Trades
Cabinet makers in Adelaide
A cabinet maker builds carcase work out of sheet material and fixes it to your house: kitchens, laundries, wardrobes, vanities and built-ins. It is priced per linear metre of run or per cabinet, with the benchtop always quoted separately. Custom cabinetry in Adelaide runs $1,600 to $3,200 per linear metre before benchtop and appliances, plus 10% to 18% to install.
That is a different trade from furniture making, and the difference decides who you should be calling. Fitted storage is covered in detail on our built-in wardrobes page, larger fixed runs on the custom joinery page, and the 3 way comparison is set out in cabinet maker, furniture maker or joiner.
The distinction
Cabinet making and furniture making are different trades
The titles get used loosely, and plenty of businesses claim both. The machinery in the workshop tells you the truth faster than the website does.
| Cabinet making | Furniture making | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary material | Sheet goods: HMR particleboard, MDF, plywood, veneered board | Solid timber boards, milled from rough sawn |
| Joinery method | 32mm system holes, dowels, confirmats, biscuits, machine-cut panels | Mortise and tenon, dovetails, floating tenons, shaped components |
| Where it ends up | Fixed to the building, scribed to walls and floors | Freestanding, moved with you when you sell |
| Finish | Melamine, thermolaminate, 2-pack polyurethane, veneer | Hardwax oil, lacquer, polyurethane over real grain |
| Tolerance driver | The house. Walls out of square by 10mm to 30mm are normal in Adelaide | The piece itself. Joinery cut to under 0.5mm |
| Typical lead time | 6 to 16 weeks including install | 4 to 14 weeks including delivery |
The tolerance row is the one that matters practically. A furniture maker works to the piece and can hold a joint to under 0.5mm, because nothing outside the piece is allowed to influence it. A cabinet maker works to the house, and in Adelaide the house is usually a pre-1940 villa or bungalow with walls out of square by 10mm to 30mm, deep skirtings, picture rails and a chimney breast in the middle of the run. The skill is in the scribe: the packing, the filler panels and the shadow lines that hide the fact nothing is straight.
That is also why a cabinet maker will not quote fitted work off a sketch. A site measure is not a formality, it is the whole basis of the price. Anyone quoting a fitted kitchen or a wall of wardrobes from photographs is quoting a guess, and the variation will arrive later as a change order.
Pricing
How cabinetry is actually quoted in Adelaide
Per linear metre for a run, per unit for a standalone cabinet, and the benchtop on its own line every time. If a quote gives you 1 number for the whole kitchen, ask for it split.
| Element | Priced by | Adelaide band | What to note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen cabinetry | Per linear metre of cabinet run | $1,600 to $3,200 per lm | Excludes benchtop, appliances, splashback and plumbing |
| Benchtop, laminate | Per linear metre | $250 to $500 per lm | Quoted separately from the cabinetry, always |
| Benchtop, natural stone or porcelain | Per linear metre, template and install included | $700 to $2,000 per lm | Engineered stone is no longer available in Australia |
| Built-in wardrobe | Per linear metre of opening | From $2,600 per lm | Internals cost more than the doors on most jobs |
| Laundry run | Per job | $2,800 to $6,500 | Trough, tap and appliance cutouts drive the variation |
| Bathroom vanity | Per unit | $900 to $2,800 | Wall-hung costs more than floor-standing to build and fix |
| Alcove or built-in unit | Per job | From $1,400 | Scribing to a chimney breast is the cost, not the cabinet |
| Installation | Percentage of the cabinetry price | 10% to 18% | Higher in an older villa where nothing is square or level |
There are 2 notes on benchtops. They are a separate trade and a separate supplier on almost every job, which is why they sit on their own line and why the lead time on stone can push the whole install out by 2 to 3 weeks after template. And engineered stone is no longer part of the conversation: it was prohibited across Australia in 2024 on silicosis grounds, so an Adelaide kitchen today goes to laminate, natural stone, porcelain or solid timber.
The installation percentage is the number people forget when comparing quotes. In a newer house 10% is realistic. In a 1920s bungalow with a sloping floor and a chimney breast in the run, 18% is realistic, and a quote that shows 10% on that house has either not measured properly or will find the difference later. Full numbers for fitted storage are on the built-in wardrobe cost guide.
Materials
Door finishes: what each costs and how each one fails
Every finish fails eventually, and they fail differently. Picking one is really about choosing the failure mode you can live with in the room it is going into.
| Finish | Cost | How it fails | Where it is correct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melamine (decorative board) | Baseline | At the edge. Thin 0.4mm edge banding lifts next to a dishwasher or an oven within 5 to 8 years, and the exposed board then swells | Carcases and internals on every job. Doors on budget runs and rentals |
| Thermolaminate (vinyl wrap) | +10% to 20% | By peeling. Heat from an adjacent oven or dishwasher lifts the film at the door edge, and once it lifts the door is replaced, not repaired | Profiled and shaker-look doors in a seamless finish, away from heat sources |
| 2-pack polyurethane | +35% to 60% | By chipping. A sharp knock on a corner takes a flake off, and a spot repair never matches, so the door is resprayed | Any colour, any profile, gloss through to matt. The default for a high-end Adelaide kitchen |
| Timber veneer | +40% to 80% | By fading and by sanding through. Under north-facing glass it bleaches unevenly in 1 summer, and it takes 1 careful cut back in its life | Doors and gable ends where real grain matters and the run is out of direct sun |
| Solid timber doors | +60% to 120% | By moving. A wide flat solid panel cups or splits in a dry Adelaide February | Shaker frames with a veneered centre panel. Never a wide flat solid panel |
The carcase is a separate decision from the door
Specify HMR board, high moisture resistant particleboard, for every kitchen, laundry, bathroom and vanity carcase. It is tinted green through the core so you can identify it on site during install, and it resists swelling from spills and steam in a way standard board does not. Standard board that takes water at an unsealed edge swells permanently, and no amount of drying brings it back.
The 2 places to insist on it in writing are the sink cabinet and the dishwasher return, because that is where the water actually goes. Ask specifically whether the sink cutout edge is sealed, and whether the base of the sink cabinet has a removable protective tray. Both are cheap at build stage and expensive afterwards.
For anything with real timber in it, the solid versus veneer rules apply exactly as they do to freestanding work, and they are set out in full on our timber furniture page. The short version for cabinetry: a wide flat solid door panel is the wrong engineering choice in an Adelaide kitchen, and a solid shaker frame with a veneered centre panel is the right one.
Hardware
The 5 hardware checks where cheap kitchens are cheap
Nobody compares hinges in a showroom, which is exactly why this is where a low quote finds its savings. Every one of these belongs on the written quote by brand and rating.
- 1.
Drawer runner load rating
30kg is budget, 50kg and above is proper. A cutlery drawer never gets near either figure, but a pot drawer 900mm wide with 4 cast pans in it does. Ask for the rating in writing, per drawer size.
- 2.
How the soft close is achieved
This is the single clearest tell. A quality runner has the damper engineered into the mechanism. A budget one has a separate plastic damper bolted on, which loses its resistance and starts letting the drawer slam within a few years.
- 3.
Hinge cycle rating
Good European hinges are tested to roughly 80,000 open and close cycles. Budget hinges are tested to a fraction of that. A pantry door opened 8 times a day reaches 23,000 cycles in 8 years, which is where the cheap ones start to sag.
- 4.
Full extension versus 3 quarter
A 3 quarter extension runner leaves the back 150mm of the drawer under the benchtop, which is where things go to be forgotten. Full extension costs more per drawer and is the upgrade with the most daily effect.
- 5.
Drawer box construction
A metal-sided drawer system holds square permanently and is what most quality kitchens use. A melamine box with runners screwed to the sides is cheaper and racks over time, particularly on wide drawers.
Who to call
Cabinet maker, furniture maker or joiner
The practical test is whether the finished piece is attached to your house. If it is fixed, scribed and stays behind when you sell, you want a cabinet maker. If it stands on the floor and moves with you, you want a furniture maker. Joiner is the older term, and in Australian usage it now covers architectural fitted work: staircases, doors, windows, panelling and large built-in runs.
Where it gets genuinely blurred is a piece that looks freestanding but is fixed, like a window seat with drawers under it or a full-height alcove unit. Those get built by either trade. The question to ask is which one the workshop does most weeks, because the answer decides whether you get furniture tolerances on a fitted job or fitted-work speed on a piece that needed furniture tolerances.
On licensing, plainly
Cabinet making itself is not a licensed trade in South Australia. However, cabinetry that is fixed to a building can form part of building work, and building work in this state is regulated. Whether a particular job needs a licensed contractor depends on the scope and the value of the work involved, and that is a question for the cabinet maker, or for the builder running the project. Ask it before the job starts and ask for the answer in writing. Do not accept a verbal reassurance on a kitchen or a bathroom that also involves plumbing and electrical work, because those trades carry their own licensing requirements regardless of who builds the cabinets.
Put these on the quote in writing
- 1.Carcase board type, and HMR confirmed for all wet areas
- 2.Door finish, and the brand of the board or coating system
- 3.Runner brand, load rating and full or 3 quarter extension
- 4.Hinge brand and the number of hinges per door
- 5.Benchtop material, edge profile and who templates it
- 6.Installation cost, shown separately from the cabinetry
- 7.Who confirms whether the job sits inside regulated building work
FAQ
Cabinet makers in Adelaide: common questions
What is the difference between a cabinet maker and a furniture maker?
A cabinet maker builds carcases from sheet material and fixes them to your house: kitchens, wardrobes, laundries, vanities and built-ins. A furniture maker builds freestanding pieces from solid timber using cut joinery: tables, chairs, beds, sideboards. The materials, the machinery and the tolerances are different, and most workshops in Adelaide genuinely do one or the other well.
How much does a custom kitchen cost in Adelaide?
Custom cabinetry runs $1,600 to $3,200 per linear metre of cabinet run, excluding the benchtop, appliances, splashback and plumbing. Installation adds 10% to 18% on top. A 6 metre galley kitchen in cabinetry alone is therefore roughly $9,600 to $19,200 before the benchtop, which is quoted separately per linear metre.
Do cabinet makers need a licence in South Australia?
Cabinet making itself is not a licensed trade here. Cabinetry that is fixed to the building can form part of building work, and building work in South Australia is regulated, so whether a specific job needs a licensed contractor depends on the scope and value involved. Ask the cabinet maker, or the builder running the job, to confirm in writing what applies to your job before it starts.
What is HMR board and do I need it?
HMR is high moisture resistant particleboard, tinted green so it is identifiable on site. It resists swelling from spills and steam far better than standard board. Use it for every kitchen, laundry, bathroom and vanity carcase, and specify it in writing, because standard board under a sink swells irreversibly once water reaches an unsealed edge.
Is 2-pack polyurethane worth the extra cost over melamine?
It is worth it when you want a colour or a profiled door that melamine cannot produce, and it is not worth it purely for durability. 2-pack adds 35% to 60% to door cost, gives you any colour and any profile with a seamless surface, and chips on a sharp corner impact. Melamine costs least and fails at its edge banding instead.
Where do cheap kitchens actually cut cost?
Almost always in the hardware and the carcase board, because neither is visible in a showroom. Budget runners are rated to 30kg and use a bolt-on damper, and quality ones are rated to 50kg or more with the soft-close built into the runner. Hinges are the same story. Ask for the brand and the load rating in writing on the quote.
Keep reading
You might also find this useful
- Cabinet maker, furniture maker or joinerThe 3 way comparison in full, and why hiring the wrong one costs money on a fitted job.Read it
- What a built-in wardrobe costs in AdelaidePriced per linear metre, with the internal fitout choices that quietly double a quote.Read it
- Custom joinery in AdelaideWindow seats, mudrooms, alcove units and kitchen runs: what joinery covers and how it is quoted.Read it
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