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KraftMaid Kitchen Remodeling: The Houston Owner’s Guide
We install KraftMaid kitchen remodels throughout Houston for $14,000 – $45,000, depending on cabinet line, layout changes, and countertop material. Most full kitchen remodels take 3 – 6 weeks from tear-out to final walkthrough, and we stock KraftMaid cabinet lines, hinges, drawer glides, and door fronts so replacement parts don’t stall the project. You usually find out your KraftMaid kitchen needs real work when a drawer starts sagging, a hinge won’t hold tension, or a door front has swollen from years of Houston humidity. The good news is that KraftMaid cabinetry is built to be repairable, not just replaced, and we handle everything from a single failed hinge to a full tear-out and rebuild.
We’re an independent Houston remodeling contractor, not a KraftMaid dealer or affiliate. That matters because we stock both OEM KraftMaid parts and quality aftermarket equivalents, so you get an honest recommendation instead of a brand script. Trevor Nash, our owner, has been clear about one thing since day one: a KraftMaid kitchen should be repaired with the right part, not the nearest part. Call (254) 527-5340 and we’ll walk you through what you’re seeing before you spend a dollar.
Which KraftMaid Models This Applies To
KraftMaid has run several cabinet lines over the years, and the parts aren’t always interchangeable. The current catalog includes Vantage, Catalina, and the value-line Arlington series, plus the semi-custom Torrington and Greyhaven door styles. Older Houston homes we work in often have KraftMaid’s legacy lines from the 1990s and early 2000s, before Masco sold the brand to Merillat.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most owners run into: KraftMaid has changed its hinge boring pattern at least twice. Cabinets built before roughly 2005 used a 35mm cup hinge with a 1/2-inch overlay. Newer KraftMaid boxes use a 35mm cup with 1-1/4-inch overlay on frameless construction. If you buy a replacement door front for an older box, you have to match not just the door size but the overlay spec, or the door won’t sit flush. We measure every opening before ordering so you don’t end up with a door that’s close but wrong.
Inside the drawer box, KraftMaid uses a soft-close undermount glide on most lines from 2010 forward. The older side-mount epoxy-coated glides are still available as aftermarket parts, but we generally recommend replacing both glides at once. When one side wears out, the other side has been carrying extra load and is close behind it.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your KraftMaid Kitchen Remodeling Is Failing
- Drawer fronts that sag or drop when open. This is almost always the undermount glide losing its grip on the drawer box bottom. In Houston’s humidity, the MDF drawer bottom swells and the glide clip loses purchase. It’s a $30 – $80 part fix, not a cabinet replacement.
- Hinges that won’t hold the door closed. KraftMaid’s self-closing hinges lose spring tension over time. If you can push the door closed and it drifts back open, the hinge spring is done. A pair of replacement hinges runs $15 – $40 installed.
- Door fronts with swollen or darkened edges. This is moisture wicking into the MDF or particleboard core. We see it most often under sinks and next to dishwashers in Houston kitchens, where ambient humidity runs high from April through October. Once the core swells, the door front needs replacement; sanding and refinishing won’t fix it.
- Cabinet boxes pulling away from the wall. Loose mounting screws or a failed wall anchor. In older Houston homes with plaster over drywall, the original installer may have anchored into the plaster and not the stud. This is a structural fix, not a patch job, and it’s worth doing right before a full box comes off the wall.
- Finish peeling at the toe kick or around the sink base. Water that sits on the cabinet floor eventally works its way under the laminate or painted finish. If you catch it early, we can replace the toe kick and touch up the finish. If it’s been wet for months, the cabinet floor is compromised and the sink base should be rebuilt.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A KraftMaid kitchen remodel in Houston typically runs $14,000 – $45,000. At the lower end, that’s a cabinet refresh with new door fronts, hardware, and a countertop you keep. At the upper end, it’s a full gut with KraftMaid Vantage cabinetry, Cambria or Silestone quartz countertops, a new island, and relocated plumbing or electrical.
What moves the number most is cabinet line and layout changes. Keeping your existing boxes and replacing doors and drawers costs less than new semi-custom cabinets. Moving a sink or adding an island means plumbing and electrical work, which adds $2,500 – $7,000 on average in Houston, depending on slab access and code requirements.
Here’s how the major pieces break down, installed, in Houston:
- Cabinet installation (new boxes): $4,000 – $13,000 depending on kitchen size and line
- Countertop installation (Cambria, Silestone, or Caesarstone quartz): $2,000 – $6,500
- Kitchen island installation: $3,000 – $10,000 including base cabinets, countertop, and electrical
- Backsplash installation: $800 – $2,500 for standard tile or stone
- Small kitchen remodel (cosmetic refresh): $9,000 – $20,000
Every job gets a written price before work starts, and that number is the number on your invoice. No change orders because we missed a line item, no surprise material fees at the end. The work is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if something fails inside the first year, we come back and fix it at no charge. That includes a free return visit, no service call fee, no re-inspection fee.
DIY or Call Us?
There are a few things you can safely check yourself. If a drawer is sticking, pull it out and look at the glide. A loose screw or a jammed soft-close mechanism is often visible. If a door is misaligned, a Phillips screwdriver on the hinge adjustment screw usually fixes it in under a minute. No special tools, no risk.
What you shouldn’t try is removing a cabinet box or re-hanging a door front on a frameless KraftMaid cabinet. The cam locks and dowels that hold a KraftMaid box together need to be removed in the right order, and the box needs to be supported while it’s unbolted from the wall. We’ve been called to more than one Houston kitchen where a homeowner pulled a cabinet off the wall and took a chunk of drywall with it. That turns a $200 hinge repair into a $1,200 wall repair plus cabinet rehang.
Also worth stating plainly: cabinet work itself isn’t dangerous, but wiring and plumbing behind cabinets is. If your remodel involves moving an outlet, running a new circuit, or re-routing a drain line inside a cabinet, that’s licensed electrician and plumber territory. We pull permits and coordinate inspections so you’re not left with a code violation when you sell the house.
If you’re not sure what you’re looking at, call (254) 527-5340. We’ll tell you over the phone whether it sounds like a quick fix or a real problem. The estimate to come look is free either way.
FAQs
KraftMaid cabinetry typically lasts 20 – 30 years in Houston, but humidity shortens that for cabinets with water exposure. Undermount sinks, dishwashers, and supply lines that leak slowly into the cabinet base are the biggest killers. We’ve seen KraftMaid boxes from the early 2000s still structurally sound in dry kitchens, while sink bases from 2015 are rotted out from a slow plumbing drip. Annual inspection of sink-base plumbing and dishwasher connections is the cheapest life-extension you can buy.
Hinges, glides, drawer fronts, and toe kicks can almost always be repaired or replaced individually. A swollen or delaminated cabinet box usually cannot. If the cabinet floor or sides have been wet long enough that the MDF or particleboard has lost its integrity, patching it is a temporary fix at best. We’ll tell you which one you have before recommending any work. Call (254) 527-5340 for an exact assessment, and the estimate is free.
Most full KraftMaid kitchen remodels take 3 – 6 weeks from tear-out to final walkthrough. A cabinet refresh with new doors, hardware, and countertops runs closer to 2 – 3 weeks. Custom door fronts ordered from KraftMaid add about 2 weeks of lead time. We’ll give you a written schedule before we start, including the arrival window for every phase, so you’re not guessing when the crew shows up.
We stock common KraftMaid hinges, drawer glides, soft-close mechanisms, and mounting hardware on the service truck. Door fronts, drawer boxes, and trim pieces are ordered to match your specific line and finish, and we measure everything on-site before ordering so the overlay spec matches. If we have the part on the truck, we install it that day. If we have to order it, we’ll give you a lead time in writing before you approve anything.
If your KraftMaid kitchen needs attention, call (254) 527-5340 and ask for Trevor. We’ll give you the straight story on what’s failing, what it costs to fix, and whether it’s worth repairing or replacing. The estimate is free, the price is written, and the work is guaranteed for a year. That’s how we’ve always done it, and that’s the number we’ll stand behind.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Houston at Penhallow Remodeling Houston, serving Houston and nearby areas.
