Why it matters
This is the most useful fact in the whole kitchen: the boxes usually outlive the doors. InterNACHI puts kitchen cabinets at 50 years. Doors and finishes date in ten. A kitchen that looks finished is very often a kitchen with sound boxes wearing tired doors, and that distinction is the difference between a few thousand dollars and thirty thousand. Cabinetry also prices per linear foot of run, not per kitchen, which is why the same "renovated kitchen" phrase can mean two wildly different bills. Stock and semi-custom cabinetry runs $150 to $400 per linear foot. Custom runs $500 to $1,200. On a 20-foot kitchen that spread is roughly $3,000 versus $24,000 for the same square footage of doors, and it is readable from a photo.
How to spot it
Value tells: thermofoil or flat slab doors with visible peeling at the edges near the oven, melamine box edges, cabinets that stop well short of the ceiling with a dusty gap above, exposed hinges, particleboard shelves that sag. Mid tells: shaker doors, soft-close, plywood boxes, crown at the top. Premium tells: cabinetry that runs full height to the ceiling, integrated panels over the fridge and dishwasher, drawer banks instead of doors, and genuine millwork detail. In the Casaroo exemplar set, custom cabinetry is one of the most reliable markers of a genuinely premium home.
What it costs
GTA, 2026: $150 to $400 per linear foot for stock or semi-custom, $500 to $1,200 per linear foot for custom, supplied and installed.
What to do
Monitor. Before pricing new cabinetry, open a door in person and look at the box. If the box is sound and the layout works, you are looking at a reface or a repaint, not a replacement, and the number drops by an order of magnitude.
Education and triage, not a home inspection. Casaroo names the cabinetry tier it can see in your photos. Whether the boxes are worth keeping is a five-second check you make with your own hand on the tour.