Latest / USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast / Kitchen Cabinet Cost and the 2027 Tariff

Transcript

Kitchen Cabinet Cost and the 2027 Tariff · USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast

• 0:05
  Welcome to the Cabinet Room, the podcast from
• 0:08
  IST Cabinets. I'm Chris. If you've priced a kitchen
• 0:12
  lately, you've probably had a moment of sticker
• 0:15
  shock. One Reddit thread asked it bluntly, is
• 0:18
  a quality kitchen remodel even affordable anymore?
• 0:21
  Today we're answering it with real numbers. And
• 0:24
  we're talking about the tariff on imported cabinets,
• 0:26
  which is scheduled to double on January 1st,
• 0:29
  2027. Jessica's here with me. Hi, Chris. And
• 0:33
  before we start, one thing listeners should know.
• 0:36
  IST is an authorized Fabuwood dealer, but we're
• 0:39
  not quoting our own prices today. Every number
• 0:42
  in this episode comes from a public source, and
• 0:44
  we'll name it as we go. Love that. So let's start
• 0:47
  with the big question. What do kitchen cabinets
• 0:49
  actually cost? Cabinet prices are usually quoted
• 0:52
  per linear foot, measured along the walls where
• 0:55
  the cabinets go. Fixer's January 2026 cost guide
• 0:59
  puts stock cabinets at about $100 to $300 per
• 1:02
  linear foot, semi -custom at $150 to $650, and
• 1:07
  custom at $500 to $1200. Home Guide, whose figures
• 1:11
  include installation, runs a little higher at
• 1:14
  the top, up to $400 for stock and $700 for semi
• 1:17
  -custom. For a 30 -foot run of cabinets, which
• 1:21
  is the size used in the industry's standard remodeling
• 1:23
  benchmark, Fixer's ranges work out to roughly
• 1:26
  $3 ,000 at the low end of stock and $36 ,000
• 1:30
  at the high end of custom. That's a huge spread.
• 1:33
  Can people trust those numbers? Treat them as
• 1:35
  a starting point. The guides largely repeat one
• 1:38
  another. Fixer's 2026 bands match the ones Home
• 1:42
  Advisor was publishing years before the 2025
• 1:44
  tariff, so they aren't independent checks on
• 1:47
  today's prices. They're also national averages,
• 1:50
  and labor and delivery vary a lot by market.
• 1:53
  Everybody online talks about the 10 by 10 kitchen.
• 1:56
  Is that a good way to budget? It's a good way
• 1:58
  to compare brands, not to budget. A 10 by 10
• 2:01
  is usually an L -shaped layout with two 10 -foot
• 2:04
  walls. Fixer prices one at $2 ,400 to $10 ,400,
• 2:10
  using 16 linear feet of cabinets. But Fixer also
• 2:13
  says the average kitchen needs 25 to 30 linear
• 2:16
  feet. So measure your own walls. For a real -world
• 2:20
  check, The 2026 house and home study found the
• 2:23
  median major remodel of a smaller kitchen, where
• 2:26
  all the cabinets and appliances are replaced,
• 2:28
  was $35 ,000 in 2025. Larger kitchens came in
• 2:34
  at $55 ,000. Cabinets usually take about a quarter
• 2:37
  of the budget. Fabuwood's own cost guide says
• 2:41
  25 percent, and home advisor says nearly 30.
• 2:44
  On that $35 ,000 remodel, that's roughly $8 ,700
• 2:48
  to $10 ,500 for cabinets. Okay, so here's the
• 2:52
  part that frustrates people. Two quotes for the
• 2:54
  same kitchen can be thousands of dollars apart.
• 2:56
  Why? Usually neither quote is wrong. They're
• 3:00
  pricing different things. Start with the box.
• 3:03
  Plywood boxes usually cost more than particle
• 3:05
  board, and dovetailed solid wood drawers cost
• 3:08
  more than stapled particle board ones. Then the
• 3:11
  door and finish. Painted finishes usually cost
• 3:14
  more than stains, and designer or custom colors
• 3:16
  cost more than stocked ones, and they take longer
• 3:19
  to ship. A fabuwood dealer on Reddit put numbers
• 3:22
  on one color upgrade. It takes eight weeks to
• 3:25
  arrive and costs 35 % more. And inset doors,
• 3:30
  the ones that sit flush inside the cabinet frame,
• 3:32
  cost the most. One commenter said inset puts
• 3:36
  a project into, you want how much for cabinets?
• 3:40
  Territory. I can picture that face. What else
• 3:43
  hides in a quote? The parts people forget. Finished
• 3:46
  end panels, fillers, crown and light rail molding,
• 3:50
  toe kicks and valances are all priced separately.
• 3:53
  And they add up across a whole kitchen. A cabinet
• 3:56
  dealer helping a homeowner on Reddit gave the
• 3:58
  best advice I've heard. Make both sellers price
• 4:01
  the identical list. Panels, fillers, toe kick
• 4:05
  and crown. As the dealer put it, that's where
• 4:07
  a $2 ,000 to $3 ,000 gap closes or opens. Accessories
• 4:11
  work the same way. Pull out trash. Tray dividers,
• 4:15
  lazy Susans. Add enough of them, and a budget
• 4:18
  kitchen turns into a mid -range one. And installation?
• 4:22
  Fixer puts installation labor at $50 to $200
• 4:25
  per linear foot, or $40 to $100 an hour. Home
• 4:30
  Guide's hourly range is $40 to $80. Ready -to
• 4:33
  -assemble boxes cost less to buy, but someone
• 4:36
  has to build them. And tear -out, moving plumbing,
• 4:39
  or electrical, or leveling a bad floor are extra.
• 4:42
  So get installation on the same quote, or get
• 4:45
  it in writing who handles each step. Let's get
• 4:48
  to the tariffs, because that's what's driving
• 4:50
  a lot of these questions. What's actually in
• 4:52
  effect right now? Since October 14th, 2025, imported
• 4:57
  kitchen cabinets and vanities have carried a
• 4:59
  25 % tariff under Section 232. And it covers
• 5:03
  parts imported for use in cabinets, not only
• 5:06
  finished cabinets. It was supposed to rise to
• 5:09
  50 % on January 1, 2026, but a proclamation signed
• 5:14
  on December 31 pushed that back a year. So it's
• 5:17
  now scheduled for January 1, 2027, except for
• 5:22
  countries that reach an agreement with the United
• 5:24
  States. A few partners already have caps. The
• 5:28
  UK has capped at 10 % on top of regular duties.
• 5:31
  The European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
• 5:34
  are capped at 15 % including regular duties.
• 5:38
  As of late October 2026, nothing has changed
• 5:41
  that January date, but it has moved once already.
• 5:45
  So it could move again. Someone on Reddit asked,
• 5:48
  would this even matter if I bought cabinets made
• 5:50
  in the USA? It does matter. Assembled in the
• 5:54
  USA does not mean tariff -free. Because the duty
• 5:57
  covers imported parts, a cabinet assembled here
• 6:00
  from imported doors, drawer fronts, or panels
• 6:02
  carries tariff cost on those parts. Fabuwood,
• 6:06
  for example, says its cabinets combine U .S.
• 6:09
  and globally sourced components, all assembled
• 6:11
  in the USA. It doesn't publish how much of each
• 6:15
  cabinet is imported, so nobody outside the company
• 6:18
  can say how much of the tariff reaches its prices.
• 6:21
  Two more details. Chinese cabinets can pay far
• 6:24
  more than 25 % because anti -dumping, countervailing,
• 6:28
  and Section 301 duties stack on top. And wooden
• 6:32
  vanities from Canada have also carried an extra
• 6:34
  50 % Section 338 duty since September 15th. So
• 6:39
  if the tariff doubles, does my kitchen cost twice
• 6:42
  as much? No. And here's why. The tariff is charged
• 6:46
  on the import value, what the importer paid,
• 6:49
  not on the showroom price. Say an importer brings
• 6:52
  in a base cabinet for $200. At 25%, the duty
• 6:56
  is $50. At 50%, it's $100, so the increase is
• 7:01
  $50 per cabinet. If that cabinet sells for $500
• 7:06
  and the extra $50 is passed on at cost, the price
• 7:09
  rises 10%. If the markup is applied on top, it
• 7:13
  rises more. If the importer or dealer absorbs
• 7:17
  part of it, it rises less, and the rate is set
• 7:20
  when goods clear customs, not when you order.
• 7:24
  Cabinets already cleared before January 1st paid
• 7:27
  25%, so in -stock prices may hold for a while,
• 7:31
  then rise as importers restock. Are prices already
• 7:35
  going up? The direction is up. The U .S. producer
• 7:38
  price index for wood kitchen cabinet and countertop
• 7:41
  makers rose 5 .4 % in the year to September 2026.
• 7:46
  Custom cabinets and vanities rose 9 .1%, almost
• 7:50
  all of it in June. Stock cabinets rose 1 .6.
• 7:54
  That index tracks what U .S. manufacturers charge,
• 7:57
  and it can't prove the tariff caused it. But
• 8:00
  domestic makers aren't insulated either. On the
• 8:03
  sales floor, it's been uneven. In January, one
• 8:06
  cabinet dealer on Reddit said they'd seen minimal
• 8:08
  increases from manufacturers. A homeowner in
• 8:11
  the same thread said their price went up between
• 8:13
  the first estimate and the deposit. And guessed
• 8:15
  it was about 15 percent. So should people rush
• 8:19
  to order before January? Only if the kitchen
• 8:22
  is ready to order. A rushed order with guest
• 8:25
  measurements can cost more in reorders and delays
• 8:27
  than the tariff would add. If your design is
• 8:30
  final and your measurements are done, ordering
• 8:33
  this fall can make sense as long as the price
• 8:35
  is locked in writing because a quote is not a
• 8:37
  price lock. Before you pay a deposit, get five
• 8:40
  things in writing. How long the price is held
• 8:43
  and whether it's fixed when you order or when
• 8:45
  it ships, whether a tariff or freight surcharge
• 8:48
  can be added later, the estimated ship date,
• 8:51
  the deposit terms including whether it's refundable,
• 8:55
  and every line item so you can compare quotes
• 8:57
  line by line. Contractors, if your client contracts
• 9:01
  don't have a price escalation clause, now is
• 9:03
  the time to add one. You mentioned deposits.
• 9:06
  That's a real worry after this spring. It is.
• 9:09
  Ren Kitchens shut its U .S. operations abruptly
• 9:11
  in April 2026 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy,
• 9:16
  and customers who had paid deposits were left
• 9:18
  waiting on the bankruptcy process. Fabuwood responded
• 9:21
  with a relief program that credits up to $3 ,000
• 9:24
  of a lost deposit toward a new Fabuwood order
• 9:27
  through participating dealers. As described in
• 9:30
  May, it covers closures of U .S.-based manufacturers
• 9:33
  and assemblers, is valid for 45 days after a
• 9:37
  qualifying closure, and runs at least through
• 9:40
  the end of 2026. The wider lesson, keep deposits
• 9:44
  proportionate, pay in a way you can dispute,
• 9:47
  and buy from a dealer whose showroom and warehouse
• 9:49
  you can visit. And what about the quote that's
• 9:52
  way cheaper than everyone else's? Be careful.
• 9:55
  High duties create an incentive to dodge them.
• 9:58
  In July, the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association
• 10:01
  summarized five recent enforcement cases. In
• 10:05
  one, a container at the Port of Norfolk was declared
• 10:07
  as 10 cabinets worth $500. It held 781 cartons
• 10:12
  of kitchen cabinets appraised at over $123 ,000.
• 10:17
  A seized container is a kitchen that doesn't
• 10:19
  arrive. And a supplier caught evading duties
• 10:22
  may not be around to honor a warranty. So ask
• 10:24
  where the cabinets are made, where the doors
• 10:26
  and boxes come from, and how long the seller
• 10:29
  has been in business. Let's talk Fabwood since
• 10:32
  we get asked about pricing all the time. Is there
• 10:34
  a price list? Fabwood doesn't sell directly to
• 10:37
  homeowners. Its FAQ says quotes are provided
• 10:40
  through its dealers. Its 2022 cost guide says
• 10:44
  Fabuwood sells only semi -custom cabinets and
• 10:47
  gives $300 to $500 per linear foot as the average
• 10:51
  for semi -custom cabinets in general. That's
• 10:54
  a pre -tariff, category -wide number, not a Fabuwood
• 10:57
  price. Within the brand, the series, the door
• 11:00
  style, the finish, and any modifications set
• 11:03
  the price. If you find an old priceless PDF online,
• 11:07
  check the date. Anything printed before October
• 11:10
  2025 predates the tariff and won't match a quote
• 11:13
  today. People also compare online Fabuwood prices
• 11:16
  with local quotes. They do. One homeowner in
• 11:20
  October said an online distributor priced their
• 11:22
  Fabuwood kitchen at around $10 ,000 to $12 ,000,
• 11:26
  against a cabinets .com quote a few thousand
• 11:28
  higher. The dealer who replied gave two checks.
• 11:32
  Make both sellers price the same list and ask
• 11:35
  which door series the quote is on. because pricing
• 11:38
  jumps between series on the same color name.
• 11:41
  The dealer also made a point about service. Ask
• 11:44
  who handles freight damage, because on an online
• 11:46
  order, you're the one opening 30 boxes on your
• 11:49
  driveway. Last one. How do you lower the cost
• 11:52
  without buying worse cabinets? Start with the
• 11:55
  room. Keep the old footprint because moving the
• 11:57
  sink, the range, or a wall adds plumbing, electrical,
• 12:00
  and drywall work that has nothing to do with
• 12:03
  cabinets. Designed to standard sizes and stocked
• 12:06
  finishes, Fillers and standard widths cost less
• 12:09
  than modified boxes and ship faster, and stocked
• 12:13
  colors arrive weeks sooner. If you want a statement
• 12:15
  color, put it on the island. Spend where you
• 12:18
  touch. On drawers, pull -outs, and the cabinets
• 12:21
  around the sink. Compare quotes line by line,
• 12:24
  and ask about discounts. At IST, the Loyalty
• 12:28
  Rewards Program is free to join, earns two points
• 12:31
  per dollar, and unlocks $100 off at 10 ,000 points.
• 12:34
  and we offer a standing military discount for
• 12:36
  veterans. Give me the three takeaways. One. Budget
• 12:41
  from your own linear footage, not a 10 by 10,
• 12:44
  and treat cost guide ranges as a starting point.
• 12:48
  Two. The tariff is scheduled to rise to 50 %
• 12:51
  on January 1st, and assembled in the USA doesn't
• 12:54
  mean tariff -free. Three. A quote isn't a price
• 12:58
  lock. Get the price hold, surcharge terms, ship
• 13:02
  date, deposit terms, and every line item in writing.
• 13:05
  Perfect. The full guide with every source linked
• 13:08
  is on istcabinets .com. Search kitchen cabinet
• 13:12
  cost. And if you want an itemized Fabuwood quote
• 13:15
  with a written ship date, visit one of our showrooms
• 13:18
  in Alexandria or Fairfax, Virginia, Columbia,
• 13:21
  Maryland, Bayer, Delaware, or Houston, Texas.
• 13:26
  Or use the free estimate form on your showroom's
• 13:28
  page. Thanks for listening to the Cabinet Room.
• 13:31
  I'm Chris. And I'm Jessica. Measure twice. Get
• 13:35
  it in writing and we'll see you next time.