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AfterHow Much Does Cabinet Installation Cost in San Francisco?
Cabinet installation in San Francisco typically runs between $4,720 and $15,340, with most kitchens landing around $8,000 to $10,000 for labor and materials on a standard 10×10 layout. That range covers everything from swapping dated fronts in a rental flat to a full tear-out and custom install in a Marina or Noe Valley home. The number moves based on cabinet grade, kitchen size, and what’s hiding behind the old boxes once they come off the wall.
If you’re comparing bids right now, the single biggest spread is between stock cabinets from a home center and semi-custom lines like KraftMaid or Wellborn, which we install regularly across San Francisco. Stock boxes can keep you near the bottom of that range. Semi-custom pushes you toward the middle. Full custom millwork takes you past it. We’ll walk through exactly where those dollars go below.
Cabinet Installation Cost Breakdown (2026)
Here’s how the numbers break down for a typical San Francisco kitchen. These are installed prices, meaning the cabinet boxes, doors, hardware, and the labor to set them level and square.
| Line Item | Typical Range (Installed) |
|---|---|
| Stock cabinets (10×10 kitchen, basic door style) | $4,720 – $7,080 |
| Semi-custom cabinets (10×10 kitchen, KraftMaid or Wellborn) | $7,080 – $11,800 |
| Semi-custom with upgrades (soft-close, roll-outs, taller uppers) | $11,800 – $15,340 |
| Full custom cabinetry (large or tricky kitchens, premium materials) | $15,340 – $23,600+ |
| Island cabinet run (add-on to any project) | $3,540 – $7,080 |
| Cabinet installation labor only | $2,950 – $5,310 |
Before you anchor on a number, know what “installation” includes in San Francisco. It means tear-out of old cabinets, disposal, setting boxes with shims so doors hang true on walls that are rarely plumb, scribing filler strips where floors dip, leveling uppers, mounting hardware, and a final alignment pass. It does not always include plumbing, electrical, or drywall repairs. In older San Francisco buildings (we work in a lot of 1920s stock in the Sunset and Richmond), the rough-in rarely lines up with modern cabinet depths. That’s a real line item, not a padded one.
What Drives the Price Up
- Ceiling-height uppers in Victorians and Edwardians, which often need custom filler and crown to reach uneven ceilings.
- Old plaster walls that crack during tear-out and need repair before new cabinets can hang level.
- Soft-close hinges, dovetail drawers, roll-out trays, and pull-out trash bins. These are standard on better lines now, but they move the price.
- Any change to cabinet footprint once the old boxes come off. Moving a sink base or adding an appliance garage means new layout work.
What Keeps the Price Down
- Keeping the same footprint. If the new cabinets go where the old ones were, you skip most of the plumbing and electrical work.
- Stock or entry-level semi-custom lines in standard sizes. Fewer custom-size boxes means less money.
- A rectangular kitchen with square walls. San Francisco has plenty of those in the Mission and Bernal Heights. The moment a wall kicks out or a corner drifts, you’re into scribing and filler work.
What Affects Cabinet Installation Pricing in San Francisco
San Francisco pricing doesn’t move like it does in Tracy or Antioch. Here are the factors we see most often on local jobs.
- Building age and wall condition. Homes built before 1940 in the Richmond, Sunset, and Pac Heights often have plaster over lath. Pulling old cabinets can take chunks of plaster with them. Repairing that substrate before install is real work and real money.
- Kitchen size and cabinet count. A galley kitchen in a Russian Hill condo might have 8 or 10 boxes. A full kitchen in a St. Francis Wood house can run 25 or more. More boxes, more doors, more hardware, more hours.
- Cabinet line and door style. A slab door in a stock line lands at the bottom of the range. A shaker door in a semi-custom line like Wellborn costs more. Anything with inset doors or custom paint matching pushes toward the top.
- Finish and modifications. Painted, stained, glazed, or custom-matched. Modifications like deeper drawers, appliance panels, or glass-front uppers all add cost per box.
- Access, parking, and floors. In Nob Hill or Telegraph Hill, the crew may be carrying cabinets up three flights from a truck parked two blocks away. Labor hours don’t lie. Jobsite conditions in San Francisco are a real line item.
- Permit and code requirements. San Francisco has strict energy and building codes. If your project changes plumbing or electrical behind the cabinets, that work may need to be done by licensed trades and pulled into permit. Even simple cabinet replacement can expose non-compliant rough-in that has to be corrected before we close the wall.
How to Save on Cabinet Installation
You don’t have to buy cheap cabinets to land a fair price. You have to be disciplined about scope.
- Keep the footprint. Every time you move a cabinet run, you add plumbing, electrical, drywall, and flooring work. The cheapest cabinet install is the one that goes back where the old one was.
- Choose a line with good standard sizes. Semi-custom doesn’t mean everything is custom. KraftMaid and Wellborn both have standard widths and heights that avoid custom charges on most kitchens.
- Do the demo carefully, or let us do the demo. If you tear out cabinets yourself and damage plaster or leave live wiring exposed, you’ll pay to fix it. In San Francisco’s old buildings, a clean, controlled demo is worth more than the demo savings.
- Group the work. If you’re doing counters and a backsplash anyway, do them in the same project. A single mobilization saves time. Combining cabinet install with countertop work often saves $500 to $1,500 over splitting the jobs.
- Get a written price before you commit. Not a verbal ballpark. A written scope with line items and a fixed number. That’s how we work at Bradford Remodeling Co San Francisco – no numbers that move at the door, no surprises mid-job. Call (831) 610-5598 and we’ll put a real number in front of you.
Why San Francisco Homeowners Choose Bradford Remodeling
Curtis Lane runs Bradford Remodeling Co San Francisco. He’s been in the trades long enough to know that the problem with cabinet installation in this city isn’t finding a contractor. It’s finding one who shows up when he says he will, prices the job before the first tool comes out, and stands behind the work after the final walkthrough.
Bradford Remodeling is part of the Garrison Partners family, established in 2004. Each location is independently owned and operated, and each is held to The Garrison Standard. That standard isn’t a slogan. It’s the operating framework that puts every price and every guarantee in writing before work starts. The Garrison Code governs how our crews behave on your property: background-checked, uniformed technicians, identity confirmed before they walk through your door. You know who’s in your house because we told you who would be there before they arrived.
We install documented, name-brand materials so specifications are traceable and warranties are real. KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry. Cambria and Caesarstone surfaces. Kohler and Moen fixtures. No mystery boxes from an unmarked distributor. Every material has a manufacturer spec sheet, and every spec sheet backs our own guarantee.
Here’s the guarantee, word for word: the 365-Day Done Right Promise. Every completed project carries a full-year written guarantee. If the cabinet work fails inside that window – a hinge pulls loose, a door goes out of alignment, a drawer track binds – Bradford comes back and corrects it at no charge. Not a pro-rated charge. Not a service fee. No charge. That’s the promise, and it’s in writing on every contract.
What does “squared away” look like at job close? The site is clean. Every cabinet door is aligned. The scope is documented against what was actually installed. And you have a signed written guarantee in your hand before we leave. That’s the standard.
If you’re still comparing cabinet installers, start with our Cabinet Installation in San Francisco page. It covers what the job actually involves, start to finish.
FAQs – Cabinet Installation Cost
How much does it cost to install kitchen cabinets in San Francisco?
Installed cabinet pricing in San Francisco runs $4,720 to $15,340 for a typical kitchen, with labor-only installs starting around $2,950. Semi-custom kitchens on a 10×10 layout usually land between $7,000 and $11,800. Call (831) 610-5598 for a written quote specific to your kitchen.
Is it cheaper to replace or reface cabinets?
Refacing typically costs 50% to 70% of a full replacement, so $2,300 to $8,200 depending on door count and finish. But refacing only makes sense if the cabinet boxes are square and solid. In many San Francisco homes with original 1940s or 1950s cabinets, the boxes are particleboard and full of water damage, and refacing just buys you new doors on old problems. We’ll tell you straight which one your kitchen needs after one look.
How long does cabinet installation take?
A standard 10×10 kitchen install takes 3 to 5 working days from tear-out to final alignment. Add a day or two if we’re also doing countertops, plumbing, or electrical. Larger kitchens with multiple runs, an island, or substantial wall repair can run 7 to 10 days. You’ll have a written schedule before we start, not a vague “sometime next week.”
Labor cost to install cabinets in San Francisco?
Labor alone runs $2,950 to $5,310 for a typical kitchen, depending on box count, access, and wall condition. In buildings with stair access only or out-of-square walls, labor goes up. That’s honest work at honest hours, quoted in writing before we start.
Can you install cabinets the same week?
Often yes. Our schedule fluctuates, but we keep cabinet-only jobs moving fast because they’re contained. Call (831) 610-5598 and we’ll give you a real date, not a window. A live person answers 24/7.
What cabinet brands do you install?
We install KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry as our primary semi-custom lines, with custom millwork options for larger or unusual kitchens. We also work with a documented roster of premium surface and fixture brands including Cambria, Caesarstone, Kohler, and Moen. Every material we spec has a manufacturer warranty that backs our own 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Does Bradford Remodeling give free estimates?
Yes. Cabinet installation estimates are free, and the price we give you is the price on the contract. No numbers that move at the door. Call (831) 610-5598 to schedule a walkthrough.
Get a Written Price on Your Cabinet Installation
If you’re in San Francisco and ready to price out cabinet installation, start with a call. We’ll schedule a walkthrough, measure the space, check what’s behind the old cabinets, and put a written number in front of you. No pressure, no vague ballparks, no re-pricing at the door.
Bradford Remodeling Co San Francisco installs KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry to The Garrison Standard, with a written price before work starts and the 365-Day Done Right Promise on every completed job. Call (831) 610-5598 and a live person will answer – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Pricing reflects the San Francisco market as of 2026. Bradford Remodeling Co San Francisco offers free estimates – call (831) 610-5598.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner at Bradford Remodeling Co San Francisco, serving San Francisco since 2004.
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