Cost to Repaint Kitchen Cabinets: An Irish Quote Guide

Repainting kitchen cabinets in Ireland typically costs between €900 and €2,500 for a standard 10 to 15 door kitchen, given as an aggregate Irish market estimate. The figure moves up or down depending on how many doors and units the quote covers, whether removing and refitting doors, hinges and handles is included, and whether VAT is shown on the paperwork. This guide is for homeowners who want to judge whether a quote is fair, compare offers like for like, and know what to check before hiring anyone to carry out kitchen renovation work such as cabinet repainting.

What the headline cost range covers

The €900 to €2,500 headline is an aggregate Irish market estimate for repainting the cabinet fronts of a typical Irish kitchen of roughly 10 to 15 doors and drawer fronts, in an occupied home, with the doors taken off and put back on. It assumes the carcasses are sound, the existing finish is in reasonable condition, and the job is one primer coat plus two top coats. It does not cover new handles, new hinges beyond simple adjustment, new worktops, tiling or splashbacks, plumbing, electrical work, or repairs to swollen or water-damaged chipboard. A small kitchen of five to eight doors sits at or below the bottom of the range, while a kitchen with 20 or more doors, an island, a pantry run or tall units sits above the top of it.

What a quote may or may not include

The biggest difference between two quotes for the same kitchen is rarely the paint or the number of coats. It is usually whether the price includes taking off the doors, drawer fronts, handles and hinges, working on them, and putting everything back and adjusting it. Some tradespeople quote for doors that leave the kitchen and are refinished away from the house; others quote for doors that stay hung. Both are legitimate ways to work, but the two quotes describe different jobs and should not be compared as though they were identical.

The table below is an aggregate Irish market estimate for a standard 10 to 15 door kitchen, showing the line items a homeowner might see on a written quote.

Line item	What it usually covers	Typical range
Labour only	Preparation, masking, priming and finishing the quoted doors and units, and refitting them	€450 – €1,200
Materials	Cabinet paint, primer, filler, abrasives, masking film and tape	€150 – €400
Preparation and masking	Degreasing, filling old handle holes, protecting walls, floor and worktops	€100 – €300
Removal and refitting	Taking off doors, drawer fronts and handles, labelling them, rehanging and adjusting hinges	€120 – €300
Per-door or per-unit extra	Each additional door, drawer front, end panel or plinth beyond the count in the quote	€45 – €120 per item
Waste and contingency allowance	Used materials and an allowance for repairs found once the doors come off	5% – 10% of the total

Added together, those line items produce the €900 to €2,500 headline. A quote that leaves out the removal and refitting line, or that counts 10 doors where the kitchen has 16, will look cheaper without actually being cheaper. Handles are a common version of the same trap: some quotes include taking off and refitting the existing handles, while others charge for new handle holes or new handles at a rate inside the per-item range in the table.

How the number of doors or units changes the price

Most quotes start with a base count of doors and drawer fronts, then add a charge for everything above that count. The table above puts that charge at €45 to €120 per item as an aggregate Irish market estimate. What counts as an item is where quotes diverge. Drawer fronts, end panels, plinths, cornices, boxed-in pipework, open shelving and the visible sides of a tall unit all have to be prepared and finished, and many tradespeople count them. A kitchen with 10 doors and an island can easily be quoted as 18 or 20 items.

This is why two homeowners with kitchens they consider identical can receive very different totals. Walk the kitchen with the tradesperson, count the items together, and ask for the final count to be written on the quote. Ten extra items at the rates in the table above is a substantial addition to a job, and it is far easier to discuss that before the work starts than after the invoice arrives.

Why some quotes are much higher than others

• Scope of the work. Doors that leave the kitchen for off-site finishing have to be removed, transported, finished and refitted, which adds the removal and refitting line and tends to push labour towards the upper end of the range in the table.
• The item count. A quote that counts 20 items and one that counts 12 can describe the same kitchen, and the difference in totals follows directly from the per-item rate.
• Condition of the existing finish. Previously varnished or factory-finished doors, chipped veneer, grease around handles and old silicone all add preparation time, which sits in the preparation and masking line.
• Materials and specification. Different paint systems and higher-build finishes cost more, and the materials line in the table reflects that spread.
• Access and protection. Small kitchens, low ceilings, tiles that need masking and appliances that must be moved all add labour time.
• VAT treatment. One quote may show a total inclusive of VAT and another a figure that is exclusive of VAT, which makes the second look lower for identical work. This is dealt with in the next section.
• Overheads and travel. Distance, call-out charges and how busy a tradesperson is all feed into the total.

A higher quote is not automatically better, and a lower quote is often simply narrower. The useful question is which line of the table above accounts for the difference.

VAT and what a quote should show upfront

Traders providing home maintenance, construction and improvement services must give clear pre-contract information, including contact details and the total price inclusive of VAT, or how the price will be calculated if it cannot be determined in advance (CCPC). A homeowner should never have to guess whether a figure is inclusive or exclusive of VAT, so ask the question at quoting stage and ask for the answer in writing.

A verbal agreement to carry out a service in exchange for payment is enough to create a service contract, but certain information still has to be provided in writing (CCPC service contracts). That written information is the natural place to record the door count, whether removal and refitting is included, the paint system, the VAT position and the payment stages. Consumers are also protected from contract terms that limit legal rights, impose unfair penalties or give a business an unfair advantage (CCPC), so terms that rule out any complaint about the finish are not something a homeowner has to accept.

Comparing quotes like for like

Homeowners can post the job on ShamFix and ask local tradespeople for quotes on construction and home renovation work. Posting a job and listing on ShamFix is free and no commission is charged. ShamFix does not check or certify tradespeople, and profiles are filled in by tradespeople themselves, so homeowners should check registrations themselves.

For repainting, the practical comparison is one sheet of paper with the same rows filled in for every quote:

• The number of doors, drawer fronts and panels included, and the per-item charge above that number
• Whether removal and refitting of doors, hinges and handles is included
• Whether existing handles are refitted or replaced, and who supplies the new ones
• Who supplies the paint, and the exact product and finish
• The number of coats and the finished sheen
• Preparation included: filling, degreasing and masking
• The total price, the VAT position and the payment stages
• The waste and contingency allowance
• What happens if an item is damaged or the finish fails

A quote that cannot answer these in writing is not ready to be compared. Where one figure is lower, check which row explains the gap before treating it as the better price.

If the finished work is poor

Repainting kitchen cabinets is home improvement work, and home improvement work by tradespeople, including painters and decorators, is covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2022. Where the work does not match what was agreed, a homeowner can seek repair, termination of the contract or a price reduction (CCPC). The written quote and any written terms are the starting point, because they define what was actually agreed.

In practice that means keeping the quote, photographing the finished doors in daylight, and putting the complaint to the tradesperson in writing with a clear description of what falls short. Where a warranty is offered on the repaint, it does not replace existing consumer rights to a refund, replacement or repair, and consumers can have rights after 30 days and often up to 6 years after purchase (CCPC).

FAQ

Does a higher quote mean a better job?

Not on its own. The higher figure usually reflects more scope: more items counted, doors removed and refinished away from the kitchen, extra preparation on an awkward existing finish, or a wider contingency. Ask the tradesperson to say which part of their price is not in the cheaper quote. If the answer is only that the work will be better, the two quotes are still not comparable.

How many quotes should a homeowner get?

Two or three written quotes are usually enough to see the pattern, and more than that tends to add confusion rather than clarity. The value comes from comparing the same rows across each quote, not from collecting the largest number of figures. If two quotes are far apart, the gap is almost always scope rather than a discount.

What is the best way to record the kitchen before work starts?

Photograph every door, drawer front and end panel in daylight before anything is removed, and note any existing chips, scratches or loose hinges in an email to the tradesperson. Keep a note of the item count that appears on the quote. This makes it straightforward to show what the kitchen looked like beforehand if a question arises later about damage.

Should payment be staged?

A schedule tied to agreed stages, such as a booking amount, a payment when the doors are returned and a final payment after inspection, is easier to manage than paying the full amount in advance. Ask for the schedule to be set out in the written quote. Whatever schedule is agreed, inspect the finished work in daylight before the final payment is made.

Getting a fair price for cabinet repainting

The ShamFix marketplace allows Irish homeowners to post a job for free and receive responses from local tradespeople, with no commission charged and a subscription planned for the future. Profiles are filled in by tradespeople themselves and ShamFix does not check or certify them, so homeowners should confirm registrations themselves before work begins. Whatever route is used, the same routine applies: get the item count in writing, confirm whether removal and refitting is included, check the VAT position, and treat the aggregate Irish market estimate of €900 to €2,500 as a starting point for comparison rather than a fixed price.