Custom vs Stock Cabinets: Which Makes Sense for a San Antonio Remodel?

There's a common misconception that 'custom' equals 'better' and 'stock' equals 'cheap.' That's wildly oversimplified. We sell both, and the right answer depends entirely on your kitchen, timeline, and budget.

What the three tiers actually cost

Priced against a 10×10 kitchen — the industry benchmark, roughly 20 linear feet of cabinets:

• Stock, budget shaker on plywood — $1,750–$3,000. Fixed sizes in 3" increments, on the floor now.
• Premium / painted — $3,000–$6,000. Same box construction, far wider door and finish selection.
• Custom, including inset — $6,000–$12,000+. Built to your dimensions, any configuration.

Those are cabinet-only figures. A turn-key kitchen with us starts around $5,500, and most complete projects finish between $5,500 and $10,000 once counters and install are in.

The timeline gap is wider than the price gap

Stock cabinets can be picked, delivered, and installed in 1–2 days. Custom typically runs 4–8 weeks in the shop before install day even gets scheduled, with design and approval time in front of that. If you're listing the house in spring, hosting in December, or living with the only kitchen in the house torn apart, the calendar settles this argument more often than the budget does.

Where stock genuinely stops working

Stock is built in 3" width increments, and odd walls get closed out with filler strips. One or two 3" fillers look completely normal. Stock breaks down when you have:

• Ceilings above 9 feet where you want cabinets running to the top instead of a dust shelf.
• A settled, out-of-square wall — common in older San Antonio ranches on expansive clay — that needs a scribed end panel rather than a filler.
• An odd-depth requirement: a 15"-deep upper over a desk, or a shallow base beside a tight walkway.
• True inset doors, which need tolerances stock sizing doesn't hold.
• An existing finish you have to match rather than replace.

The hybrid most of our customers land on

You rarely have to pick one lane. The common move is stock boxes for about 90% of the kitchen plus custom for the three or four pieces carrying the design — a hood surround, an island end panel, a full-height pantry, a scribed filler where the wall leans. That buys a custom-looking kitchen at close to a semi-custom price and keeps the install inside a couple of days.

Construction is identical either way

Flimsy stock cabinets exist, but "stock" doesn't have to mean cheap. Everything on our floor — all 36 styles across the Shaker, Esca recessed-panel, Raised Panel, Slim Shaker, and Frameless European collections — is built on ½" or ¾" plywood boxes with solid wood door frames, dovetail drawers, and full-extension soft-close glides, and carries the same 3-year workmanship warranty as our custom work. Judge a cabinet by the box, not by the tier name.

Settle it with your own layout in front of you

The fastest way to decide is to see your kitchen drawn both ways. Lay out your space in our free 3D designer, or request a free quote — we measure at no charge and send a 3D design back within about 48 hours, with a stock price and a custom price on the same layout so you're comparing your kitchen, not averages.