Your cabinet doors are worn, the drawers stick, and the kitchen never seems to have storage where you need it. Before ordering new cabinets, decide whether you want a better finish or a different kitchen layout.
So kitchen cabinet replacement starts around $110 to $300 per linear foot for installed stock cabinets in Suman Custom Carpentry’s guide. Its semi-custom band is $225 to $550, while custom starts at $600 and reaches $1,400 or more.
I will explain what those bands buy, how installation and tear-out affect the bill, and when keeping the boxes makes sense. US price pages were checked October 18, 2026.
Cabinet Prices Per Linear Foot
Suman Custom Carpentry serves Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Its published comparison separates materials and fitting, which helps when a cabinet seller gives you a supply-only price.
Stock cabinets come in set sizes. Semi-custom adds more choices and some size changes. Custom work makes more sense when you need unusual dimensions, a particular finish or storage that a catalog cannot provide.
A linear foot is a length measurement, not your kitchen’s floor area. Ask how the seller counts upper cabinets, base cabinets and tall pantry units before multiplying a rate by your wall length.
Have both bidders use the same cabinet plan. An open shelf, a corner unit and a bank of drawers do different jobs, even when they occupy a similar amount of wall.
What a 20-Foot Cabinet Order Could Cost
Using Suman’s semi-custom installed band, 20 × $225 = $4,500 and 20 × $550 = $11,000. This is a cabinet-and-installation example, before removal, counters and other kitchen work.
That example assumes the supplier counts your order as 20 linear feet. A room with two 10-foot walls is not automatically the same order.
Foreverbuilt Kitchens & Baths in Ewing Township, New Jersey, publishes a separate $400 to $1,200 allowance for removing and disposing of existing cabinets. Its complete-project budgets include other extras too.
I would keep the cabinet schedule attached to the quote: each box, door style, finish, exposed end panel, filler, toe kick and handle. That is much easier to compare than two totals marked “new kitchen cabinets”.
The Installation Work Behind the Doors
The installer has to fit the cabinet run to the room, not just hang boxes. Uneven walls, corners and floors can require scribing, fillers or leveling before the doors and drawers line up.
Confirm whether assembly is included for flat-pack cabinets. Also settle who installs crown molding, end panels and the island backing, and who adjusts the hinges and drawer fronts at the end.
Appliance openings need to match the actual models. A planned dishwasher replacement is easier to coordinate before the cabinet order is final.
Moving the sink or adding an island can introduce plumbing and electrical work beyond the cabinet contract. Budget for those jobs separately, even if the remodeler arranges them.
Will the Countertops Need Replacing Too?
Klappenberger & Son finds that people replacing cabinets often replace the countertop, sink and faucet too. Ask which of those items your kitchen plan keeps before agreeing to the cabinet work.
If the tops also need replacing, use the separate kitchen countertop cost guide. Keep that surface budget apart from the cabinet price so you do not count installation twice.
Painting or Refacing Instead
If you still like the cabinet style, painting is one option Klappenberger & Son offers. Its advice favors replacement when the doors and drawers no longer work properly.
Klappenberger & Son’s 2024 painting page gives $70 to $100 per wall cabinet and $150 to $200 per base cabinet. Its page also uses a per-visible-piece method, so have the painter confirm which measurement applies to your job.
At its wall-cabinet rates, ten wall cabinets alone would be 10 × $70 = $700 to 10 × $100 = $1,000. Base cabinets and any extra preparation still need their own allowance.
For a refacing example, a DC Urban Moms poster on November 29, 2023, at 09:26 described a carpenter buying and fitting Shaker fronts with new hardware.
That carpenter was already working on another project in the home. The owner gave no refacing price.
What Homeowners Spent on Cabinets
The DC Urban Moms forum has older purchases with useful detail about what was included. They show why a cabinet-only sale and a custom kitchen order should not share one average.
- On December 13, 2018, at 17:24, a buyer reported about $5,500 for IKEA cabinets, including lighting in two glass-door cabinets. They had not been installed yet.
- On December 14, 2018, at 08:10, a homeowner reported about $6,000 in sale-priced IKEA cabinets for a 14-by-14-foot kitchen with a peninsula and pantry. The homeowner did the installation.
- On November 27, 2023, at 23:58, another homeowner reported paying around $30,000 for custom cabinets after an initial $70,000 quote. The post does not itemize installation.
Questions About Replacing Kitchen Cabinets
Does Cabinet Painting Come With a Warranty?
Klappenberger & Son offers a five-year warranty covering chipping and peeling. Ask for the terms with your painting quote.
Where These Prices Come From
US prices checked October 18, 2026. The homeowner examples retain their posting dates.
- Suman Custom Carpentry: material and installation bands.
- Foreverbuilt Kitchens & Baths: replacement-project allowances.
- Klappenberger & Son: 2024 cabinet painting prices.
- DC Urban Moms: IKEA purchases in 2018 and custom cabinet purchase in 2023.
I hope this helps you choose how much of the kitchen really needs changing. Send your cabinet quote or a question to costcheckr@gmail.com.
