Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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Before
AfterCabinet Installation & Refacing in Miami, FL
Cabinet installation and refacing in Miami typically runs between $1,800 and $18,000 depending on whether you’re replacing boxes entirely or keeping the existing frames and updating doors, drawer fronts, and hardware. Most Miami homeowners who choose refacing over full replacement finish the work in two to four days and recover a kitchen that looks new without touching the plumbing or tile. Rowan Construction Group has been doing this work since 2007 – every project quoted with a flat written price before a single cabinet door comes off the wall.
If you’re weighing your options or you’ve already got a competitor’s bid on the table, call us at (786) 321-4970. We’ll review any written estimate line by line at no charge – that’s our Free Second Opinion offer, and it costs you nothing. Our Kitchen Remodeling in Miami page has the broader picture if you’re also thinking about countertops, layout changes, or appliance repositioning.
When You Need Cabinet Installation & Refacing
- Doors that won’t close flush in the humidity. Miami’s climate is hard on wood-framed cabinets. Persistent moisture causes door frames to swell and warp, and once the hinge alignment goes, no amount of adjustment screw tweaking fixes the underlying problem. Refacing with a moisture-resistant thermofoil or rigid laminate door solves it at the source.
- Box structure is sound but the finish looks dated. If you’re pulling open solid plywood boxes but the 1990s oak veneer is peeling or the Colonial-style raised panel just isn’t what you want anymore, refacing makes economic sense. You’re paying for a new surface, not new engineering.
- A full gut isn’t in the budget right now. In Miami’s current construction market, full custom cabinet replacement can exceed $30,000 in a mid-size kitchen. Refacing the same kitchen for $5,000 to $9,000 buys you several more years while you plan a larger remodel.
- You’re preparing to sell and the kitchen is the sticking point. Buyers in Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, and Coral Gables read listing photos carefully. Fresh Shaker-style doors and new hardware photograph clean and neutral – that kind of update moves listings faster than any other single kitchen change in the $600,000-to-$900,000 range where competition is dense.
- The layout works but storage doesn’t. New cabinet installation – rather than refacing – makes sense when you need to add an island run, extend uppers to the ceiling, or build in a pantry wall. We design to the actual dimensions of your kitchen, not a catalog floor plan.
- Water intrusion under the sink has compromised the base cabinet. In Miami, a slow leak under a kitchen sink left undetected through the summer rainy season can rot a particleboard base cabinet from the inside. When the box itself is damaged, replacement is the right call – and we document the condition with photos before we touch anything so you have a record for insurance if you need it.
Our Cabinet Installation & Refacing Process
- Written scope and flat price before any work starts. Under Clause 1 of the Haven Standard, you receive a written price with a documented scope before anyone arrives with tools. We measure the kitchen, photograph the existing cabinet condition, note the substrate material (solid wood, plywood, or particleboard), and build the quote from those actual numbers. The price on that document is the price you pay – no ballpark, no “we’ll know more once we open the walls.”
- Material selection from vetted supplier stock. We source cabinet doors and drawer fronts through KraftMaid and Wellborn, two of the lines we’ve carried since 2007 and know the lead times on. You’ll see actual door samples in the finishes available for your timeline – not a catalog photo that ships in a different color. For full installations, we discuss box construction grade (plywood vs. MDF core) and soft-close hardware before you sign anything.
- Prep day: removal, inspection, and documentation. On the first day of work, the crew removes existing doors, drawer fronts, and hardware. We photograph the exposed frame condition – this is part of the documented photo record every Rowan visit includes as standard. If we find frame damage, rotted particleboard, or prior water staining that changes the scope, we stop, show you the photos, and present a written change order. No work proceeds on that change until you sign it.
- Frame preparation and veneer application (refacing) or box installation. For refacing, the existing frames are cleaned, sanded, and covered with a matching veneer – real wood or rigid thermofoil – that bonds to the face frame and gives the new doors a clean reveal. For full installation, new boxes are set, leveled, shimmed, and fastened to wall studs and each other before any door goes on. In Miami’s older homes – especially pre-1980 construction in areas like Little Havana or Allapattah – walls are rarely plumb, so shimming and scribing take longer than they do in newer builds and that time is priced into your written quote upfront.
- Door and drawer front hanging, hardware installation, and alignment. Doors are hung, adjusted to square, and fitted with soft-close hinges. Drawer fronts are aligned with a consistent reveal gap. New hardware – pulls, knobs, or bar handles – is installed to the spec you chose. If you’re keeping existing hardware, we reinstall at matching center-to-center dimensions so your holes don’t show.
- Final walkthrough, photo record, and warranty documentation. Before we leave, you walk the kitchen with the crew lead. Every cabinet opens, closes, and soft-closes correctly before we call the job done. You receive the documented photo record of the finished work and the written warranty backed by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if something isn’t right within a year, we make it right – that’s in writing, not a handshake.
BeforeAfterCabinet Installation & Refacing Pricing in Miami
Cabinet refacing in Miami runs between $1,800 and $10,500 for a typical kitchen. Full cabinet installation – new boxes, doors, and hardware – runs between $6,500 and $18,000 for a standard kitchen, and higher for custom configurations or high-end door lines. Those are real ranges based on work we’ve priced in Miami-Dade; they’re not the national averages you’ll find on aggregator sites.
| Service Type | Typical Miami Range | What Drives the Higher End |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet refacing (doors, drawer fronts, veneer, hardware) | $1,800 – $10,500 | Real wood veneer vs. thermofoil, number of doors, soft-close hardware throughout |
| Cabinet door and hardware replacement only | $900 – $4,200 | Door line (stock vs. semi-custom), number of openings, hardware grade |
| Full cabinet installation (semi-custom, plywood box) | $6,500 – $14,000 | Linear feet, ceiling height, island, pantry columns |
| Full cabinet installation (custom or high-end line) | $12,000 – $18,000+ | Inset doors, furniture-grade finish, full-extension dovetail drawers |
| Single cabinet replacement (base or upper) | $350 – $900 per unit | Access difficulty, matching existing finish, removal disposal |
A few factors specific to Miami kitchens that affect where your project lands in those ranges:
- Existing frame condition. Homes in flood-prone areas – parts of Miami Beach, Hialeah, and portions of the Brickell corridor that saw storm surge – sometimes have base cabinet frames with hidden moisture damage. We document what we find before we quote the repair, and we price the full scope, not the optimistic version.
- Ceiling height and soffit configuration. Many 1970s-era Miami kitchens have soffits above the uppers. Removing a soffit to run cabinets to the ceiling adds framing, drywall, and finishing work that a price sheet from a big-box store won’t show you. Our quote does.
- Material lead times. KraftMaid and Wellborn semi-custom lead times fluctuate. We build current lead time into the project schedule before you sign, so a delivery delay doesn’t become your problem after the old cabinets are already gone.
- Permit requirements. In Miami-Dade County, a structural change to the kitchen – moving a wall, changing a load-bearing configuration to accommodate a new cabinet run – triggers a permit. Cosmetic refacing and like-for-like replacement typically do not, but we confirm the requirement for your specific address before the project starts and include any permit cost in the written quote if applicable.
Every Rowan quote is a flat written price with a written scope attached. Call (786) 321-4970 and we’ll schedule a free estimate – or bring us a competitor’s written bid and we’ll review it line by line at no cost to you.
FAQs – Cabinet Installation & Refacing
Is cabinet refacing worth it in Miami’s climate?
Yes, when the existing box frames are structurally sound and free of moisture damage. Miami’s humidity is genuinely hard on cabinets – thermofoil and rigid laminate door options hold up better than wood veneer in high-humidity kitchens, and we’ll walk you through which materials make sense for your specific situation before you commit. If the frames have water damage behind the doors, we’ll find it during the inspection phase and show you the photos. Refacing a compromised frame is money spent in the wrong direction, and we won’t recommend it.
How long does cabinet refacing take in Miami?
Most refacing projects in a standard Miami kitchen take two to four days from material arrival to final walkthrough. Day one is removal and frame prep; days two and three are veneer application and door hanging; day four (if needed) is hardware and final alignment. Full cabinet installation on a mid-size kitchen runs five to ten days. Lead time on the materials – typically two to four weeks for semi-custom lines through KraftMaid or Wellborn – is separate from the installation schedule and is confirmed in writing before you sign the contract.
Do I need a permit for cabinet installation or refacing in Miami?
Cosmetic refacing and like-for-like cabinet replacement in Miami-Dade County generally don’t require a permit. Structural changes – moving walls, altering the electrical layout to accommodate a new pantry run, relocating plumbing – do. We confirm the requirement for your address before the project starts, and if a permit is needed, the cost is included in your written quote rather than added afterward. Call (786) 321-4970 and we can clarify what your project triggers before you commit.
What’s the difference between cabinet refacing and cabinet painting?
Refacing replaces the door, drawer front, and face-frame veneer entirely – you end up with a new surface material, not a painted version of the old one. For a complete kitchen design & layout overhaul, refacing pairs well with updated flooring and countertops. Cabinet painting keeps the existing doors and applies a sprayed or brushed finish coat. Painting costs less upfront ($800 to $3,500 in most Miami kitchens) but won’t fix warped doors or surfaces that have already started to peel; refacing solves those problems at the source. If your doors are flat, intact, and you just want a color change, painting is a reasonable option and we’ll tell you that honestly rather than upsell you to a service you don’t need.
Key Takeaways
- Cabinet refacing in Miami costs $1,800 to $10,500; full installation runs $6,500 to $18,000 for most kitchens.
- Miami’s humidity makes material selection matter – thermofoil and rigid laminate hold up better than raw wood veneer in high-use kitchens near the water.
- Rowan quotes a flat written price with a written scope before any work starts – that’s Clause 1 of the Haven Standard, not a process step we skip.
- No change to the original scope proceeds without a signed change order. That single discipline has kept Rowan projects within a few percent of the agreed price across 4,000-plus jobs since 2007.
- Every visit includes a documented photo record – before work, during, and after – so you have evidence of exactly what was done.
- The 365-Day Done Right Promise means that if it’s not right within a year, we fix it. That’s in writing on every project, backed by the Haven Standard.
- Bring us a competitor’s written estimate and we’ll review it line by line at no charge.
Cabinet work is one part of a broader home improvement picture. If you’re thinking about the kitchen as a whole – countertops, layout, appliances – our full scope lives on the Kitchen Remodeling in Miami page. For a free estimate on cabinet installation or refacing specifically, call (786) 321-4970. A live person answers. You’ll have a written price before anyone touches a cabinet.
Written by Grant Rowan, Owner at Rowan Construction Group Miami, serving Miami.