Pricing for Cabinet Refacing
Pros discuss how to price cabinet refacing work. November 11, 2005
Question
How much do you charge to reface a kitchen? How do you price the job, by the foot or another measure? Certain charge for removal of doors? Doors and drawer fronts? End panels, toe kick, crown, etc?
Forum Responses
(Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum)
From contributor J:
A general rule of thumb I've seen in various forums is between $100 and $125 per opening for installation labor. A pair of doors counts as one opening, for example. I looked at my own kitchen - 17 openings x $125 = $2,125. Sounds about right for a basic reface taking 3 or 4 days, but you might have to account for additional mouldings, sliding trays, etc. As always, it's what your local market will bear.
From the original questioner:
Was $125 installation only plus materials?
From contributor D:
I'm with a national franchise that does cabinet refacing. We charge $130 to $150 per opening. This means every single opening in your kitchen... doors, drawer fronts and false fronts. We do not consider a pair of doors as one opening - each door is an opening. The average kitchen refacing job, including materials and labor, runs anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000 depending on door style, wood species, stain choice, and of course decorative trims.
From contributor P:
The price per opening, is that labor only or both labor and materials?
From contributor D:
Labor + materials.
From contributor L:
What do you do about face frames, European style edging of cabinets, toekicks, etc. if change in stain color is needed, assuming customer stays with same wood species? How do you figure that in the per opening price?
From contributor D:
The price mentioned above is all-inclusive. New doors, new drawer fronts, all face frames, end panels, toe kicks, 1/4 round, scribe molding, outside corner molding, crown molding, valance, new hinges and new handles are installed for that price.
The cost per opening seems kind of high until you start figuring in all the items that it takes to truly reface a kitchen. We make pretty good money, but our refacing supplier gets the biggest chunk of the total price.
The cost will go up if the customer wants the bottoms of the upper cabinets refaced. Any other items such as countertops, sinks, and any sort of pull-out feature are all optional.
From contributor K:
The prices seeming kind of low, especially if you have to do any type of finishing. I own a cabinet shop and don't do any refacing, but have a lot of requests for it. Seems as though you guys have all the work these days.
From contributor I:
Years back, we subbed out refacing at $45 an opening. On my own, I started out at $75 an opening. Today I'm at $100-$125 an opening. Now I consider a pair (sink, etc) as two openings. Every door, drawer and false front is an opening. I use only concealed hinges and replace all drawer guides. For upgrading, I'll throw in full extension drawer guides. I always mention on a reface that changes or additions can be made, and in that case I charge for building, altering and finishing. This is all good if the cabinets are sound. If not, I'll suggest new cabinets or replacement of the damaged ones.
