Any kitchen cabinet sellers here

[Craig D Peltier]

I have a question on pricing out a kitchen for customers. I once read an article (very recent) that said to price per lineal foot. I believe the big shops do it this way. I think the numbers were about 3-450 without install and add another 4-700 for install.
i.e. 300ft for materials, 150ft for finish, 3-600ft for install.
Meaning a 12 foot uppers an lowers would be anywhere from 750 a lineal foot to 1050.
Im sure theres some pending factors, i.e finish type and door panels.

Its too time consuming to figure out all the product cost an labor just for a quote that there getting with many others.

Anyone here tell me what they do?

PM me if you want it private please.

[David DeCristoforo]

Pricing "by the foot" only works if your cabinets are built to a "standard". That is, you build them the same way out of the same materials every time. You have to have a different price "per foot" for each "type" of cabinet, "standard base", standard upper", etc. Then you need a price "each" for things like drawers, pull out shelves, "pie-cut" or "blind" corner bases, etc. Then you need to figure prices for things like finished ends, door and drawer fronts, trim pieces, (crowns, etc.) which will vary based on materials and design. By the time you get all of this figured out, you will end up doing as much work as you would to do a "time and materials" bid. Plus, any time you vary from your "standards" all of this work will "go out the window" anyway. I worked out "per foot" prices and never used them because my shop was a "custom" shop and we hardly ever did things the same way twice. So I was always having to "tweak" the per foot prices which turned out to be a surprising amount of work. Finally, I started reacting to requests for "per foot" prices by saying "I don't sell cabinets by the foot...it's not like rope you know..."

[Joe Chritz]

There isn't a short cut. You have to do the math.

Check woodweb cabinet makers section and search for pricing. Lots of shops do a foot or inch pricing but it really only works like David says. It takes a lot of jobs and tracking to figure pricing like that.

I can price a full kitchen (after design) in about 1-2 hours. That includes using cutlist to get a full, well, cutlist. I have a list of costs for hinges, runners, plywood, etc all in cutlist and it helps dramatically. It allows you to add a mark up, which I do to cover incidental costs, like driving to pick it up, etc.

I estimate time based on experience and a SWAG and figure what I want to make per hour.

Solid wood estimates are always rough but I do this. A cabinet 36 tall by 36 wide with raised panel doors would take 12.5 BF. I figure widthxheight in inches add for FF material and add 20%. Last time I did this I had 12 feet of rough lumber left over about 9 inches wide. I also have a list for each cabinet size for solid wood estimates to speed up the process.

It seems to work OK but time is always a trick.

Joe

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks thats enough info. Thanks for your input.
I was thinking about getting cutlist. Is there as much learing curve as sketchup? Or is it much simpler.

Dave I like " I dont sell cabs by the foot, its not rope you know"

[Joe Chritz]

Cutlist is a piece of cake.

There is or was a free version that allows 5 pieces so you can test it out.

I have the 25 piece version and it works most of the time. The 100 part version is more $ and I have gotten by OK with the lesser version. I tend to add parts by stock size to stay under 25 parts.

It is fully customizable for you costs and materials, including kerf width, trim sizes both for full panels and parts as well as other items like runners, hinges etc. You do have to manually enter the parts but that isn't difficult. In fact you can add labor hours and rates, even broken down by different areas, sanding, assembly etc.

It has more features than I really use. I don't see why you couldn't do all the entry there and get a total pretty easy. I use it for sheet goods and hardware and do labor and hardwood manually.

Joe

[William OConnell]

I let others who have invested in market research figure there per ft. price. I was once upon a time a sub/installer for the big box stores. It was one big bait and switch operation by the way. I watched and listened alot. These places have done alot of research into this very equation and there big on per ft. prices. Once you step outside a standard size price increases dramatically. I can compete with there nicer stuff as far as manufacture. Its a tough business i'll tell you that. Just remember perception is the better part of reality and some customers are willing to pay some are not. Your install prices sound a little high to me its more like 150 a ft. here. But that doesnt include crowns wich is 7-10 a foot to install. Cut ins for toe kick heaters are also more money. I personally don't give price per ft. prices to build other than to say it could be from 200-700 it depends. I don't break it down into minutia anymore on estimates either I give a price per job.

[Lee Hingle]

Meaning a 12 foot uppers an lowers would be anywhere from 750 a lineal foot to 1050.

Are you saying 12 foot of uppers and lowers would go for between $9000 and $12,600?

If so I am definitely building in the wrong part of the country!

Lee

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Are you saying 12 foot of uppers and lowers would go for between $9000 and $12,600?

If so I am definitely building in the wrong part of the country!

Lee

Ya, somethin is not right there.