Used Kitchen Cabinets-Five Places to Find Them

Where can I find used cupboards? People often ask me if I have any old kitchen cabinets. People looking for leftovers to put in garages or other storage areas is pretty common in our industry. With a little patience and determination you can get a good set. Keep in mind though, you will need to do a few alterations to them.

Misconceptions
It’s important to understand that you can’t just take a set of cabinets out of one kitchen and install them in another. Used ones generally are not reusable in another kitchen area without a lot of work being done to them.

If you are planning to build a new home or remodel your kitchen, I suppose that you could take and older set and design your layout around them. I have seen people do this before with a really nice high-in set of cupboards. Something old should most definitely be in good shape when being used for a new area.

Where Can I Find Used Kitchen Cabinets?

The very best place to find some decent used building supplies is at Habitat for Humanity. They have a lot of kitchen cabinets there as well as counters, sinks and faucets. You will even find under cabinet puck lights as well. I’ve actually replaced an entire set of kitchen cabinets with used ones from there. The task was very laborious though. It was very much like trying to assemble a large puzzle out of different puzzle box pieces.

Older condominiums is another great place to find them. If you are in an area where there are some high rises that are considered for the “upper” class, then that’s a great place to start. Most of these communities are gated though. A phone call could score you a set of used cabinets. These types of developments always have owners who are remodeling.

Call around to local cabinet shops and ask if they have any kitchen replacements coming up. This method works really well too for finding used cupboards. Don’t expect that they will have anything lying around though. Most businesses toss them or destroy them right away when they remove cabinets from the walls.

You should contact a remodeling contractor. Here again, they won’t have anything stored because it’s just too costly to keep old used kitchen cabinets in storage. You will be able to schedule getting a set from them if they are busy with several remodeling jobs.

Start putting the word out with everyone that you know. Certainly, someone will know of a kitchen remodeling project that is either happening right now or will be taking place with a friend or relative. If you can get some Formica cabinets, you probably won’t need to do any finish work to them. Plastic laminate  generally retains its beauty even while aging.

Do you remember the old cliche; “beggars can’t be choosers?” You should pretty much “expect to get what you pay for.” However, with a good coat of paint and a few cuts here and there, an old used set of worn out kitchen cabinets might just come to life again.

Once you find them, I would suggest hiring a professional to install your used cabinets, unless you have a good handle on securing things to wall studs or concrete walls. The best place to learn about fastening cupboards to walls is on Youtube. They have several videos on the subject.