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Tamko Kitchen Remodeling: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
Tamko kitchen remodeling in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $14,000 – $45,000 installed, depending on cabinet line, countertop material, and whether you’re doing a full gut or a partial refresh. We install and service Tamko-compatible kitchen components, and we can usually match your existing setup within one visit. Most homeowners call us after water damage around the sink base, a cabinet face that’s delaminating in the humidity, or a countertop seam that opened up. If your Tamko kitchen is showing age in one specific area while the rest still works, we can often replace just that section rather than tearing out everything.
Which Tamko Models This Applies To
Tamko’s kitchen product lines have shifted over the years, and the compatibility gotcha we see most often in Fort Lauderdale homes is this: early-2000s Tamko cabinet boxes were built to a ⅝-inch side panel spec, while newer lines run ¾-inch. That smaller difference matters if you’re replacing a single damaged cabinet instead of a full run, because the new box won’t sit flush against the old one without a filler strip. We check the manufacturing label on the back of a drawer box or the inside of a sink base cabinet. If the label is gone, we measure the side panel thickness and hinge bore pattern. For countertops, Tamko’s laminate and solid surface lines used different edge profiles depending on the decade; a 2005-era rolled edge won’t match a 2020 flat edge. We always explain this before quoting, because an honest match is cheaper than a surprise mismatch. We’re an independent Fort Lauderdale contractor, not affiliated with Tamko, and we source OEM parts where they’re still made and quality aftermarket equivalents where they’re not. We also stock and install parts for KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone kitchens, so if your kitchen blends brands, we can handle it in one trip.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Tamko Kitchen Remodeling Is Failing
- Cabinet doors sagging or not closing square. The hinge screws are stripping out of the particleboard face frame, which happens faster in Fort Lauderdale’s salt air and humidity. Sometimes it’s a hinge swap; sometimes the frame is too far gone.
- Discoloration or bubbling at the sink base cabinet bottom. The moisture barrier under the sink gave out. In older Tamko units this was a thin laminate sheet that delaminates after years of minor leaks. The cabinet floor rots from the bottom up.
- Countertop seam opening or edge lifting. Solid surface and laminate both expand and contract with Florida’s humidity swings. Once a seam opens more than 1/16 inch, water gets in and the substrate underneath starts swelling.
- Drawer slides that stick, scrape, or drop on one side. Ball-bearing slides wear unevenly, but in coastal air we also see corrosion on the slide tracks themselves. If one slide is pitted, the drawer will never glide right until it’s replaced.
- Soft-close hinges that slam instead of feather. The hydraulic damping mechanism inside the hinge body is blown. This is a wear item, and in a kitchen that’s used daily, ten years is about the honest lifespan in this climate.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Tamko-compatible kitchen update in Fort Lauderdale, here’s what we quote:
- Full kitchen remodel: $14,000 – $45,000 depending on cabinet line, countertop choice, and whether walls or plumbing move.
- Cabinet installation only: $4,000 – $13,000 for a standard run of boxes, including hardware and leveling.
- Countertop installation: $2,000 – $6,500, with Cambria quartz at the upper end and laminate at the lower end.
- Backsplash installation: $800 – $2,500 depending on tile choice and linear footage.
- Kitchen island installation: $3,000 – $10,000 depending on whether it needs electrical run to it.
Every quote is a written number before any work starts. It includes parts, labor, haul-away of the old materials, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If a hinge fails or a seam lifts inside that year, we come back and fix it at no charge. No service call fee, no re-inspection fee, no argument about whose fault it is.
See the difference
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
Replacing a soft-close hinge or adjusting a drawer slide is something a reasonably handy homeowner can do with a Phillips screwdriver and patience. We won’t talk you out of that. What gets people in trouble is trying to pull and reset a countertop themselves, especially a solid surface or quartz piece. Those slabs weigh 200-plus pounds, the seams require specific adhesive and clamping pressure, and a cracked slab during handling costs more than the installation would have. Cabinet box repair is the same story: once a particleboard panel is swollen from water, there is no drying it out. It has to come out and be replaced, and cutting a new box to match the old face frame is a shop job. If you’re not sure which situation you have, call (754) 551-2922 and we’ll tell you over the phone. If it’s a five-minute fix, we’ll say so.
FAQs
We see 15 to 25 years out of well-installed Tamko cabinets in Fort Lauderdale, with hinges and slides typically needing replacement around the 10-year mark. Countertops vary: laminate runs 10 to 15 years, solid surface 15 to 20, and quartz often 25-plus. Coastal humidity accelerates wear on particleboard and metal hardware, so kitchens within two miles of the water age faster. Call (754) 551-2922 for a realistic assessment of what your kitchen has left.
A worn hinge or slide cannot be repaired, only replaced, but the replacement is usually under $30 in parts and takes about 15 minutes per unit. The exception is when the hinge screws have stripped the cabinet frame, which requires a filler or a new face frame section. We’ll tell you which one you’re dealing with before we touch a screwdriver.
A single cabinet door or drawer swap takes about an hour on site. Replacing a cabinet box takes one day. A countertop replacement takes one to two days, with most of the second day being adhesive cure time. A full kitchen remodel runs three to six weeks depending on scope. We give you a written arrival window before every visit, and a live person answers our phones 24/7 if you need to reach us mid-project.
We stock the most common Tamko-compatible hardware in our Fort Lauderdale service vehicles: soft-close hinges, full-extension drawer slides, and cabinet pulls in standard finishes. For specific cabinet boxes, countertop slabs, or matched door faces, we order to spec and install within a week in most cases. Tell me what you need, I’ll tell you what it costs – then we’ll get it done.
Call Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale for a Written Estimate
Trevor Nash has been swinging a hammer in South Florida for the better part of two decades, and he learned early that the homeowners who call back are the ones who got a straight answer the first time. We’re the Fort Lauderdale crew that puts the price in writing before work starts, shows up in the window we gave, and stands behind the job for a full year. Part of the Kingswell family of companies since 2004, operating to The Kingswell Way on every project: say the price before the work, arrive when we said we would, leave the kitchen cleaner than we found it. If your Tamko kitchen is failing, call (754) 551-2922 and ask for a free estimate. We’ll come out to your Fort Lauderdale home, look at what’s actually wrong, and hand you a written number you can hold us to.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale at Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
