Discover the True Cost of DIY Cabinets and Hiring a Professional
There are many things to consider when deciding between going the DIY route or hiring a professional cabinet maker or enlisting the help of a cabinet making company.
Main considerations to take into account include:
- What is it that you want (one cabinet or to renovate the entire kitchen?)
- What is your budget?
- How confident are your DIY skills and do you have the necessary tools?
- Do you have the time?
When hiring a professional cabinet maker, you aren’t just hiring them to manufacture and install the cabinets. Cabinet making is a skilled trade. You are paying them for their time and skill which includes, but is not limited to:
- Discussing your plans, (inform them of your must-haves and let them know if you have a budget so they can work within that range)
- The plans are taken to the drafting stage and materials are ordered
- The cabinets are manufactured and knocked up in their factory and later installed in your home
- Some businesses provide an aftercare service for any issues that may arise after it has been installed and will be rectified
Sure it may be a little pricier than if you were to do this yourself, but in the end, you are paying for it to be made and installed correctly. Choosing a professional cabinet maker to make and install your new cabinets or kitchen, will no doubt leave you with a higher quality product in the end than if you were to attempt this yourself.
On the other hand, if you wanted to embark on this DIY cabinetry project on your own, you will need to think about the following factors:
- Measure the space accurately (if this step is done incorrectly, it will be difficult to make the right sized cabinets)
- Plan out what you want and where you want it (think of how much storage you want and how much space you realistically have)
- Buy your own material (plus extra in case of errors), hinges (know which ones to buy and how many you need), tools (the household tools you already own would probably be fine professional cabinet makers have an array of tools at their disposal)
- Think about how much time you are willing to dedicate to this project (can you put a value on your time spent?)
Do note that there won’t be any sizeable cost-saving (maybe only marginal) unless you are making quite a few of them. However, this all depends on your own project and will not be the same for the next person. If you are after one or two cabinets, it would be fine for a DIY as is a standalone project. BUT if you were to try and redo your entire kitchen by yourself with limited cabinetry know-how, you may run into an array of issues.
It is not always cheaper to build your own cabinets if what you are after is already widely available and mass-produced.
If you sit somewhere in the middle, whereby you have more cabinetry knowledge than the next person, understand how it is put together, know what materials are required in building a cabinet and love a good DIY challenge but you do not have access to any machinery.. we have the perfect solution for you.
Flatpacks With Character is our free online CUSTOM cabinetry ordering system. Get a professional look without breaking the bank. With our system, you, as the client get the best of both worlds. You get to have full customisation of your kitchen or cabinetry and the ease of putting together a flat pack and installing it for a fraction of the price of a full-service renovation and a fraction of the effort if you were to do it all yourself. But, don’t take our word for it. Log into our portal and check out what’s available and order cabinets locally straight from our Perth factory.
Our prices are low for what we offer and we are able to pass on the cost savings to you as a customer as we only handle the cabinet manufacturing. If you are not too confident in your DIY skills to put together your flat-pack cabinet, we do have the option where we can do it for you and have you install it yourself. Although we do have a warranty on our products, it will only cover the material and not the installation and finished product (if put together by you).
If you are after the full service – design, manufacture, and install, check out our sister company Character Cabinets for all your renovation needs. We have been in the Western Australian renovation and housing scene for the last 25 years and we work closely with our other sister company Stone with Character for any stone features (stone benchtops etc).
If you are an experienced cabinet maker, this is a great opportunity for you too as you will be able to advertise custom cabinetry services and deal directly with your client and order from us. You won’t need to lease a warehouse to store your projects or invest in expensive machinery – we got you covered. All you need is your ute, your tools, a reliable internet service (to access our online trade portal), and your cabinetry knowledge.
(Screenshot taken from our OneCab online custom cabinetry ordering portal)
Flatpacks with Character is located at U2/21 Burns Road, Armadale, Perth 6112. If you would like a factory tour to check out our manufacturing capabilities, let us know via phone 0423 058 203 or email to set up a time! We want you to be confident with who you are working with!
*Please note that the following blog post is written for those with limited DIY know-how*