Can You Save Money Building Your Own Kitchen?

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[IBuildItHome]

Please read the blog entry that goes along with this (it actually helps to support the work I do making these videos):

Here are some ways that you can help support the work I do in making these videos:

Plans for sale:


#ibuildit

[kevinblair]

Good post. Just confirming from my experience what you are saying here: Working at it part time, I needed about 6 months to completely build all of the cabinets for our kitchen. It's a fairly small kitchen, about 12 x 14. I used a basic shaker cabinet design with a clear brushed on finish. First the basement--where I have a pretty complete small shop--and then our garage where used to store the cabinets and then mock up the kitchen. Once the cabinets were done, I could start the actual renovation; that took about 3 months of part-time, consistent work--including upgrades to plumbing, electric, lighting, etc. Cost of the cabinets for materials (baltic birch plywood, glue, sand paper, hardware) was under $2, 000, but we're talking close to 12 months in total of working on it every free moment. Upside is high quality, custom design with a lot of cost savings for the cabinets (counter tops, appliances, etc done by professionals). Down side: for close to 12 months I did pretty much nothing else but real job and the kitchen. You have to enjoy the process and be willing to take the time. I think it's easy for people to get a false sense of the challenges and then get way in over their heads.

[BillTiemann]

John, thank you for the statement regarding the length of time involved in making those eleven doors. So often "do it yourselfers" will see videos on YouTube and say to themselves "that's easy, I can do that" not realizing that the video of how to build a cabinet door was ten minutes long but there was two days of shop work and film condensed into that ten minutes to get to that point.

[capemaster]

John, you are a huge inspiration. We recently bought a house that needs a lot of work. Many of your videos I have refferred to because it specifically pertains to what I'm doing. My dad wasn't handy with this sort of thing but thankfully there's people like you who takes the time to put your knowledge out there for all of us. :)

[matrix]

This is a lifetime of expertise condensed to 9 minutes. Thank you for generously sharing John.

[erlpen]

this is by far the best video I've seen about diy kitchen renovation...I think people have to be realistic about what they can do...in my renovation I will leave in place most of the cabinets...I will take doors out and I will put drawers instead...I will build a walk in pantry...whole new lighting...all recessed lights..new switches...move the water pipe for the new refrigerator...

[StanFerris]

You are so right! I'm building cabinets for our kitchen out of pre-finished birch ply with poplar trim, clear coated with lacquer, and it still takes f o r e v e I may kick the bucket before I finish! ;) But it's something I wanted to do. Thanks!

[youzrnaim]

Great video, John! I love the way you speed through everything, but still give tons of detail!

[TheHandToolery]

We decided to re-do our kitchen. We liked the layout but wanted upper cabinets that went to the ceiling. We also wanted to replace a base cabinet with a floor-to-ceiling pantry. I’m the end, I kept the base cabinets and built the uppers and the pantry. Then I made the doors for all cabinets. It took a month working most days. I cost a little more than 1/3 of what I was quoted by a company. I decided to hire a painter to guarantee a nice finish, and that cut into my savings. However, in the end, I ended up at under half the quoted cost, and that included the new counter top. But yeah, I’ll never do it again! Haha!

[JWimpy]

Good tips. I am presently building my kitchen cabinets in place, squaring and leveling everything as I go. That is mainly because my shop is 150' away from my house and I am unable to carry the prebuilt units to the house. Also, I am using cedar for all my face frames, doors, and drawer fronts. And here in Arkansas nice wood is very expensive. Poplar, oak, ash; they are all the same price. Doesn't matter what species you get. So I bought cedar exterior carpenter trim work. With a bit of planing it looks rather well. Then I will seal the raw cedar with shellac.

[markshipman]

Thanks John. Great timing. I’ve been weighing this very question. I really want to do this myself, but as you say, it’s all about my time... and my wife’s patience.
BTW, your kitchen looks great!

[binnsbrian]

I have renovated kitchens for the last 38 years. This video is full of great information. I personally don't think this is a project you would want to learn on the job with.

[ticktock]

For a nine minute video you managed to get a hell of a lot in there John. Many home-build kitchens projects have been started before floundering on one or other of the problems/considerations you listed. Really, to build a kitchen successfully, you have to be proficient enough a craftsman that you don't need to watch this video, 'cause your already know it all. Thus the conundrum. However, I loved the video and I've built two of my own kitchens as well as several for other people.

[ghazanfarali]

Thankyou for the useful information as i was planning to build my kitchen myself as a starter.

[AquaPeet]

Another gem of a video. Valuable information and clearly explained.

I'd like to add that you can think up a fine looking design but you'd also have to have constructional knowledge so that, for example, your melamine sheets aren't going to sag or warp.

My dad made a wall mounted cabinet of melamine and after a few years the shelves and the bottom sagged of the weight put on them, haha...

[ThePaisteTrout]

John, awesome video! I’m been following your progress for a while now and I’m actually somewhere along the same road as you, just a few steps back. Everything in my renovation is done but the kitchen and I’m really feeling the lack of a sink!

Anyways, great job on sharing with others the information you and I have learned the hard way 😝

[ByersLeafguard]

This is a great video! A lot of folks believe that doing it yourself will save money. Sometimes that is true but knowing the full process and calculating time can quickly change things.

[KyleMerl]

Another great benefit of building it yourself is that you can make exactly what you want to fit your specific needs. You don't need to compromise your design to meet the limitations of using standard cabinet sizes based on what you can buy at the box store. That by itself is worth the extra time in my opinion.

[sween]

when partial board kitchens first came in they were more expensive than solid wood kitchens, and people were scraping their solid wood kitchens to put in these new particular board kitchens, as they were the future. Also a table saw is a big help in projects like this. Great video, though I don't think a lot of people would have the patience for this. I found using a CAD program is very useful, you can design the room then design a kitchen into it, helps people make a better choice.

[toomanyhobbies]

I have been considering doing this for my kitchen. This video was very helpful and highlighted some things I haven't considered. Thanks!