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KraftMaid Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a KraftMaid home addition or ADU in Fort Lauderdale, expect to invest between $45,000 and $130,000 for a full addition, with ADUs running $90,000 to $220,000 depending on size and site work. We regularly install KraftMaid cabinetry into new additions, garage conversions, and accessory dwelling units across Fort Lauderdale, and we stock the hardware, trim, and installation components needed to match KraftMaid’s sizing and finish specs. Most homeowners reach out to us when they’re mid-project and realize their existing general contractor doesn’t understand KraftMaid’s specific cabinet box dimensions, or when they need to integrate KraftMaid cabinetry into a space that’s being framed right now and they want the cabinet run to land perfectly against new walls.
We’re an independent remodeling company, not affiliated with KraftMaid, but we’ve been working with their cabinets long enough to know where the tolerances are tight and where shortcuts show.
Which KraftMaid Models This Applies To
KraftMaid builds across several lines, and the compatibility story matters more than most people expect. The Vantage and Vantage Pro series use a full-overlay door style with tighter reveal gaps, which means your framed opening dimensions need to be dialed in closer than with a standard overlay. The Kemper line (KraftMaid’s sister brand) runs inset doors, and that changes your fillers and hinge hardware entirely. If you’ve got an older KraftMaid kitchen from the 2000s, you’re likely looking at their standard framed construction, and we can match new pieces to it as long as the door profile is still in production.
Here’s the gotcha most owners don’t know: KraftMaid changed their cabinet depth on select wall cabinet lines over the years. A 12-inch-deep wall cabinet from a 2015 order may not match a 12-inch-deep cabinet ordered today in the same style name because the box construction spec shifted slightly. When we integrate old and new KraftMaid together in a Fort Lauderdale addition, we measure the existing boxes before ordering anything new. If you’re doing an ADU and the whole cabinet run is new, this doesn’t bite you. But in a partial addition where the new kitchen bumps against an existing pantry row, it’s the difference between a flush run and a visible step.
On the OEM-versus-aftermarket question: for KraftMaid-specific parts like hinge plates, drawer glides, and the proprietary shelf clips used in their tall pantry cabinets, we use genuine KraftMaid hardware. The tolerances are precise, and aftermarket substitutes cause drawer fronts to sit proud or cabinet doors to drift after a season of Fort Lauderdale humidity.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your KraftMaid Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
You usually know something’s off before you can name it. Here’s what we see most in Fort Lauderdale additions and ADUs with KraftMaid cabinetry:
- Cabinet doors won’t stay closed or drift open. This almost always comes down to hinge wear or a cabinet box that’s shifted as the new slab settled. In Florida, humidity cycles swell and shrink wood boxes more than you think, and the fix is a hinge adjustment or replacement, not a new door.
- Drawers bind or don’t seat flush. KraftMaid drawer glides are workhorses, but if the opening framing in a new addition is out of square by even an eighth of an inch, the glue-glide assembly won’t tolerate it. We square the opening and replace the glide if it’s bent.
- Open shelving in an ADU kitchen is bowing or pulling from the wall. KraftMaid’s floating shelves rely on a steel bracket system, and if someone anchors that bracket into drywall without hitting studs, the shelf will sag within a year. This is the top DIY fail we see in garage conversions.
- Soft-close mechanisms stopped softening. KraftMaid’s soft-close dampers live inside the hinge cup, and they’re a wear item. In a rental ADU or a heavily-used family kitchen, plan on replacing damper inserts every five to seven years. It’s a $15 part, not a cabinet replacement.
- Finish is chipping along the door edges in a new addition. If a cabinet run was installed and then sheetrock work continued, dust and tool contact can chew through the factory finish. We’ve seen it in more than one Fort Lauderdale project where the cabinet installer left before the drywallers finished.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Let’s talk straight numbers for Fort Lauderdale. A full home addition with KraftMaid cabinetry integrated into the new space runs $45,000 to $130,000, and an ADU with cabinets, counters, and finish work lands between $90,000 and $220,000. For cabinet-only work in an existing addition: cabinet installation runs $4,000 to $13,000, a new kitchen island with KraftMaid base cabinets is $3,000 to $10,000, and countertop installation alongside those cabinets runs $2,000 to $6,500. The range comes from square footage, structural work (Florida code means wind-load requirements on any new exterior wall), and whether you’re tying into existing plumbing or running new lines across a slab.
Every quote we write includes the full parts list with line-item pricing, the labor, and the written guarantee. For additions and ADUs, that’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if something isn’t right within a year of completion, we fix it at no cost to you. We tell you what we found, what it takes to fix it, and what it will cost, before we touch a thing.
DIY or Call Us?
For KraftMaid-specific parts work, here’s where I’d draw the line. You can safely tighten hinge screws, adjust a drawer front height with a Phillips screwdriver, and replace soft-close dampers. Those are set-screw adjustments, and KraftMaid builds them to be owner-serviceable. What you shouldn’t do is pull a cabinet box off the wall to re-square a corner, attempt structural work on an addition wall in a hurricane zone, or install floating shelving into block construction without knowing your anchor. Block walls are common in Fort Lauderdale, and if you’ve never drilled and anchored into masonry, that’s how shelves come down on someone. Structural framing and anything touching exterior walls goes to a licensed pro.
If you’re in the middle of an addition or ADU and the cabinet work is fighting you, call (754) 354-3720. We’ll tell you over the phone whether it’s a $15 hinge or a real problem.
FAQs
In our South Florida humidity, you can expect 20 to 30 years from KraftMaid cabinet boxes, with hinge and damper replacements every five to seven years as normal wear. The boxes hold up well, but the hardware cycles out faster than the carcass. Call (754) 354-3720 if you’re seeing early wear on a newer install.
Yes, in most cases we can replace hinges, glides, shelves, and trim to bring your existing run back to service, and we’ll tell you honestly when repair will cost close enough to replacement that it’s not worth doing. Always ask for the fix-first estimate.
A standard kitchen’s worth of cabinet installation in a new Fort Lauderdale addition takes two to four working days, assuming framing and drywall are complete and walls are square. Custom pantry runs or inset door installations add a day or two. We’ll put the timeline in your written quote.
We keep KraftMaid hinge plates, standard overlay soft-close hinges, drawer glide sets, and shelf clips stocked on the truck for install and service calls. Niche pieces in specific finishes or for inset Kemper lines are ordered to match your cabinet code.
If you have a KraftMaid addition or ADU project in the works or a cabinet run that isn’t holding up, call (754) 354-3720 for a free, no-pressure estimate. We’ll answer the phone, get the details, and give you a straight answer about what it takes and what it costs.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale at Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
