Calculating IKEA Installation Costs By The Box

Part Two in a three-part series about understanding IKEA cabinet installation costs

In Part One of our three-part series about IKEA cabinet installation costs that IKEA customers are likely to encounter, we discussed how some installers charge one fee for the entire the job and the factors that determine those costs.

Now, in Part Two, we’d like to share how costs are determined based on the number of cabinet boxes. “The drawer needs to be assembled and installed with the cabinet so there’s literally a price per package [box],” says Ron Malka, owner of Kitchen Assembly in Miami, FL.

As you research IKEA kitchen ideas on design Web sites such as HOUZZ and Pinterest, keep in mind the size of your kitchen, your kitchen configuration and how many cabinets you will need.And by working with an independent IKEA kitchen installer (as opposed to working with IKEA directly or assembling and installing the boxes yourself) you’re not only paying for the expertise and quality work they provide, but also the peace of mind that comes with a smooth experience.

Andy Steffl, owner/installer of Kitchens and Carpentry-WI in Oak Creek, WI, explains: “I charge a flat rate of $175 for a base cabinet and $125 for an upper cabinet. It’s very close to IKEA’s prices but I’m typically about 10 percent less. Working with me is a much better experience for the customer because it’s more personal. I do all the work myself. I even have 140 colors of quartz countertops that I bring to every meeting so they get to pick their countertop right on the spot. They don’t even have to leave the house!”

IKEA customers looking to understand the finer points of installation costs based per box should definitely check out the following information.

Let’s take a look!

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IKEA Installation Costs by the Box

Quite often, professional cabinet installers determine their costs based on the number of boxes there are. (Remember: The average IKEA kitchen has about 20 cabinets)

Ron explains,“Generally speaking, when you’re getting a custom kitchen or a kitchen from any other company there are different rates because they mostly come pre-assembled. You’re getting cabinets where the drawers and the doors are already on them. Naturally, there is less labor involved and [there’s] an acceptable market cost of labor to install a regular kitchen that is already assembled for contractors.”

He adds that contractors pay between $30-$60 a cabinet, but with ready to assemble (RTA) cabinets like IKEA it involves more labor — which means more moving parts that need to be put together. “The cost per cabinets is really double then,so it would be closer to $90-$120 and sometimes $150 per cabinet,” he says. “Remember, there are hidden costs when you go with IKEA because you get a kitchen that’s a good product and looks good but it needs to be assembled and installed — not just installed.”

Another key distinction for IKEA remodelers to realize is that a cabinet comes in a box and a drawer comes in a separate box. They do not come in the same box. Ron explains, “We charge $89 for cabinets that have doors and shelves. If you have a cabinet that doesn’t have shelves and doors, but has four drawers, then I count a box for the cabinet and four more boxes for the drawers. So it’s going to be $89 for the box plus $25 for each box of drawers.”

Andy concludes: “I charge per cabinet, so it’s kind of like a la carte pricing with me providing the trim on top, island installation; securing and wrapping the panels; cutting panels; fillers, etc. There’s a charge per box and then it depends on all the additional items.”

Reducing Installation Costs

One way you can try to reduce costs is to make sure all parts are accounted for before the installer arrives.This will cut down on unnecessary delays for the installer once he arrives at the site.

“If I free up my schedule to come install your project and find that [parts are missing] then it’s wasting my time and time is money,” Ron says. He points out that an average IKEA cabinet installation shouldn’t take more than three days. “If it does, then it’s costing me and everyone else money.”

And if an IKEA customer thinks that assembling and installing their IKEA cabinetry themselves will save money, Andy says that’s not always the case.

“Some people try and assemble their own cabinets. I typically try to talk them out of doing that because it only takes me about five minutes to assemble a cabinet. Realistically,they’re maybe saving a couple hundred dollars. I can’t warranty their installation if I didn’t assemble their cabinets,” he says. “If they assemble an IKEA cabinet incorrectly and the leg falls off or something is not working right, I’m not going to warranty work that the customer did that I could’ve done in no time. I also won’t redo their cabinet assembly and installation if they screwed it up. I want nothing to do with it because it’ll take me longer to fix it then if I had just done it myself — especially when we’re talking about IKEA cabinets that [require] being taken apart and put back together.”

Therefore, planning out your IKEA kitchen remodel is a crucial step in ensuring it’s installed properly.

Ron concludes: “Make sure you professionally measure and design and plan your kitchen. Once you have the right person to do your installation, the process will go very smoothly with no surprises and no extra charges.”

We hope these tips about IKEA installation costs based per box have been helpful and you now understand more about the installation process. Be sure to check out Part Three of our series when we discuss installation costs based per foot and how important measurements are to your IKEA remodel!