Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Styles & brands we work with
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterHow Much Does Cabinet Installation Cost in Fort Lauderdale?
Cabinet installation in Fort Lauderdale typically costs between $4,000 and $13,000 for a standard kitchen in 2026, with most homeowners landing around $7,500 for mid-grade cabinets and professional labor. The spread comes down to cabinet quality, kitchen size, and whether you’re refacing existing boxes or installing entirely new cabinetry. A basic 10×10 kitchen with stock cabinets runs near the bottom of that range, while custom or semi-custom work in neighborhoods like Victoria Park or Rio Vista pushes toward the top.
Here’s the short version: you’re paying for two things, the boxes themselves and the labor to hang, level, and finish them. In Fort Lauderdale, labor for cabinet installation typically runs $85 to $150 per cabinet, or $40 to $75 per linear foot when a contractor quotes it that way. We’ll break down exactly where those numbers come from below, including what we charge at Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale and what we see across Broward County.
Cabinet Installation Cost Breakdown (2026)
Before you get a quote you don’t fully understand, here’s the line-item reality of what a cabinet installation job actually costs in the Fort Lauderdale market in 2026.
| Line Item | Typical Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock cabinets (10×10 kitchen) | $2,500 – $4,500 | Particle board or MDF frames, limited door styles |
| Semi-custom cabinets (10×10 kitchen) | $5,000 – $9,000 | Plywood boxes, soft-close hinges, more finish options |
| Fully custom cabinets | $10,000 – $25,000+ | Built to spec, premium woods, specialty finishes |
| Installation labor (per cabinet) | $85 – $150 | Includes leveling, anchoring, hardware mounting |
| Installation labor (per linear foot) | $40 – $75 | Common when quoting full kitchen scope |
| Cabinet removal and disposal | $300 – $800 | Old cabinets hauled away; some companies charge per box |
| Trim, crown molding, and toe kicks | $500 – $1,500 | Often quoted separately from the cabinet cost |
| Hardware (knobs, pulls, hinges) | $150 – $600 | Soft-close hinges alone run $8 – $25 per pair |
| Plumbing or electrical adjustments | $200 – $900 | Moving sink lines, adding outlets, under-cabinet lighting |
| Permit fees (if structural) | $100 – $500 | Required if walls move or load-bearing changes occur |
Those numbers reflect what we’re seeing across jobs in Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise, Plantation, and Davie in 2026. What drives the biggest swing is cabinet sourcing. KraftMaid and Wellborn semi-custom lines, which Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale installs regularly, land solidly in the $5,000 to $9,000 range for material on an average kitchen. That’s honest mid-market pricing with manufacturer backing behind the boxes, not a mystery supplier’s white-label import.
If you’re doing a smaller job, like a bathroom vanity cabinet, a wet bar, or a laundry room, expect to pay $800 to $3,000 for a single vanity installation and $1,500 to $5,000 for a full set of utility room cabinets, labor included.
What Affects Cabinet Installation Pricing in Fort Lauderdale
- Cabinet construction type: Particle board, plywood boxes, or solid hardwood frames change material cost by 30% to 60%. In humid South Florida, plywood boxes hold up better than particle board, and that’s not a sales pitch, it’s what we see after a decade of Fort Lauderdale humidity.
- Kitchen size and layout: A galley kitchen in a Sailboat Bend bungalow might have 8 to 10 cabinets. A center-island kitchen in a Harbour Inlet new build can have 25 or more. More boxes, more linear feet, more labor.
- Wall condition behind the old cabinets: Older Fort Lauderdale homes built before modern hurricane codes often have uneven studs, plaster walls, or past termite repair. Leveling cabinets on an out-of-square wall takes more time, and we bill labor honestly by the hour when the wall fights back.
- Ceiling height and crown molding: Stacked cabinets that go to a 9-foot or 10-foot ceiling cost more in material and labor than standard 8-foot uppers. Crown molding and light rail add another $500 to $1,500 depending on the run length.
- Finish hardware and soft-close upgrades: Blum soft-close hinges, dovetail drawer boxes, pull-out trays, and trash pull-outs add up fast. A standard pull-out tray kit runs $80 to $200 per cabinet, and most Fort Lauderdale homeowners want them at least in the base cabinets.
- Permit and code compliance: Fort Lauderdale’s building department requires permits when cabinet work touches plumbing, electrical, or structural changes. If you’re just swapping boxes, you typically don’t need one. If you’re moving a sink cabinet or shifting an appliance line, budget $100 to $500 for the permit itself, plus any inspection time.
Cabinet Refacing vs. Full Replacement: Know the Difference
If your cabinet boxes are solid but the doors look dated, refacing is the cheaper route. Refacing in Fort Lauderdale runs $3,000 to $8,000 and involves swapping door faces, drawer fronts, and hardware while keeping the existing boxes in place. Full replacement runs $4,000 to $13,000 and gives you new boxes, new layout options, and a warranty on everything. Here’s the rule we tell customers: if the boxes are water-damaged, warped from humidity, or more than 25 years old, refacing is putting lipstick on a problem. If the boxes are square and dry, refacing is a smart way to keep the budget down.
In Fort Lauderdale specifically, we see more refacing candidates than you’d think. The dry season treats cabinets well, but a single hurricane season with a roof leak or a dishwasher line failure can compromise particle board boxes quickly. We check for swelling at the bottom corners before we ever quote refacing.
Stock, Semi-Custom, or Custom: What Should You Actually Buy?
Fort Lauderdale homeowners shop across the whole spectrum, but here’s the truth from the trade. Stock cabinets ($2,500 to $4,500 for a 10×10 kitchen) get you in the door but limit sizing, door styles, and finish quality. Semi-custom ($5,000 to $9,000) is where most of our customers land, and it’s what we recommend for anyone planning to stay in the home more than five years. You get plywood construction, real wood doors, soft-close everything, and brands like KraftMaid that stand behind their product with real warranty support. Fully custom ($10,000 to $25,000+) makes sense for unique layouts, historic homes in Colee Hammock, or high-end finishes that need to match existing millwork exactly.
Luca Romano, who runs Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale, puts it this way: most people don’t regret buying a better cabinet box. They regret paying for a high-end name on a door face that’s going to get scuffed by a barstool anyway. Spend on construction, not branding.
Labor Rates for Cabinet Installation in Fort Lauderdale
Expect to pay $85 to $150 per cabinet for professional installation in the Fort Lauderdale area. That assumes a straightforward hang-and-level job with no wall repair, no plumbing moves, and no surprises. If a contractor quotes by linear foot, $40 to $75 is the honest range for lower and upper cabinet runs combined.
What does that labor actually include? At Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale, it includes delivery coordination, unboxing and inspection, shimming and leveling every box, anchoring into studs, aligning door faces, mounting hardware, installing soft-close mechanisms, adjusting drawer slides, and a final walkthrough where we open every single door in front of you. If a door doesn’t close square, we fix it before we leave. That’s the standard we were built on in 2005, and it’s the same standard we run today under The Relay Visibility Guarantee: a live arrival time, photo updates before and after, and a written price before a single tool comes out.
How to Save on Cabinet Installation
You don’t have to buy cheap cabinets to save money on installation. The real savings are in the job planning. Here’s what actually moves the needle in Fort Lauderdale:
- Keep the layout where it is. Moving a sink cabinet or an appliance line adds plumbing and electrical work. Every foot of moved plumbing is $200 to $500. Keep the sink where the sink is, and your install stays in the straight labor range.
- Use ready-to-assemble (RTA) cabinets only if you’re truly handy. RTA cabinets save 20% to 35% on materials, but the assembly takes real time, and a bad assembly shows up as wobbly boxes and misaligned doors. We’ve fixed enough DIY RTA jobs to say honestly: if you don’t have a level, a drill, and a full Saturday, buy pre-assembled.
- Skip the crown molding if you’re on a tight budget. It’s a beautiful finish, but it adds $500 to $1,500. You can always add it next year without tearing anything out.
- Bundle with a countertop install. Most Fort Lauderdale cabinet companies also do counters, and bundling typically saves 5% to 10% on labor because the job gets scheduled as one visit instead of two. Cabinet installation plus countertop installation in the Fort Lauderdale market runs $6,000 to $19,500 depending on cabinet quality and countertop material.
- Ask for a written, line-item quote before you commit. You can’t compare quotes that don’t itemize. We put cabinet material, labor, trim, hardware, and disposal as separate lines on every quote we write. If a contractor won’t break it out, you should ask why.
- Get your free estimate first. Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale gives free, no-pressure estimates for cabinet work. Call (754) 354-7423 and we’ll come measure, quote, and leave you with a written number in your hand. No deposit required to see the math.
How Long Does Cabinet Installation Take in Fort Lauderdale?
A standard 10×10 kitchen cabinet installation takes 2 to 3 days in Fort Lauderdale. Days one and two are the heavy lifting: removing old cabinets, leveling and hanging new ones, and getting the boxes anchored. Day three is the finish pass: doors, drawers, hardware, trim, and the QA walkthrough. Semi-custom and custom jobs with crown molding, pantry towers, or island work can stretch to 4 to 5 days. If you’re doing a full kitchen remodel with floors, counters, and backsplash, expect 2 to 4 weeks total.
Fort Lauderdale has its own scheduling reality. A lot of our customers in neighborhoods like Coral Ridge and Imperial Point are in condos or HOAs with specific work-hour rules and elevator or dock restrictions. We navigate that every week, and it can add a day to the schedule when materials have to come through a freight elevator or a service entrance. If you’re in a condo on Galt Ocean Drive, tell us upfront and we’ll plan the delivery path before the day arrives. That’s the Relay Standard: no surprises, for you or for us.
Local Factors That Change Cabinet Pricing in Fort Lauderdale
South Florida isn’t like installing cabinets in a dry climate. Here’s what we account for on every Fort Lauderdale cabinet installation job:
- Humidity and material choice: Particle board swells in high humidity. Near the Intracoastal or the beach, where morning dew and salt air are constant, plywood boxes are worth the upgrade. We see fewer callbacks on plywood in East Fort Lauderdale, full stop.
- Hurricane season and lead times: Cabinet manufacturers slow down in August and September. If you want a kitchen done before Thanksgiving, order by late July. We help customers plan around this every year.
- Older home quirks: Homes in neighborhoods like Riverside Park and Tarpon River were built in the 1950s and 1960s. Walls aren’t always square, studs aren’t always 16 inches on center, and old plaster can crumble behind a cabinet run. That’s not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to hire someone who has hung cabinets in those specific homes before.
- Condominium rules: Much of Fort Lauderdale’s east side is condo and co-op buildings. Insurance requirements, service elevator scheduling, and HOA noise windows all affect scheduling and sometimes material choices. We’re used to it, and we’ll flag the cost implications in the quote before you sign.
Should You DIY Cabinet Installation in Fort Lauderdale?
You can. Most people shouldn’t. Hanging cabinets isn’t dangerous like electrical work, but it’s unforgiving. A cabinet that’s 1/8 inch out of level at the wall becomes 1/2 inch out at the door face, and now your doors won’t close square. Studs in South Florida walls are often missed by DIYers who don’t have a proper stud finder, and a cabinet that isn’t anchored into a stud will pull out of drywall under the weight of dishes. We’ve fixed enough DIY cabinet installs to know the cost of fixing a bad hang usually exceeds what the original professional install would have cost.
If you’ve got experience with cabinet installs and the right tools, a small laundry room or garage cabinet project can be a solid weekend job. For a kitchen, hire the pro. Call (754) 354-7423 and we’ll give you an honest read on whether your project is a DIY candidate or a call-us job. The estimate is free either way.
FAQs – Cabinet Installation Cost
How much does it cost to install cabinets in a 10×10 kitchen in Fort Lauderdale?
A 10×10 kitchen in Fort Lauderdale runs $4,000 to $9,000 for stock or semi-custom cabinets with professional installation. Stock cabinets bring the low end, semi-custom brands like KraftMaid push toward $8,000 or $9,000. Call (754) 354-7423 for an exact quote on your layout, free.
Is it cheaper to reface or replace cabinets?
Refacing is cheaper, running $3,000 to $8,000 versus $4,000 to $13,000 for full replacement in Fort Lauderdale. But refacing only makes sense if your existing boxes are square, dry, and structurally sound. If there’s water damage or warping, replacement is the better long-term spend.
What is the average labor cost to install cabinets per cabinet?
Professional cabinet installation in Fort Lauderdale runs $85 to $150 per cabinet. That includes leveling, shimming, anchoring to studs, mounting doors and hardware, and final alignment. Per linear foot, expect $40 to $75.
How long does cabinet installation take?
A standard kitchen takes 2 to 3 days. Larger semi-custom or custom installations with crown molding, pantries, or island work run 4 to 5 days. We give a live arrival time and send photo updates before and after so you’re never guessing about progress.
Can you install cabinets the same week I call?
Often, yes, especially for smaller jobs like bathroom vanities or laundry room cabinets. For a full kitchen, we typically schedule within 1 to 2 weeks depending on material lead times. Call (754) 354-7423 and we’ll check availability while you’re on the line.
Do I need a permit to install cabinets in Fort Lauderdale?
Most straightforward cabinet replacement does not require a permit in Fort Lauderdale. If you’re moving plumbing, electrical, or structural walls, expect $100 to $500 in permit fees. We handle permitting on any job that needs it and include the cost in your written quote up front.
Why Fort Lauderdale Homeowners Choose Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale
We’re not the only cabinet installer in Broward County, and we’re not trying to be. We’re the one that puts a written price in your hand before any work starts, sends a background-checked uniformed technician whose photo you’ll recognize when they arrive, and keeps you updated with before-and-after photos at every step. That’s The Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it’s the way we’ve run jobs since 2005.
Every Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale cabinet installation comes with the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If something isn’t done right, we make it right, backed in writing. That’s a full year of accountability, not a 30-day checkbox. Luca Romano runs every project under that standard, and he’s the one who answers when a customer calls with a concern a month later.
Our material partners include KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, Cambria and Caesarstone countertops, and Kohler and Toto fixtures. When you choose cabinets through us, you’re not getting a mystery import from a warehouse in Medley or Hialeah. You’re getting name-brand, manufacturer-backed product with a real warranty behind the install.
Ready to get real numbers? Call (754) 354-7423 and we’ll schedule a free estimate, walk your space, and put a written price in your hands before you make any decisions. No pressure, no phone tag, no surprises. That’s how we do it, from our home base in Fort Lauderdale to every kitchen we install in Broward County.
Pricing reflects the Fort Lauderdale market as of 2026. Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale offers free estimates – call (754) 354-7423.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner at Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale since 2005.
What Our Customers Say
"Booked a kitchen consult online and got a project timeline in the app. Crew texted each morning with the day's plan. Cabinets, counters, and backsplash look great."
- Erin K."Good renovation. The countertop slipped a week, but I got a text and a new date right away."
- Dina M."Quote was itemized and every change was approved in the app."
- Sasha L.
