Stock, Semi-Custom & Custom Cabinetry

Kitchen cabinets come in three main divisions or grades; stock, semi-stock, and custom. The main difference between the three is their price. Other qualities of the three overlap each other. What most homeowners want to know up front is that custom cabinets are the most expensive, stock cabinets are the least expensive and semi-custom cabinets are in between.

There is definitely a reason why custom cabinets are more expensive. For starters, custom cabinets are made with higher grade materials, the finishes are hand applied, there are more choices available for wood species and stains, and the detailing is more sophisticated. These are all wonderful perks, but the main reason custom cabinets cost so much is because they are custom made to your liking. This means that the sizes are made to fit your exact kitchen, special features such as hidden appliances and storage options are available, and any other details you would like to have included can be arranged.

Stock cabinets, on the other hand, offer fewer choices of wood species, fewer coats of finish, and are made with less expensive materials. However, today’s stock cabinets are becoming rather impressive by including features that were once only seen with only custom cabinet makers. Such features include base cabinets with roll-out trays and solid wood drawers with dovetail joints and under-mounted drawer glides. Finishes can also be applied to stock cabinets to resemble the look of custom finishes. Unfortunately, stock cabinets are still limited to fixed sizes.

The plus side to stock cabinets is that they are very affordable and can be delivered within three weeks of placing an order. Custom or semi-custom cabinets generally take about eight to twelve weeks to arrive. For this reason, stock cabinets are commonly used by production home builders. With a low price and a fast delivery, builders can afford to make common mistakes because a new set of cabinets will arrive in no time at an affordable cost.

Semi-custom cabinets fall in between stock and custom cabinets. Some like to think of this as a certain “gray” area, for lack of better term. Most of the features offered with semi-custom cabinets will depend on the cabinet maker. The features may lean more toward a stock cabinet or toward a custom cabinet, depending on the maker. For example, if a stock cabinet maker makes the semi-custom cabinet then the line will typically include more wood species and finishes and more sizes.

Custom Cabinet Characteristics

• Higher grade materials
• Finishes are hand applied
• Greater choice for wood species and stains
• Custom made to your liking
• Any size request available
• Wood doors will be solid wood
• Refined detailing
• Eight to twelve weeks for delivery
• Expensive cabinet option

Stock Cabinet Characteristics

• Machine applied finishes
• Limited choices of wood species; typically offers oak, maple, hickory, cherry, and vinyl wrapped doors.
• Fewer coats of finish
• Inexpensive materials
• Limited sizes available
• Three weeks for delivery
• Affordable cabinet option

The best advice for homeowners who are trying to decide between stock, custom and semi-custom cabinets is to try and imagine the entire kitchen with the ones you have selected. I would recommend that you ask the cabinet dealer if you can see a completed job with a particular cabinet. This will help you visualize the cabinets in your own kitchen. You should also take into account how often you are in your kitchen. More money should be put toward a kitchen that gets a lot of use.