Todd Fatheree ) wrote on Tuesday 05 April 2005 10:33 pm:

We're sometime this year going to embark on a major addition to our home.
Part of that will include a completely new kitchen. For other items I've
built, mainly furniture, I've never looked at it as much as saving money
(which I'm sure I haven't) as I have at getting something exactly like I
want and the satisfaction of building something myself. However, I have
this sneaking suspicion that there's a lot of markup in kitchen cabinets
and that perhaps there is not only the opportunity to make something the
way I
want, but also to save some bucks. So, I'm wondering if anyone who has
built kitchen cabinets ever broke down the cost to buy vs. the cost to
make
(assuming, of course, that your own time has no value ;-). SWMBO isn't
exactly on board with my little project, but if I can same some money on
cabinets, I might be able to trade her for a fancy schmancy fridge. I've
built cabinets for the shop in exactly the same way I would build base and
upper kitchen cabinets, so I'm confident I could make them.

todd

Todd,

I just recently had to replace the kitchen cabinet underneath the sink due
to water damage. At first, I looked into replacing it. I figured I'd look
for the cheapest one the same size, and re-use the old front (too old to
match any more). It looked like about $300 or so, because no one was
willing to part with just the back.

So I re-built. A single 4x8 sheet of decent 3/4" cabinet plywood cost me
about $45 at Lowes and was more that enough. Going 1/2" should be even
cheaper and more than good enough for most other applications. I used some
contaminated polyurethane I had lying around as a sort of
stain/waterproofing. I damaged the face some when I removed it from the
old cabinet, and spent $7 or so on wood filler and a matching stain.

As for the face, that's something that depends on exactly what you want.
Painted MDF is cheap and easy and works fine in some environments. Maybe
cost you a total of $55 for a 34" -cabinet with materials and all (hinges,
paint, handles, etc...). Start using some really nice hardwood, and your
costs can go up significantly. You'll have to price that yourself.

Also, don't forget any time you'll need for router work (prep and actual
work), along with the necessary purchase of new bits.

Another thought - what about re-using and re-finishing your old cabinet
faces? That'll really cut your costs.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer