Installing cabinets shows off your carpentry chops
Your cabinet installation needs precise leveling and shimming to keep each unit straight, as unlevel cabinets lead to gaps and misaligned doors.
Professional cabinet installation costs range from $2,000 to $11,000, including labor and materials, with contractors charging $50 to $450 per linear foot.
You'll need to start with upper cabinets first, using a ledger board for support, before moving to base cabinets with proper shimming.
Hiring a local cabinet professional removes installation stress by handling precise leveling, stud mounting, and protecting your investment in custom or new cabinets.
Hanging cabinets at home requires more than using a drill to drive screws into the wall. Precise work with a level and tape measure is key. You’ll need help holding them in place and making sure they’re straight, but some homeowners are willing to tackle this job. Use our cabinet installation checklist to learn more about the steps required.
You may already own many of the supplies and tools you’ll need to hang kitchen cabinets yourself. If not, rather than spending money on new tools, you can hire a local cabinet installer to handle the project. The items needed for cabinet installation include:
Drill
Driver bits
Tape measure
Level
Stud finder
Mounting screws
Crown molding
Shims
Screwdriver
Hammer
Finish nails
Marking pencil
Always start with the upper cabinets, so you don’t have to lean over the lower cabinets. Before hanging the cabinets, inspect them for any damage that occurred during delivery or shipping. Verify how the units line up, so you don’t hang them in the wrong order. The cabinet installation checklist for hanging your upper cabinets includes:
Remove any existing cabinets
Mark the wall studs’ location
Remove the cabinet doors to simplify the work
Draw a straight line 54 inches off the floor using a level
Install a 2x4 (called a ledger) horizontally on the line to help support the upper cabinets’ weight during hanging
Start in a corner of the room
Drill holes in the back of the cabinet to match the wall studs’ location
Rest the cabinet on the ledger
Drive mounting screws through the drilled holes
Use a level on the mounted cabinet
If the unit is not level, add shims
Hang the adjacent cabinets with mounting screws
Test whether each adjacent cabinet is level and use shims to adjust them
Use small screws to connect adjacent cabinets
Remove the ledger board
Add crown molding at the top
Reattach the doors
Before installing the base cabinets, account for the height of any floating flooring you’ll be installing later. If you’re not installing a floating floor, you should install whatever flooring you want to use before putting in the lower cabinets.
Base cabinets have a standard height of 34.5 inches. Use a level to draw a horizontal line 34.5 inches from the highest point on the floor. Draw the line on any wall where base cabinets will go. From there, the base cabinet installation checklist includes:
Dry-fit the base cabinets to ensure they’re in the right order
Save space for appliances you’ll install later
Remove doors and drawers from the cabinets to simplify installation
Mark the location of wall studs
Start with the corner base cabinet
Drill holes in the back of the cabinet to match the wall studs’ location
Shim the cabinet to bring its height to the horizontal line
Make sure it’s level
Use mounting screws to attach it to the wall studs
Add an adjacent cabinet
Use shims to keep it tight to the corner cabinet and to match the horizontal line
Make sure it’s level before mounting it to the wall studs
Connect the adjacent cabinets with small screws
Continue hanging adjacent cabinets
Use filler strips or 1x2s to cover gaps
Add toe kicks along the bottom with finish nails
Hang the doors and insert the drawers
The cost of kitchen cabinet installation ranges from $2,000 to $11,000, including professional labor and materials.
A local cabinet contractor will charge between $50 and $450 per linear foot to hang the cabinets, so the final cost will depend on the size of your kitchen.
You can save a few thousand dollars or more by hanging the cabinets yourself. A typical kitchen has between 20 and 30 linear feet of cabinets, meaning you’ll pay a pro at least $1,000 to hang the cabinets, but most people will pay quite a bit more.
If you’re wondering who to hire to build custom cabinets, a local cabinet maker is the right choice. However, they may require you to hire an installation pro to hang the custom cabinets.
Making an error while DIYing installation would be an expensive mistake—custom cabinets’ cost ranges from $3,000 to $13,000 before installation. Your best bet is to hire a pro to protect your initial investment.
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