Kitchen Cabinets: Cheaper to Build or Buy? | I Like To Make Stuff

Is it cheaper to build or buy kitchen cabinets? In this video, we explore the different options, show you how to make a basic cabinet, and compare the actual prices of building out a kitchen versus buying a professionally designed arrangement.

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Cabinets: Cheaper to Build or Buy? | I Like To Make Stuff

I Like To Make Stuff

[jeffgoldenberg]

A good friend of mine, who is a designer and furniture maker, used the carcasses from Ikea cabinets but crafted the doors for kitchens in two architecturally significant homes. The savings in both time and money were considerable, and yet the final result was essentially a custom cabinet. Something to consider, especially in a kitchen as big as the one in this video.

[bytesizedengineering]

This was very informative! I went from thinking I could never do this, to thinking I could, to thinking I shouldn't.

[AGlimpseInside]

OK that toe kick drawer, that was mind blowing. Thank you for sharing that little nugget

[ajkustoms]

Nice video. I work in a cabinet shop, we make full custom high end cabinets. Some advice for upping you cabinet making game; dont spend time dado-ing your bottoms in. Pocket screws are plenty strong for the bottoms, and you can hide them on the underside of the cabinet. No dado, no glue, no brads and no screws. Saves you a bunch of time and materials. Also, we use 1/2 inch for the cabinet backs 98% of the time which gets dadoed in and stapled. Super strong. So strong that if you try to remove them for whatever reason, you need a big hammer and usually a new piece of plywood for the back. Again no glue or brads or nails. Been making them this way for a long time, and i dont usually have a cabinet return for repair due to the way i constructed them. Just some food for thought.

[CaptainRon]

The markup on custom kitchen cabs is outrageous. We took our plans in to Lowes and had them quote on solid wood cabs, no particle board, self closing hidden slides and hinges, etc. They came in at well over double what I built them for, out of better quality lumber and construction. I have to say, the top of the line Kraftmaid cabs are pretty impressive, but I saved over $20k building them myself, and put that money into nicer appliances and fixtures. Thanks for posting.

[samaker]

"It's fun at first and then it becomes kinda old."
Maximum respect for keeping at it!

[tdunn]

My opinion will always be - if you have the tools, and know how to use them semi-competently, it IS 100% worth it to make your own. You have complete control over the what, where, and how of all your cabinets. I’d build everything I could if I had a full-ish shop.

Thank you for taking the time to put this great walkthrough and breakdown together for us.

[jesuswasacarpenter]

I own a cabinetry and furniture business. Great video! Love the toe kick drawers. Mainly, I wanted to say: THANK YOU for not trying to make this out to be super-easy and quick, like so many other DIY videos out there. IMO, when folks that, it degrades/dilutes the value of our profession, and it potentially adds unnecessary confusion to consumer confidence within our industry. Keep up the great work!

[TheCHRISCaPWN]

I appreciate the invite on the "worth it" argument. Very important, but easily overlooked. This video is just the next installment on a channel full of videos worth investing my time into. Sincerely, I thank and appreciate every one of you at ILTMS. Cheers to you all.

[TheStereo]

The reasoning at the end makes this 100% one of the best videos to watch & think about not just on this project but generally in life.

[Caeleinn]

Years ago, when my parents were renovating the kitchen of their (at the time) 60 year old house, they bought base cabinets off the shelf. While they have lasted at least 20 years, they are definitely starting to show signs of wear and getting a bit flimsy, as they are constructed out of presswood, This video helped me in deciding how to go about replacing them for my Mom so she can stop struggling with sagging cabinets and stuck doors. I may have to go custom and build them myself as the house is now 80 years old, the floors are uneven, and there are no straight lines anywhere. 😅 Thank goodness my Dad had a large shop with lots of power tools and he taught me how to use them. That tape idea is genius, btw.

[chetripoff]

coming from a custom kitchen builder for about 11 years, they actually look really good for you not doing it for a living. keep it up!

[figrollin]

I really appreciate your consideration of fatigue. I think sometimes our society can be so puritanical about work-work-work that to even acknowledge being tired is considered a failing. And I super like that you didn't do that. It's also much more considerate to people of different ability who might fatigue easily etc. Thanks Bob!

[ShopNation]

Great take on the trade-offs. People don't realize the time aspect of projects like this and fail to understand that even time isn't an even trade between the consumer (you) and maybe a trim carpenter who does this for a living. They will be able to churn through a project like this much faster than someone figuring it out as they go along. Not necessarily a bad thing but the learning process is a time "expense" that must be considered.

[chrispalmer]

Thank you Bob for the perspective you gave in the last 3 mins of this video. It's very wise advice to let the audience decide what their priorities are and how much work it is to take on a project of that scale. I really like in the previous video how your plans changed as you worked through the demo of the kitchen. It's good for people to see how an initial plan or idea can evolve as you work through the project.

[dukeninja]

Bear in mind that you can use high end fixtures like Blum soft close drawer slides and hinges if you do it yourself, rather than be at the mercy of whatever the big box store uses. I built my kitchen cabinets earlier this year (having zero experience) and it was a huge learning curve. That was on top of a full time job. I used 17mm formply for everything. You can do it too.

[aaronpops]

When I was laid off from work for almost 4 months, it was definitely worth starting my own kitchen cabinets. Now that I'm back working over 50 hrs a week, it's a chore to finish them.

[blackburn]

I'd probably never go trough with such a massive project myself, but what I love about something like this as a DIY is when it's all set and done, you look at it, are happy and can proudly say "I build all this"

[LDuser]

I've made a custom kitchen. The costs came out to be about the same or very slightly higher than off-the-shelf cabinets. The actual construction took no time at all. Making sure everything was cut correctly took a scaled drawing, careful layout to make sure I got the most out of all the materials and TON of planning. The best part about a project like this is the ability to control the quality. Great video. Lots of great info.

[tschuler]

I built custum cabinets in our kitchen . They are exactly what we wanted with features that you would pay big money for or wouldn't even be an option on off the shelf cabinets. It did take a long time but i wasn't dumb enough to rip out the old kitchen before they were done. The whole kitchen except the quartz countertops cost under $1k