Thats $2000 a linear foot, which sounds awfully high, but without knowing any details its hard to say.

OMG, what material is he using? Gold gilded trim? Geeze Louis, who are they trying to kid? I've built built ins with my father and used to prepare all the trim for my ex who was a professional carpenter, its just not that hard even when you include staining and finishing out the wood. It may be a little time consuming but not 26K worth of time! I know the labor is different, but just to put it into perspective, that's almost double the amount we paid when we gutted and remodeled our entire master bath. Our contractor moved walls, tiled, built in a shower, installed new electrical, bought all new cabinetry, and exotic granite, moved plumbing, installed a new toilet, changed & enlarged a window and the list goes on...labor and materials, just a tad over 13,000. That's a heck of a lot more work and material than sanding and staining some wood for 13 linear feet! That's more than many people have spent for an entire kitchen remodel. Yikes, I'd definitely get more quotes. That's ridiculous.

I'm sorry, 2,000 per linear foot is ridiculous.

that's what i think too...and it's not even being sanded etc. since it's just going to be white painted. it doesn't even need to be solid wood, can be plywood or MDF. this is the guy that our builder uses for the kitchen cabinets (price of the kitchen included in price for the house, but built ins in the great room are a separate project on our own dime).

really high. Unless you are doing something extraordinary.

That's the budget for cabinets for our entire kitchen, plus 13' of cabinets in the dining room.

Well I wouldn't necessarily recommend plywood or MDF for built ins. If you're going to do it, do it right and go with a nice birch or something. It's affordable, doesn't have a lot of knots, isn't too soft and will sand very easily. I built a desk for our office out of that and it's very pretty. If you go to your local lumber yard and tell them what you're interested in doing, they can show you a few varieties of wood that would work well for your project. And, they'd also probably have a list of local carpenters you could get some quotes from.

Wow - We got an entire kitchen, dining area, study and master bath- nearly 50 linear feet - for $2000 more than that - solid cherry, fully custom - all interiors were solid wood, dovetail drawers, soft close and heavy duty drawers. I also had him make me several specialized pull outs. It was about $580 per linear foot which is mid range for most custom cabinetry. We are in pricey San Francisco Bay Area.

My husband is a carpenter-this is what he does. He said (and this is a VERY rough ballpark without knowing what you asked for) he would guestimate about 5000 dollars

I agree with Pattiem93. I had a corner unit built out of solid cherry. Probably 6' on one wall and 3' on the other - L shaped and it was $4950.

it's 9' high. white painted finish. 24" deep bottom cabinets, 18" deep upper shelves. big open area for 65" TV. if i knew how to post pictures, i'd post a pic of the layout that my designer came up with.

I think 5,000 is still high depending on the region even with Cherry wood.

when we had built-ins built in our study, we had several people come to give us bids and there was quite a bit of difference in bids....for ~ 12 feet ranged from ~ 7,500- 24,000. we went with a cheaper bid...chose oak instead of cherry, the crown is less elaborate and gorgeous than i'm sure the priciest guy would have made(judging from his portfolio photos!) ...there was definitely a differnce in finish between the carpenters, but we ended up with a very nice study for less than half the most expensive bid!

I don't know what circumstances would require that kind of money but you should get several other quotes. Ask someone that had some cabinet work done or look on the web for cabinet workers in your area. Hire someone who has done work that you can see. I agree that the cabinets should not be made of MDF (medium density fibreboard) but I don't know any cabinet maker who would make a cabinet out of solid wood. The best material would be a good cabinet grade plywood like Appleply or Baltic Birch with the face frames and doors and drawer fronts of solid wood. Get three or four bids.

My husband and a friend built our built-ins out of 3/4" birch plywood. Ours go from floor to ceiling 8ft tall, about 8ft wide, and about 15" deep. We have a small living room and couldn't go any deeper. It cost us $200 for everything including hinges and handles for the closed storage. The price you were given is ridiculous and I would find somebody else to build it for you.

WOW! Interesting......thanks for posting. We know there are scammers out there ....you met one. Sorry you wasted your time with this guy.

Don't forget that sometimes contractors will bid extremely high if they aren't interested in the job- thinking that if the customer is willing to pay that much, then ok they will take the job . Not necessarily scammers. Not that I appreciate that attitude, I just think its pretty common.

Since they're going to be painted, he can use paint grade birch and I think $5,000 is plenty for that. Still high but it does depend on how much molding and drawers you plan on having and whether anything is stock.

Have you looked into using semi-custom cabinets? Many kitchen/bath cabinet manufacturers also have cabinets designed specifically for entertainment centers. You can get a quote for that and compare it to the quote for your custom work.

Too many to read all, but if others have said this, then I second or third or whatever it.
Use a company like Kraftmaid at Home Depot and install them yourselves for a semi-custom, but custom look.
Kraftmaid has their specs online too. Just google Kraftmaid Specs. You'll have to sign up, but they don't send you emails if you don't ask for them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kraftmaid

We had 11 linear feet of Kraftmaid cabinets installed (upper and lower cabinets). Granted, we did not opt for the most expensive type of wood or door style. The total for cabinets, countertop, and labor was $6000. HTH.

We had a 13 foot wide x 10.5 foot high entertainment center custom built out of solid cherry with nice crown moulding and built-in lighting done for 17K including labor. The doors were a select Cherry as well. We got quotes ranging from that to 27K for a very basic cherry built-in. Paint grade would definitely be cheaper. The same cabinet maker is making me custom paint grade mudroom bench, cubbies and cabs (approx 6 ft) plus a mail station(42 inches of lowers) for about $3500.

I would suggest looking around some more. Our cabinetmaker we found in the phone book and works out of a workshop in his home and doesn't advertise. He did a fantastic job as well(It did take a while though as he is working alone).

If there is anyway you can incorporate stock cabinet sizes that should decrease your costs a bit as well.

Our entertainment center is 11 ft wide and 84" high. Thomasville custom order. Cost was $5500. Here is a picture. Sorry about the flash.
{{!gwi}}

Djsaw, would you please post a pic of your finished built-ins that your dh built???? I'd love to put some in our rec room and that price fits our budget. :)

I just did this 18’ wide with a 6’ L on the left burch 3 piece crown all mortise and tenon overlays will have 15 days in it with a lot of changes theoughout $3300 in material 15 days of labor $3000 in tools that get wore by every job what am i supposed to charge ? im unsure Btw none of these photos are the completed project