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Custom Kitchen Cabinets in the Houston Metro
A cabinet job in Spring Branch and a cabinet job in Cinco Ranch have different problems. The older house gives you soffits full of unknowns, plaster or thick-coat drywall that is not plumb, galvanised supply lines, cast iron…
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In short
In the older house the work starts with discovery. Open a small exploratory hole in the soffit before committing to removing it, since soffits in that era hide ductwork, vent stacks and sometimes wiring. Expect walls out of plumb and floors out of level, so the install relies on shims, scribes and…
What the work involves
In the older house the work starts with discovery. Open a small exploratory hole in the soffit before committing to removing it, since soffits in that era hide ductwork, vent stacks and sometimes wiring. Expect walls out of plumb and floors out of level, so the install relies on shims, scribes and filler strips rather than assuming a square room. If the sink moves, that means the galvanised supply and the cast iron drain get evaluated, and any relocation in a slab means concrete work. Kitchen circuits often need attention, and if the branch wiring is aluminium, the connections get pigtailed with approved connectors rather than landed directly on standard devices. In the newer house the sequence is cleaner. Demo the existing boxes, patch drywall, adjust outlets for the new layout, and set new cabinets. The real work there is usually the range hood and the island, since a proper ducted hood needs a route to the outside and an island cabinet run needs power brought up through the slab or the floor.
What gets specified, and why
Older kitchens usually need face-frame construction to look right against existing trim and to allow scribing at out-of-plumb walls, and they need generous filler and scribe allowances designed in rather than improvised on site. Frameless construction gains interior space and suits newer, squarer rooms. Regardless of house age, specify plywood boxes and put the best box under the sink, because that is where the water is. Painted doors in MDF or with MDF panels stay flat through humidity swings; stain-grade doors float a solid panel in a hardwood frame for the same reason. Thermofoil, common in 2000s builder kitchens, delaminates with heat, so if it is peeling next to the oven that is the material telling you what it is. Hardware matters everywhere: full-extension undermount soft-close slides rated for loaded drawers, and six-way adjustable concealed hinges so doors can be aligned in a room that is not square.
Why the Gulf Coast changes this job
The inner-loop stock was built before this level of mechanical ventilation was normal, so kitchens in those houses often have a recirculating hood that pushes grease and moisture back into a room that is already humid nine months of the year. Replacing that with a ducted hood is one of the more valuable parts of an older-kitchen job. In the newer western suburbs the slab is usually post-tension, which matters the moment anyone proposes cutting for an island drain or moving a sink, since tendons have to be located first. Both housing types share the clay underneath, so both get floors that are out of level across a long cabinet run, and both need cabinets set to a level line and scribed, not shimmed to follow the floor.
Where these jobs go wrong
Older houses: demolishing a soffit before finding out what is in it, then discovering a vent stack that has to be rerouted. Assuming the existing kitchen circuits will carry a new appliance load. Landing aluminium branch wiring on standard devices instead of pigtailing properly. Ordering cabinets to drawing dimensions in a house where no wall is straight, instead of field verifying after demo. Cutting into a slab for a relocated sink without knowing what the drain is made of. Newer houses: cutting a post-tension slab without scanning for tendons. Specifying a large hood without accounting for makeup air, since above a certain airflow the codes require it. Building an island so big that the walkways around it get tight, which is the most common regret in those kitchens. Also common in both: levelling cabinets to the floor rather than to a laser line, which puts the countertop and the whole upper run out of level.
What moves the price
In older houses: soffit removal and whatever is inside it, wall and ceiling repair after demo, electrical upgrades for kitchen circuits, and any plumbing relocation that involves galvanised supply or cast iron drain. Out-of-square conditions add labour in scribing and filler work. In newer houses: hood ducting and its route, island power and plumbing, tendon scanning if the slab is cut, and the sheer size of the cabinet run, since those kitchens are larger. In both: linear footage, box material, door style, inset versus overlay, finish, appliance panels, ceiling-height uppers and interior accessories. Layout changes move the number more than any material choice.
How a project runs
We start with the house, not the catalogue. In an older home that means opening the soffit to look, checking the panel and the kitchen circuits, identifying the supply and drain materials, and measuring how far out of level and plumb the room actually is. In a newer home it means confirming slab type before anyone plans an island sink, and working out the hood route. Then design, appliance selection, shop drawings, field verification after demo, and an install set to a level line and scribed to the room. Kitchen plumbing and electrical work is permitted in the City of Houston, and unincorporated Harris and Fort Bend handle it their own way, so we confirm the path for your address.
Common questions
Can the soffit above my old cabinets just come out?
Sometimes. It depends entirely on what is inside. Kitchens from that era commonly ran ductwork, plumbing vents or wiring through soffits, and occasionally the soffit does structural duty. A small exploratory opening answers it before demo and before you have designed ceiling-height uppers you cannot build. If a vent stack is in there, it can usually be rerouted, but that is a scope item.
My cabinets are only fifteen years old. Why are the doors peeling?
That is usually thermofoil, a vinyl film over an MDF core, and it delaminates with sustained heat. It shows up first beside the oven and above the dishwasher. The film cannot be repaired convincingly. If the boxes are sound plywood, new doors solve it. If the boxes are particleboard and the sink base has taken water, you are looking at replacement.
Why do my new cabinets need so many filler pieces?
Because your walls are not straight. In older Houston homes it is normal for a wall to run out of plumb over the height of a tall cabinet and for the floor to be out of level across a long run. Cabinets are built square, so the gap is taken up with scribes and fillers. Designing that allowance in beforehand is what keeps it looking intentional.
Do I need to worry about the slab if I want an island sink?
If your house is post-1985 and west of Houston, quite possibly, since post-tension slabs are common in that stock. The drain has to go through the slab, and tendons have to be located before anything is cut. It is workable, it just needs scanning and sometimes a different island position. Older homes have their own version of this question, which is what the existing drain is made of.
Custom Kitchen Cabinets by location
We cover 102 ZIP codes across the Houston metro. Pick the area closest to you:
- Bellaire 77401
- Brookshire 77423
- Cypress 77429
- Cypress 77433
- Fresno 77545
- Fulshear 77441
- Houston 77002
- Houston 77003
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- Houston 77051
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- Houston 77204
- Katy 77449
- Katy 77450
- Katy 77493
- Katy 77494
- Missouri City 77459
- Missouri City 77489
- Orchard 77464
- Richmond 77406
- Richmond 77469
- Rosenberg 77471
- Simonton 77476
- Spring 77379
- Stafford 77477
- Sugar Land 77478
- Sugar Land 77479
- Thompsons 77481
- Tomball 77377
Planning custom kitchen cabinets?
We measure, look at the slab and the existing rough-in, and give you a scope you can actually compare against another bid.
MS Home Remodeling · 1530 W Sam Houston Pkwy N, Houston, TX 77043 · (281) 235-6971