IKEA Kitchen Installers on Long Island

You have the IKEA plan, the boxes are ordered or already stacked in the garage, and you need somebody to put them in. Here is what that actually costs and what it does not include.

We install IKEA kitchens. We also sell complete kitchens, and at the end of this page there is an honest comparison of the two, because for some people the numbers land closer together than expected.

What installation costs

• $50 to $120 per linear foot of cabinet run, or roughly $1,000 to $2,500 for an average kitchen.
• Per cabinet: commonly $150 to $500 each. A typical independent rate is around $175 for a base cabinet and $125 for an upper — usually about ten percent under IKEA's own partner installers.
• Hourly: $65 to $125 where the work is priced that way.
• Time: two to four days for a straightforward 10 to 12 foot run, longer for islands, plumbing changes and electrical.

What the installation price does not cover

This is where IKEA kitchens go over budget, and it is not IKEA's fault — it is that the cabinet price and the kitchen price are two different numbers.

• Plumbing. Disconnecting and reconnecting a sink is a licensed trade. Moving it is permitted work.
• Electrical. New circuits, under-cabinet lighting, a receptacle in an island.
• Countertops. Template, fabrication and installation, usually a separate vendor entirely.
• Demolition and disposal of the old kitchen.
• Wall and floor prep. Old Long Island houses are rarely plumb or level, and IKEA's rail system is unforgiving about it — the whole system hangs off one horizontal rail, so an out-of-level wall shows up in every door gap.
• Filler and scribe work where the run meets an out-of-square wall.
• Appliance installation.
• Backsplash, paint, trim.

Add those up and an IKEA kitchen frequently lands well past the cabinet price. That is not an argument against it — it is an argument for pricing the whole thing before you commit rather than after.

Independent installer vs IKEA's partner

• Independent: usually cheaper, more flexible, will handle custom fronts and unusual layouts, and can work around your schedule. You coordinate the trades yourself.
• IKEA partner: more expensive, but it is one contract and one number to chase if something goes wrong.
• A general contractor: handles the install and the plumbing and the electrical and the counters under one contract. Costs more than a lone installer and less than managing four vendors badly.

What to check before hiring anyone

• Have they installed the current IKEA system specifically? The rail system is not like installing conventional cabinets and experience with it genuinely matters.
• Are they licensed and insured, and will they put the number in writing? Home improvement contractors on Long Island are licensed at county level, and Suffolk and Nassau are separate.
• Who is checking the parts list before the day? An IKEA kitchen with three missing brackets stops dead.
• Who handles plumbing and electrical, and is that in this price?
• What happens if the wall is out of level by an inch, which in a 1955 ranch it may well be?

The comparison worth running

Price your IKEA kitchen fully — boxes, doors, hardware, counters, installation, plumbing, electrical, demolition, disposal. Not the cabinet number, the finished number.

Our installed kitchens run $20,000 to $30,000 — cabinets, quartz counters, an island, a new sink and the plumbing, demo and haul-away, and labor. Not included: backsplash, appliances, flooring, and handles on most sets. The price works for a specific and finite reason: the cabinet sets came from projects that were cancelled after the cabinets had already been ordered, so they are paid for and sitting in our warehouse. When they are gone the price goes back to market.

A fully costed IKEA kitchen with counters and trades often lands in the high teens to mid twenties. If that is where yours lands, you are choosing between IKEA boxes and a complete installed kitchen at a similar number, which is a genuinely different decision from the one you thought you were making.

If your IKEA kitchen comes in well under that, install it — and call us to do it. We do both, and we would rather do the job you actually want.

Towns we do kitchens in

We are based in East Patchogue and most of our kitchen work is in Brookhaven and Islip, but we go where the job is. If you are inside an incorporated village, the village building department governs rather than the town.

• Brookhaven — Patchogue, East Patchogue, Medford, Holbrook, Farmingville, Coram, Selden, Bellport, Shirley, Mastic, Centereach
• Islip — Islip, Bay Shore, West Islip, East Islip, Sayville, Bohemia, Oakdale, Brentwood
• Smithtown — Smithtown, Nesconset, Commack, Kings Park, St James, Hauppauge
• Huntington — Huntington, Northport, Dix Hills, Melville, Greenlawn, Huntington Station
• Babylon — Babylon, West Babylon, North Babylon, Lindenhurst, Copiague, Deer Park
• Brookhaven villages — Port Jefferson, Patchogue village, Bellport and Lake Grove run their own building departments

If your town is not on the list, call anyway — the list is where we work most, not a boundary. Anything from Nassau through the Twin Forks is fair game; we tell you honestly if travel makes a small job uneconomical.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to install an IKEA kitchen?
Labor runs $50 to $120 per linear foot, or roughly $1,000 to $2,500 for an average kitchen. Priced per cabinet it is commonly $150 to $500 each, with a typical independent rate around $175 for a base cabinet and $125 for an upper.

Is an independent installer cheaper than IKEA's installer?
Usually, by around ten percent, and independents are more flexible about custom fronts and unusual layouts. The trade-off is that you coordinate the plumbing, electrical and countertops yourself rather than having one contract.

What is not included in IKEA kitchen installation?
Plumbing, electrical, countertops, demolition and disposal, wall and floor preparation, filler and scribe work, appliance installation, backsplash, paint and trim. The cabinet price and the finished kitchen price are two very different numbers.

How long does an IKEA kitchen installation take?
Two to four days for a straightforward 10 to 12 foot run. Islands, plumbing changes and electrical work add days.

Do I need a permit to install an IKEA kitchen?
Not for the cabinets themselves, which are finish work. If the sink moves, a gas line is run, or new circuits are added, that work requires a permit from your town.

Related Reading

• Who installs kitchen cabinets — the options compared
• What $25,000 buys — the comparison to run
• Discount kitchen cabinets — other cheap sources
• Kitchen permits by town — what the trades trigger
• What belongs in a quote — pricing the whole job