A Seattle IKEA Cabinet Installer Discusses Installation Costs and What’s Needed for a Hassle-Free Remodel

90% of his projects require design hacks – IKEA’s Kitchen Planner tool won’t work for them.

You’ve decided to remodel your kitchen with IKEA cabinets and plan to install them yourself. You work with professional kitchen designers (ahem!) and receive your kitchen design plan — and then realize you need help with the kitchen cabinet installation after all. And you’re really concerned your new IKEA kitchen won’t look or function the way it’s intended. You’re right, this scenario could add extra time (and possibly cost) to your IKEA kitchen remodel.

Fortunately for IKEA customers, there are many independent, IKEA-certified cabinet installers who will work with your IKEA kitchen design; provide cabinet hacks (as needed for your space) and work with other design professionals, such as general contractors, to ensure that your installation is done right, so you can get to the business of enjoying your kitchen!

One of those cabinet installers is Rocc, owner and lead installer for Rocc Solid Installations LLC based in Seattle. Rocc recently sat down with IKD to discuss his cabinet installation services; the importance of quality kitchen design plans and ways for IKEA customers to easily navigate the installation process.

For any IKEA customer researching information on the IKEA cabinet installation process, the following information from a professional cabinet installer will surely help you understand the keys to a successful cabinet installation.

Let’s see what Rocc says!

IKD: Can you give us a history of how you’ve come to start including installation services. What were the needs that you were filling with IKEA projects?

Rocc: I’ve always been in carpentry, starting early in my career started in production and multi-family cabinet installations. I used to work in a lot of apartment complexes. I did a lot of production work for the first portion of my career. In 2016 a friend introduced me to Traemand, the installation company that IKEA used. I began to transition from the production realm into more of the residential realm and IKEA was a new product for me to learn about and I took a liking to it. I started in Tempe, Arizona working in homes and when I got introduced to Traemand I began working with another company called Kitchen Helpers and that led me to the Seattle area. I became IKEA certified and from 2017 to 2019 I worked as a lead installer for Traemand installation services. I did hundreds of IKEA installations and got a chance to really get familiar with IKEA products, learn cabinet hacks, learn production aspects and then learn how to [customize by adding third-party parts. When Traemand was purchased by IKEA in 2019 I decided to provide IKEA cabinet installations myself.

Now, in Seattle, we have a lot of influx of people purchasing IKEA cabinets and Rocc Solid gave me that solidification to know I can provide my installation services and skillset to these customers.

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IKD: How have things evolved for you in terms of your services? Do you provide other services [aside from cabinet installation], such as demolition and remodeling?

Rocc: Every customer is specific to their own needs so I decided to get a specialty contracting license. It’s more specified to my skillset and things I really like doing and thrive at doing. There are some nuances with general contracting which I prefer to sub out. I’m talking about things like electrical; plumbing or relocating if I’m demoing something. I do provide demolition services. I can tear out an existing kitchen but I cannot relocate any plumbing or electrical or anything like that. I’ll recommend a general contractor or many times the customer has one already. We work in conjunction to see the project through for the customer.

IKD: How do you determine pricing for cabinet installation and your other services?

Rocc: Generally speaking I price by the piece. I charge $150 per cabinet assembly and installation. There is a description listed in my estimate what I do as far as service for that price.

Custom doors are usually priced higher then IKEA, and I also charge slightly more to install 3rd party doors.

IKD: So how do customers usually find you and how do you select general contractors?

Rocc: If the customer is in a certain area and if I know somebody I’ve worked with in that area and they’re available I’ll recommend them to the customer. I always try to emphasize that I have a list of contractors, but if these contractors don’t suit your needs feel free to hire your own and I’m happy to work with any contractor. Most of my customers originally found me on Home Advisor. Then after I built my Web site I started getting leads that filtered directly to me. So my Web site specifies that I am an IKEA installation service so someone in the Seattle area would type in “IKEA cabinet installers Seattle” and my Web site generally pops up. My market is more for the smaller customer. I’m not opposed to doing bigger high-end jobs, but I am a smaller company. I find that I get through kitchen projects (within the range of like 10 to 15 cabinets) much better and I’m able to perform a better quality of service for those customers. I’ve purposely stayed small to control quality and I do get a lot of word mouth and referral work. About 50% of my work comes as referrals.

IKD: Since you focus on smaller projects, what are you seeing in terms of customization requests from customers, such as cabinet hacks?

Rocc: I’d say about 90% of the kitchens I encounter there’s something nuanced in the kitchen or in the home that forces you to hack the cabinet. IKEA has a bunch of standard sizes so you’re kind of limited to the use of how those things go in. A lot of these Seattle homes are uneven or 100-year-old homes so you’ve got to be creative with putting this stuff in. A customer may see something on Pinterest or HOUZZ for example and they have IKEA in mind, but they can’t really accomplish that without a hack. That’s where I come in. I tell them how I would cut the cabinet a certain way, or this is the door that could fit on it if they’re using a third-party custom front. You can use BLUM hinges and get the cabinet to operate differently and not always go with the IKEA hinge.

Something I can also recommend to customers as far as hacks is to hinge it differently is you can take REV-A-SHELF’s hinge and add a bunch of inserts to it aside from just cutting them to specific sizes. A customization that often has to be done is that IKEA makes a 15” refrigerator cabinet )IE: a 36”x15”) but when you have to place that next to a 84” you won’t be left with enough room to fit a 70” fridge. So that cabinet usually always needs to be cut down, and IKEA only has an option to cut it down 5” to put a 10” door on it. So what I’ve done in the past if it’s a third party door front, I would suggest to cut it to 14”, and get the door specifically made for that. If it’s an IKEA door I would opt to stick to the standard size and figure out the best way to cut the door. There are a lot of options available that make it conductive to the customer and what their expectations are. Or there’s warranties and disclaimers and all that too if I cut something. Some things with IKEA if you cut it, they’re not going to warranty it. As far as the process and me knowing how to how to do all that stuff, I place a warranty on that work.

IKD: Do the customers submit their designs to you through the IKEA home Planner?

Rocc: I prefer every customer have a plan as detailed as possible. I used to create small renderings on the IHP for customers for smaller kitchens. When it got to be extremely detailed and 300 parts – plus the glitching — it got crazy. So you had to navigate that and so since they’ve changed to this new IHP tool I haven’t actually dug into it. I decided to focus on using designers like IKD, and local designers in my area to create better renderings for these customers.

Some of my customers are just looking for a deal and some can’t justify paying extra money for a plan if they can go to the store and get it for free. What they don’t realize is that the store isn’t necessarily have their best interest in mind, as far as walking through the whole plan with them to create something that that they can visually conceptualize before it gets brought to life.

IKD: So what are some of the qualities that stand out to you of an outstanding IKEA kitchen design?

Rocc: I’ll take a step back and put myself in a customer’s shoes and answer that question. If I was going to spend $10,000 – $15,000 on a kitchen ( Link to New Design Package) and my wife and I have been planning for a long time but we’re not too experienced with the process, the best starting point is becoming educated that there are other design services out there that are detail oriented and can work closer with you. As an installer it’s kind of hard because a lot of customers would go into the store first and feel like that was a good possible experience, that is until until they get a chance to work with a company like you guys. Most people really appreciate that opposed to just kind of some cut rate service.

There’s a lot of times I’ll get into a plan and I’ll start the process of installing and then something jumps out at me and I’ll bring it up on the plan and they’ll say the [IHP] did it right or the planner should have figured that out. They have high expectations. The qualities of having a good plan say — if you’re comparing IKEA’s plan to a plan like yours, or someone who does really good CAD renderings; item lists; or who provides accurate measurements and able to interpret them on the plan — and have it make sense for the customer — is quality in itself. It adds quality by easing the customer’s mind into the installation process.

IKD: How do those details in a plan help you as an installer?

Rocc: Just from interpretation alone. I can look at a plan and immediately identify what’s going on with it. Compare that to an IHP design plan where there’s an unclear measurement or there’s like a glitch in the box and the box is not on the wall correctly. Then as the installer I’m asking the customer ‘what’s going on here?’ I don’t necessarily like asking the customer every five minutes what’s going on in the plan. The better visual rendering I can get and for the customer to agree that this is what I’m going to provide for you and it’s going to look just like this really helps. it gives me more of a direction.

IKD: Do you think people purchase IKEA for price more than anything?

Rocc: Yes, and also the convenience of the store being local. You can go to the store and buy your kitchen right there. People like convenience.

IKD: To make your quotes, are most of your quotes coming from IHP?

Rocc: I will quote from the plan itself. So if someone provides me an IHP plan I’m counting boxes, because I’m piecing things out usually,

IKD: How are you handling IKEA back orders?

Rocc: I’m trying to handle as best as possible In a perfect world, projects would happen in one phase. You’d be able to get all the products you need. In most cases before 2020 you’d get more pieces than you need. you’d have extra knowledge like you’d be sending customers back to the store I preferred that honestly I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed that until I didn’t get that anymore. It’s tough to navigate the stock issues because the customer will want to start before everything is ready. I technically don’t like to because I know that it’s going to cause me another phase to come back when I can possibly get everything done in one phase. It’s pretty inconvenient. I don’t do any purchasing for my customers. The reason why is because you’re liable for that time that it takes to seek out those parts. I like my customer to have a little sweat equity in their order process. To facilitate that process I will go over their order list if they have something in the IHP, I’ll go over it, I’ll translate everything to the plan and say hey if I see something missing I’ll work on getting them a little list so they what to order.

IKD: How many installers do you have?

Rocc: I’m the only installer in my business. I’m using an assembler and then I have another contractor that was a co-worker of mine from Traemand and that I can kind of sub out and use him for big projects. I kept it small. I can I control quality much better that way. I also didn’t want to have my guys waiting around for IKEA parts to show up or something like that and now we’re doing other things to piece together work until the IKEA stuff comes around. I do all kinds of cabinetry installations But I really like focusing on the IKEA installations and that’s what I thrive in and what I want to do.

IKD: Will you work with third-party custom companies as a cabinet installer as well?

Rocc: I will. I work with Semihandmade or any of those third-party products. I’ve actually partnered with one and it’s name is Embolden Designer Doors. It’s a new company and it was started by a a gentleman that used to work for Scherr’s.

IKD: Some of these third-party companies have higher price points. Does that impact how much you would charge to install them versus an IKEA cabinet?

Rocc: A little bit. Maybe just 10% more for handling the product, unpackaging. It’s usually packaged a little bit tighter and so it takes me more time to unwrap it. I have to be a little bit more careful with the custom doors. The IKEA stuff is lighter material. The bigger panels get heavy and they’re hard to manipulate and move around so you got to take more time with that product naturally. So I would factor in a little more of a percentage to do a Semihandmade kitchen versus a standard IKEA kitchen.

IKD: You mentioned some of the benefits of a good design on the installation process. What are the challenges for a successful installation if it is based on a bad design?

Rocc: I can only do so much cross checking on their plan before I actually see the site. Sometimes I’ll see the plan and I’ll expect the best but you get to the project and maybe the kitchen isn’t as ready as you know as it was supposed to be. Typically though I may get to the field and see something in the way and that wasn’t indicated in the plan. Then I get the customer into the conversation and ask them what’s going on and understand their expectations.

IKD: What are some of your favorite parts of your work?

Rocc: I do enjoy the customer interaction. I like talking to customers and meeting new people. I work for so many people in this area from different countries and communities that I’ve gotten niched into. The true gratification is when I really get something done and I can just see the customer being happy. That’s the most relieving part — seeing it done and bringing plans to life.

IKD: Are you seeing a big call for other rooms (mudrooms, closets, home theaters, etc.) as well?

Rocc: I am. If they have a plan for it and they want to use IKEA cabinets, we will work with them. We are doing a lot of them actually.

IKD: Are you also installing appliances and laminate countertops as well?

Rocc: I’ll do IKEA laminate and butcher block tops. We’ll work with any type of stone. A lot of these customers already seek IKEA for quartz. I will also dry fit (without electrical connections) the appliances. So I’ll put microwaves up, I’ll put in built-in ovens, dishwashers, and I’ll put the fridge in the space sometimes just because I like to see it done.

IKD: What is the geographic area your company covers?

Rocc: I live in Everett, which is about 20 miles north of downtown Seattle. The company covers like a 75 mile radius of downtown Seattle. If a customer is in the process of looking for an IKEA kitchen, my suggestion is to try and find an installer first. Before you even pursue the store, find someone who’ll plan it for you and find someone who’ll put it in for you.