I agree with everyone else… making your own kitchen cabinets is something you should do if you want the pride of having done it yourself, exactly the way you want it done. But doing it to save money?...Not a good plan.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

try 
cabparts.com

i use them exclusively ,
check it out 
they make the boxes and ship 
you can make the doors and drawer faces from their size sheet ,
i never waited for more than two weeks for the delivery .
they have every cab known to man .
just have to buy the catalog and get a dealer # and the order has a coupon for your money back too .


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## live4ever (Feb 27, 2010)

To save money, use prefab cabinets. The melamine/particleboard cabinets (e.g. Ikea) are used more and more in higher end condos and renovations in large cities. Younger people especially don't seem to mind them and pay a premium for those kitchens when they are well done. A lot of well-known designers whose work is featured on TV and in magazines use them as a base to build on top of. The trick is to hack them and dress them up to look custom.

Whether you should consider particle/melamine or solid wood depends on your locality and what is common there, but either way prefab is the way to save money and time.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

If you have a local Habitat for Humanity store check them out. Sometimes they have some real buys(sometimes not) Otherwise Menards has some pretty nice items(quality is better than HD/Lowes on prefabs) Shop around and you can save.


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## RedOakRomance (Jul 15, 2010)

I built the cabinets for our house and definitely saved money. We were able to pay for the drywall, tile install, and corian countertops, plus the cost of cabinet materials, for the cost of just the cabinets from HD or Lowes. If you want basic cabinets to fill a space, I think the others are right about buying prefab. Also, if it's a in-law suite, your efforts won't likely be a long-term investment or an equity builder for your house, so your time and energy might be better spent elsewhere. Finally, it was great to make the cabinets exactly as we wanted (i.e., roll outs, full extension dove-tailed drawers with solid maple boxes, drawer depths and configurations exactly to our choosing, etc), but after I finished the project, I didn't go into my shop for months because I was so burned out. Three years later, we're now selling the house and the kitchen was a selling-point, but when people ask me if I'm sad to move after all that work, I say "no."


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## jackass (Mar 26, 2008)

I built kitchen cabinets for our cottage years ago. I prefabbed them and used knotty cedar plywood. They turned out very nice, I think the key is to choose nice wood, I would use solid wood if I had it to do over. Go and see Arnold London of London Lumber, in Dieppe he carries exotics at reasonable prices. As for pricing I think you can save a bundle.
Jack


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

so the theme seems to be if you go mid range and below, go with store bought…otherwise go with custom..

I would likely do mid range and up…but not sure yet…I'll go over to the local stores and check prices

one thing that helps me is that I have a buddy who builds cabinets for a living and he would help me..he can get the materials a little cheaper and has access to all the tools… he told me if I gave him the dimensions he could have all the parts cut for me…that would save some of hassle…and if I git with melamine he even has a fancy tape gun for doing edges… 
not 100% sure yet… and jackass…. I know of London Lumber…love that place!!! that's where I buy all my hardwood…

thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

pabs ,
here is cabparts

http://www.cabparts.com/

they will work any level you like ,
all their work is ready to assemble when it comes flat pelleted ,
just place sides together , apply hinge plates and runners ,
and either clue or confirmate together (your choice) ,
while they make the boxes ,
you make your doors and end panels any way you like ,
(they send you a door , drawer face size sheet when you order) ,
i don't make boxes any more , but can make doors to match the style we need .
never had a problem , their work is to 1/64 th every time .
all the parts are tagged , edges-banded and clean (your choice of banding) ,
line bored , clean .
make your kicks and you are ready !


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

hey David

I was just checking the site… pretty nice… but I did a quick calculation and I could save a fair amount doing the box myself… they charge from 42.78 plus shipping for a 30 high by 33 wide box (11 3/4 depth)
from what I can see the backer is likely 1/8 of an inch or 1/4 inch backer board? 
either way just for the main box I can do 3 boxes with one full sheet . a full sheet cost me 34$ 
i'm not counting the labor… but i'm not real worried about that. seems like you could save quite a bit by building yourself in this case..

I don't have an enormous amount of boxes to build so my labor would not be as much a factor

i'll go check with the big stores this weekend to compare as well


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

so…I went to the store and checked cabinets…they were around the 60 to 70 dollar range for a melamine box…no door..no hardware…
based on that I can't see how that would be a better deal l… like I said earlier…. I can make 3 boxes for 60$,... as opposed to paying 200$...so I guess when you guys say it's not worth it the time factor plays a big role? if this was a business I could see that…but in my case it's a hobby so I can't factor time in it the same way….

oh, and Patron…. I called you David….hehe,... only noticed after that it was a quote and not your name! hehe


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## bfd (Dec 23, 2007)

Pabs,

I totally agree with Live4Ever. If it were my house I would buy my boxes at Ikea and make my own custom door and drawer fronts. The boxes range from about $25-$35. Buy the interior fitting there too and save even more. Drawers have Blumotion hardware and the hinges are Blum with soft close. The boxes from Ikea are made in the United States and the hardware is the same as you will find in higher end custom cabinets at a fraction of the price. Make your own doors and you have the best of both worlds. You get the the satisfaction of building something yourself but end up spending far less time and money. I recommended this to a client who was redoing their kitchen and they were extremely happy. I gave them the look of a high end European Kitchen with custom matced grain Walnut fronts on Ikea boxes. There Return on investment and Equity is greater than if they did custom. With all do respect, you are fooling yourself if you think you can do cabinets for cheaper. I have done the math and this is what I would do if I was redoing my own kitchen or building a custom home.


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## tooldad (Mar 24, 2008)

I am a shop teacher. This summer the other teacher and myself have been building 2 complete kitchens for the home ec room. Their room has 5 kitchens in it with metal cabinets that are rusting. 4 of the 5 are identical in layout so that is why we decided on 2, this year, 2 next year, and the odd ball the year after that. Plus the money only allowed for enough material for 2.

FYI, each kitchen is 10 feet long along the wall and has is L shaped which is 7ft long, but has the stove in it. I can get materials at a vendor rate due to being a school. My supplier puts us in the best price bracket.

Each kitchen materials costs $2800 each plus counter tops. I priced out the local big box stores, and the manufactured cabinets would have cost less than $2000. Now that is not apples to apples. We are using 3/4" prefinished maple ply for all the boxes, not 1/2" particle board. We have to build them to survive attacks from students and be able to resist deteriation from wet dishes being put in them, because we all know how well kids like to do dishes.

That is what they are saying about buying and installing is cheaper than building yourself. Do you really need industructable cabinets?

One last note, we didn't have to finish any of the boxes, just face frames and doors. We have a 5000 sqft shop and have been using 3000 sf of it just for this project. We have been working on it each week 30-40hrs per week going on 4 weeks now. We just installed the cabinets last week so the countertop could get measured and this week we are finishing the doors to install them asap.

it took 2 of us about 6 hours to build 20 drawers with dovetailed front corners and rabbeted back corners, and that was using prefinished drawer sides with the grooves already cut.

I know time is of no cost to you, but we are spending approximately 150-200 hrs X2 men to get these done. Now someone could say it is because we are building 2 kitchens, They are identical and we just batch cut everything. It does take a little longer, but not much when they are identical.

Plus on top of that, we are making the doors with 1/4" ply panels to save time and material. We also have a panelmaster shaper system in which our door making bits are always set up and ready to go.

send me a message if you want to see any of the pics or have any other comments or questions.


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

just so you know patrons name is david…that is his quote..if it were me…i would build my own cabinets…i don't factor my time…im not a business..and neither are you…i built my kitchen with 15 sheets of quality birch plywood for just over 450 bucks…i bought my own laminate for the counter tops…did a tile back splash and it turned out just grand…i would have paid a custom cabinet guy prob 40 grand or so for the same job…you wont regret doing it yourself..


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## RedOakRomance (Jul 15, 2010)

One bonus…you can budget new tools into the project! My wife loved the idea of dovetailed drawers, so she was cool with me getting a Leigh jig (I may have forgotten to tell her that I already had the Rockler jig; I quietly gave it to my neighbor).


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

no decision yet…. weighing some options… truly appreciate all the comments..will definitely play a role in my final decision


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## tooldad (Mar 24, 2008)

I am curious to see Grizzman's $40k kitchen that he only spent $450 on. If you want to compare apples to apples, we only spent $600 on our prefinished plywood. Somewhere there is another $1500-2000 worth of materials and hardware. In fact one thing that is overlooked is finishing. Just the doors and drawers take up 6 work tables that are 5×5. It took the same 6 worktables to finish the faceframes. There is no way even in my 5000 sf shop, that I could have finished everything at once.


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

5000 sf!! ok, now I have shop envy


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## tooldad (Mar 24, 2008)

Except for 3 months of the year, there are about 30-50 people in that shop at one time trying to work. Most of which "THINK" they know what they are doing, then expect me to tell them how to fix it.


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

for finishing, my buddy works in a cabinet shop and has access to a spray booth…and that's what he does for living…so, he would do the finishing for very good price… but I agree, the "extras" can kill you.. always have a tendency to ignore them in the price estimate but they can add to a significant amount


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## Bullet (Apr 14, 2009)

Pabs,

Do you have an update on your cabs?

My wife is asking me to build our kitchen - I'm willing to give it a go, but I'm not sure…


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## Pabs (Dec 10, 2008)

hey Bullet… 
the house reno has been put on hold until the spring… so the cabinets will also wait a bit.
however I'm 99% sure I'll be doing them myself. I want to them with face frame and have the doors inset in them. hard to find that from bought cabinets unless you go to a cabinet shop and they will charge a nice price fro them
The one I will get done are the doors… a place in town here will make doors (unfinished) at a decent price. I love making doors but they take an enormous amount of time… so that's my compromise.. I'll get he doors done and I'll do the rest… still figure I can come in at least half price and end up with superior quality (solid wood, plywood instead of mdf/particle board)

I know some people say to go with bought cabinets but what can I say.. I'm a sucker for punishment! I may spend a lot of time in the shop building these…but hey! that's a good thing! I enjoy spending time in the shop, it's my area where no one can bug me and where I get to do things I like how and when I want!

good luck


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