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AfterCabinets & Countertops in Austin, TX
Cabinet and countertop work in Austin typically runs $8,500 – $22,000 for a mid-sized kitchen, with most projects landing around $14,000. You’re paying for materials, demolition, plumbing disconnects, and the labor of fitting everything square. Sawyer Remodel Austin has handled this work since 2005, and we put every price in writing before a single cabinet box leaves the warehouse. Call (409) 834-4854 for a free estimate. For a full scope of what a kitchen project involves, see our Kitchen Remodeling page.
This is the phase where a kitchen stops being a construction site and starts being a room again. New cabinets change where you store things, how much you can store, and how the room feels when you walk in. Countertops take daily abuse: hot pans, citrus spills, knife work, kids’ school projects. The goal is getting both installed level, flush against walls that are never perfectly straight, and sealed so they last. In Austin’s humidity swings, that last part matters more than people realize.
Luca Romano runs the crew here. The team shows up in uniform, you get photo updates as the job moves, and the invoice you pay at the end matches the price you approved at the start. That’s The Relay Standard, and it’s how every Sawyer Remodel Austin project runs.
When You Need Cabinets & Countertops
Some kitchens make the need obvious. Others hide it until a hinge gives out mid-dinner. Here are the signs we see most often in Austin homes:
- Laminate countertops are peeling at the seams. Once the substrate starts swelling from moisture, it’s not a cosmetic fix anymore. In older homes around Hyde Park and Allandale, the original laminate from the 80s and 90s is hitting end-of-life, and the particleboard underneath has usually been wicking water for years.
- Cabinet drawers won’t stay square. Dovetail joints fail, drawer glides wear out, and suddenly every drawer requires two hands and a hip check to close. If three or more drawers are doing this, it’s often cheaper in the long run to reface or replace than to patch each one.
- You bought the house and the kitchen layout fights you every day. Cramped triangle, zero drawer storage, a pantry that’s really just one deep shelf. Austin’s rapid home turnover means a lot of kitchens were “flipped” with the cheapest boxes available. Those look fine in listing photos and disintegrate two years in.
- Water damage around the sink base. Austin’s hard water and occasional supply-line failures mean the cabinet under your kitchen sink is the canary in the coal mine. Peeled veneer, soft base panel, or a faint mildew smell means the structural value of that cabinet is gone.
- You’re already remodeling adjacent spaces. If the kitchen walls are open for electrical or plumbing work anyway, doing cabinets and counters at the same time saves you the cost of a second demolition, a second round of permits, and a second stretch of living without a kitchen.
- You can’t resell at the price you want without it. Austin buyers in the $450K – $800K range expect functional soft-close cabinetry and stone-look counters. A dated kitchen is the single biggest line-item negotiation point in a sale.
Our Cabinets & Countertops Process
You’ll know the price, the people showing up, and the date everything starts before any tools come out. That’s the home service commitment Sawyer Remodel Austin runs on.
- On-site measurement and scope walk. We measure everything: wall lengths, corner angles, ceiling height at three points, where the plumbing and electrical sit, how far your cabinets are from true level. Austin homes range from 1920s pier-and-beam in Travis Heights to 2020s slab-on-grade in Mueller, and they all measure differently. This step is where we catch the differences that throw off installs.
- Written price, line by line. You get a price that breaks down cabinets, counters, hardware, fabrication, plumbing disconnect/reconnect, and demolition. No “allowances” that balloon later. The number on that sheet is the number on your final invoice, guaranteed under our no-hassle upfront pricing policy.
- Material selection from manufacturer-backed brands. Cabinetry from KraftMaid or Wellborn, countertops from Cambria or Caesarstone. You pick the door profile, finish, hardware, and stone or quartz color. We order from the manufacturer directly, so lead times are real dates, not guesses.
- Demolition and prep. We protect your floors and seal off adjacent rooms in an occupied home. On pier-and-beam foundations, we check for floor deflection before setting cabinet runs. The countertop fabricator templates after the base cabinets are set, so the stone is cut to your actual installed dimensions, not the drawing.
- Install and finish. Cabinets set level and shimmed to the wall, countertops templated and installed, sink and faucet remounted, seams color-matched. We run the drawers and doors through 10 cycles each before we call it done.
- Final walkthrough and sign-off. You inspect everything with the lead installer. If something isn’t right, it gets fixed before we leave. We take before-and-after photos for the project file and send you the digital invoice. Pay from the link. Done.
Atlas, IKO, Tamko, and Boral surface elsewhere in the remodeling catalog, but for cabinets and counters we stick with the cabinetry and surface manufacturers we know hold up in Austin’s climate, specifically brands like KraftMaid, Wellborn, Cambria, and Caesarstone. Manufacturer-backed means the warranty isn’t a piece of paper from a contractor who might not exist in five years.
Cabinets & Countertops Pricing in Austin
Here’s what you’re actually paying in this market, based on a standard 10×12 kitchen with about 25 linear feet of cabinetry and 35 square feet of countertop area:
| Scope | Budget Range | Mid Range | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Countertops only (laminate replacement to quartz) | $2,800 – $4,500 | $4,500 – $7,200 | Removal, fabrication, install, sink cutout, basic backsplash if included |
| Cabinets only (stock boxes, new doors and hardware) | $5,500 – $9,000 | $9,000 – $15,000 | Demolition of existing, new stock or semi-custom boxes, soft-close hardware, crown molding |
| Full cabinet and counter package | $8,500 – $14,000 | $14,000 – $22,000 | Everything above, coordinated in one phase, one schedule |
| High-end (custom cabinetry, Cambria or Caesarstone, waterfall island) | $22,000 – $35,000+ | $35,000 – $60,000 | Custom build, premium slab, mitered edges, appliance panels, specialty hardware |
What moves the number in either direction: whether the cabinets are stock, semi-custom, or fully custom; what the countertop material actually is (laminate starts around $45/sq ft installed, mid-tier quartz runs $75 – $110, natural stone and bookmatched slabs go up from there); whether there’s a peninsula or island involved; and how much plumbing movement the sink requires. Moving a gas line or a drain stack in a slab foundation adds real cost and needs a licensed plumber, never a “handy guy” with a Sawzall.
Every project gets a written price before demolition starts. If something unexpected comes up mid-job (and it does, especially in older Austin homes), we document it, price the change order, and get your written sign-off before continuing. No surprise line items at the end.
Call (409) 834-4854 and we’ll give you a real number based on your actual kitchen, not a ballpark from a website form.
How Materials Hold Up in Austin’s Climate
Austin’s swings between dry heat and high humidity (sometimes in the same week) are the reason we steer certain projects away from certain materials. Solid wood doors that do fine in Dallas will bow in a Mueller house if the A/C runs constantly on one side of the room and not the other. Quartz doesn’t care about humidity. Particleboard boxes with vinyl-wrapped doors fail fastest. MDF painted doors hold their finish well if the factory seal is intact. This is the kind of thing that doesn’t show up in a generic pricing blog, and it’s the difference between cabinets that look new in three years and cabinets that look like they were installed during the last administration.
If you’ve got high-tension issues in your kitchen structure (gas lines behind a wall you want removed, a load-bearing wall where the peninsula should go), we flag it on the first visit and bring the right equipment and the right licensed trades. That work is never left to guesswork.
What about safety during the job?
Cabinet and countertop work involves sharp stone edges, heavy lifting (a single quartz slab can weigh 600+ pounds), and power tools running in a confined space. Our crews wear proper PPE, use mechanical lifts for slab placement, and keep the work area closed off from kids and pets during the active phase. If you’re home during the job, stay out of the work zone unless we’re doing the walkthrough with you. Stone fabrication especially is not a DIY-friendly adjacent activity, ever. A countertop edge at eye height for a toddler is a real hazard. We treat it like one.
FAQs – Cabinets & Countertops
How much do cabinets and countertops cost in Austin?
For a standard 10×12 kitchen, expect $8,500 – $22,000 for a full cabinet and counter package, with mid-range projects landing around $14,000. Countertops alone run $2,800 – $7,200 depending on material. Call (409) 834-4854 and we’ll measure and price your specific space for free.
Can you install cabinets and countertops the same day?
No, and you shouldn’t trust anyone who says yes. Cabinets go in first, then the countertop fabricator templates the installed base, then the stone is cut. That whole sequence is usually 3 – 5 working days from demolition to final install. Same-day cabinet and counter work means the stone was templated before the cabinets were set, which means the seams won’t sit right. We’ll give you a dated schedule before we start and update you with photos as each phase closes.
Is it cheaper to reface cabinets than replace them?
Yes, refacing typically runs 50 – 60% of the cost of full replacement. But if the cabinet boxes have water damage or the layout doesn’t work for how you cook, refacing puts new doors on a bad structure. In Austin’s older neighborhoods, where the original boxes are often in worse shape than they look from the outside, we’ll tell you honestly which route makes sense. Call us for a site visit and we’ll show you, not tell you.
Do you use any of the major roofing or siding brands in your kitchen work?
No, the IKO, Atlas, Tamko, and Boral lines are exterior products and don’t apply to cabinets or counters. In the kitchen, we use cabinetry from KraftMaid and Wellborn and surfaces from Cambria and Caesarstone. These are manufacturer-backed product lines with real warranty coverage behind the install.
What if something goes wrong after the install?
If a door binds, a seam opens, or a drawer glide fails within the first year, we come back and fix it. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, written into every contract. If it’s not done right, we make it right, no invoice and no argument. You’ll reach a live person at (409) 834-4854 any time, day or night.
Get Your Kitchen Price in Writing
Cabinets and countertops are the two most visible surfaces in your kitchen. We’d rather show you a written scope and a real price than talk in generalities. Call (409) 834-4854 for a free, no-pressure estimate. Luca and the Sawyer Remodel Austin crew will measure, walk the space with you, and give you a number you can plan around. Background-checked techs, photo updates at every phase, and a price that doesn’t change at the door. That’s the job, done The Relay Standard way.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner at Sawyer Remodel Austin, serving Austin.
