What does it cost to make?
A free estimate of what a built-in wardrobe, dressing or TV unit costs to make: put in the width, height, depth and what goes inside, and it prices board by the sheet, hardware by the piece and labour by the minute.
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Workshop cost at sample prices: material, hardware and shop time, before margin.
What is in that number
Board is nested onto whole sheets and counted — not multiplied by an area rate with a waste factor. Hardware is counted off the actual design: hinges from each leaf's height, slides per drawer at the length the depth allows, connectors from the real panel joints, pins per adjustable shelf. Labour is minutes per operation at a shop rate. Edgebanding is every exposed edge except the back panel, which sits in a groove.
Questions
How accurate is this estimate?
It runs the same costing engine as the full configurator, on sample Belgian supplier prices: 18mm melamine at about €69 a 2500×1250 sheet, lacquered MDF fronts at about €131, soft-close hinges at €4.50, shop time at the rate in the app. The method is exact; the prices are yours to replace.
Is this the price I would pay a cabinetmaker?
No. This is workshop cost — material, hardware and shop time. A maker adds overhead and margin on top, typically taking the customer price to roughly 1.6 to 2.2 times this figure.
Why is one cabinet so expensive per metre?
Because board is bought in whole sheets. A single 1000mm wardrobe still needs its own sheets of carcass board, front board and back board, and the offcut has nobody to share it with. Add a second cabinet and the cost per cabinet drops sharply.