Cabinet & Countertop Market

This page rolls current cabinet and countertop research into the A-Grade roadmap. It includes only claims we could verify in primary or authoritative sources as of August 28, 2026.

The data is useful for offer design and buyer education. It is not an A-Grade sales record, a Chicago market-size estimate, a local price book, or a promise of resale value.

What the Market Supports

Renovation is the stronger 2026 lane

The NKBA / John Burns 2026 mid-year outlook estimates the U.S. residential kitchen-and-bath industry at approximately $228 billion, including products and labor. It forecasts the market down 0.4% in nominal dollars for 2026, with repair and remodeling spending up 3.5%, professionally led renovation spending up 5.3%, and new-construction kitchen-and-bath spending down 4.7%. NKBA says price increases are helping drive the remodeling-dollar gain, so this is not a forecast of 3.5% more projects.

These are national forecasts, not a Chicago total. They support the direction already chosen for A-Grade: focus on existing interiors, defined refresh scopes, and professional execution rather than building the offer around new-home starts.

Cabinets and countertops are both common decisions

In the 2026 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, countertops were upgraded by 91% of respondents and cabinets by 84%. These are separate percentages; the report does not say that 91% upgraded both in the same project.

The safe strategic inference is narrower: a cabinet inquiry is a good time to ask about the countertop and backsplash, and a surface inquiry is a good time to ask whether the cabinet boxes, fronts, hardware, or layout also need work. A-Grade should bundle those services publicly only after confirming its countertop sourcing, fabrication, installation, warranty, and scheduling model.

Partial cabinet work is a real segment

Houzz reports that 68% of renovating respondents replaced all cabinets, 27% made partial cabinet upgrades, and 5% did not upgrade cabinets. Among the partial-upgrade group, 50% refinished exteriors and 20% replaced only the doors.

That does not establish a national refacing market size. It does support a clear residential discovery path:

1. Keep the boxes when they are sound and the layout works.
2. Reface or refinish the visible cabinet system when the goal is a finish update.
3. When layout, storage, damage, or structural condition requires new boxes, explain that refacing is not the right fit and route the request according to A-Grade's approved capabilities.
4. Coordinate countertop template and installation only after the cabinet system is set and level.

Houzz respondents commonly hire professional help

Houzz reports that 87% of its renovating respondents hired at least one professional. A-Grade's opportunity is not a generalized DIY message. It is a well-defined professional scope with a reliable schedule, finish coordination, and a clean handoff.

Read the Houzz Data Correctly

The Houzz study surveyed 1,780 registered Houzz users in July 2025 who had completed, were working on, or planned to begin a kitchen project. It reflects an engaged renovation-platform audience and is weighted to Houzz users; it is not a probability sample of every U.S. homeowner.

Do not combine these percentages into an attach rate or revenue forecast. The report does not provide the cross-tabs needed to do that.

Value Messaging: Use the Chicago Result

The Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report lists a national minor midrange kitchen benchmark of $28,458 in project cost, $32,141 in estimated value at sale, and 112.9% cost recouped. That national result should not become an A-Grade or Chicago claim.

The report's Chicago-area result is different: $27,187 in cost, $25,669 in estimated value at sale, and 94.4% recouped. The modeled project retains the existing cabinet boxes, replaces fronts and hardware, and uses a laminate countertop; it is not evidence that every refacing, quartz, tile, or A-Grade project will produce the same outcome.

Client-facing language can say that a defined refresh may preserve more of an existing kitchen and avoid unnecessary replacement. We should not promise a return percentage. Local bids must come from the actual scope, supplier quotes, site conditions, and schedule.

© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation. Complete data from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.

Material and Offer Direction

The current evidence supports three discovery paths, subject to A-Grade confirming operational capability:

Tile remains the strongest verified companion offer for backsplash, bath, floor, and common-area scopes. Countertops should not become a public core service until the company can deliver or coordinate the complete path accurately.

Quote Controls for 2026–2027

Trade rules are moving quickly. We will recheck them before any long-validity quote, product guide, or public pricing statement.

Imported cabinets and vanities

The September 29, 2025 Section 232 proclamation placed a 25% duty on covered imported kitchen cabinets, vanities, and parts effective October 14, 2025. A December 31, 2025 amendment moved the scheduled increase to 50% to January 1, 2027.

The actual rate depends on the product classification, country of origin, trade agreement, and other applicable duties. Refacing is not automatically outside the rule: imported doors, drawer fronts, or panels may qualify as covered parts.

For each cabinet quote:

• Record manufacturer, product line, country of origin, and applicable supplier surcharge.
• State the quote expiration date and the conditions that can change material pricing.
• Confirm whether the supplier holds pricing through order, shipment, or delivery.
• Recheck the scheduled January 1, 2027 change before work crosses that date.

Quartz surface products

The July 31, 2026 quartz-surface proclamation and official schedule created a four-year tariff-rate quota effective August 15, 2026. For covered, non-exempt imports in the first year, the additional duty is 25% within quota and 50% over quota. Country exclusions, quota status, product classification, and existing antidumping or countervailing duties can materially change the landed cost.

The measure covers defined quartz surface products, not every countertop material. We will not describe a material as “tariff-free” without checking its exact origin and classification.

For each quartz quote:

• Record slab brand, product, origin, fabricator, and quote date.
• Use a short validity period where the supplier cannot hold landed cost.
• Confirm whether the material is already in domestic inventory.
• Keep an approved alternate material or color when the buyer's schedule is fixed.
• Ask the supplier or customs professional to confirm current treatment; do not calculate duty from a marketing summary.

Silica and Fabrication Safety

Federal OSHA's engineered-stone inspection initiative identifies cutting, grinding, drilling, polishing, finishing, and installation as high-exposure work. The federal permissible exposure limit is 50 micrograms per cubic meter as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with a 25 microgram action level.

For A-Grade, the practical standard is:

• Use qualified fabricators and installers with documented silica controls.
• Plan templates and shop fabrication to minimize field cutting.
• Do not allow dry cutting or uncontrolled dust in an occupied home or unit.
• Confirm wet methods, local exhaust, respiratory protection, housekeeping, and site isolation with the responsible employer.
• Keep safety and material claims tied to actual products and procedures.

California has additional engineered-stone rules and an active proposal process, but there is no current nationwide engineered-stone ban. We will not turn a proposal in another state into a Chicago sales claim.

What We Are Not Publishing

• A U.S. or Chicago countertop market size assembled from incompatible commercial estimates.
• A Chicago cabinet or countertop TAM inferred from national revenue.
• National material shares as a forecast of A-Grade's local sales mix.
• Consumer cost-per-square-foot estimates as A-Grade pricing.
• A guaranteed return on a minor kitchen refresh.
• A claim that cabinet refacing avoids all tariffs.
• A claim that quartz is banned or that one material is universally safer.
• Manufacturer revenue or market-share figures that do not change the A-Grade offer.

Actions for This Quarter

1. Add cabinet condition, layout, countertop, backsplash, and island questions to the residential discovery process.
2. Confirm whether A-Grade will sell countertops directly, coordinate a named fabricator, or refer the work out.
3. Build quote-expiration and material-origin fields into estimates before publishing package prices.
4. Define a cabinet-refresh scope that separates boxes, fronts, hardware, finish, surfaces, plumbing, and tile.
5. Test the paired-service language in inquiries before turning national percentages into campaign copy.
6. Capture actual local close rates, scopes, material choices, price bands, and timelines from A-Grade jobs.
7. Reverify tariff and safety guidance before each public update.

These market signals strengthen the residential side of the Marketing Overview. They do not change the primary property-manager and unit-renewal focus.