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.

--

Mikey S.
http://www.mike721.com


"Jim" wrote in message
...
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.