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Wellborn Kitchen Remodeling: The Tampa Owner’s Guide
If you have a Wellborn cabinet that’s failing, a door that won’t close square, or a hinge that’s pulled loose from the face frame, we stock Wellborn-compatible replacement parts and install them correctly the first time. A full Wellborn kitchen remodel in Tampa runs $14,000 to $45,000, but a targeted parts repair or single-cabinet rebuild is a fraction of that. Most homeowners discover the problem the same way: a drawer starts grinding, a door hangs crooked, or a soft-close mechanism stops catching.
We’re Bradford Remodeling Co Tampa, an independent remodeling contractor. We are not affiliated with Wellborn, but we install their cabinetry and repair their hardware daily. Curtis Lane, our owner, cut his teeth at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and has spent decades on Florida job sites, including the older bungalow stock in Seminole Heights where cabinet boxes have to work with framing that’s moved a half-inch over eighty years.
Which Wellborn Models This Applies To
Wellborn builds three cabinet lines that show up consistently in Tampa kitchens: Estate, Premier, and CabinetSelect. Each uses different hinge specs. Estate and Premier run Blum or Salice concealed hinges with 35mm cup holes. CabinetSelect, the entry line, often uses Grass hinges with the same 35mm cup but a different mounting plate offset. The compatibility getcha: a hinge plate that fits a Premier door will not always sit flush on a CabinetSelect face frame because the frame reveal runs 1/8 inch narrower on the entry line.
To identify your part before calling, pull a door off and look for a stamped code on the hinge cup or the drawer glide. Wellborn stamps their order number on the inside of the drawer box, left side, near the front. That number gets you the exact finish, overlay, and hardware spec from Wellborn’s system. If the stamp is gone, measure the overlay: 1/2 inch, 1-1/4 inch, or 1-3/8 inch. Tampa’s humidity does a number on the paper labels, so we measure before we order.
On OEM versus aftermarket: For hinges and glides, we recommend OEM whenever possible. Wellborn’s hardware is spec’d to their door weights and box depths. A generic 35mm hinge from the big box store will hang the door, but the closing force is wrong on a 42-inch pantry door, and you’ll feel it every time you walk past. For drawer glides, quality aftermarket options from Blum or Grass work when the original is discontinued, which happens on Wellborn lines older than ten years.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Wellborn Kitchen Remodeling Is Failing
- Door won’t stay closed, or bounces back open. The hinge’s internal spring has worn through, or the mounting screws have pulled from the face frame. On Wellborn Estate doors with the heavier solid-wood panels, this shows up first on the upper cabinets closest to the stove, where heat and grease work the hinge harder.
- Drawer grinds when you open or close it. The ball bearings in the glide have flat-spotted, or the nylon wheel on an older guide has cracked. In Tampa, the salt air near the bay accelerates this. We see glides fail two to three years faster within three miles of the water than inland in Carrollwood or Westchase.
- Soft-close feature stopped working on one drawer but not the others. The damper piston inside the glide has blown its internal seal. This is a single-part failure, not a cabinet replacement. The drawer still functions, but that sharp slam is the tell.
- Face frame is pulling away from the cabinet box. This is the one that matters. Wellborn face frames are doweled and glued, but a dishwasher leak or under-sink water event will swell the MDF and break the joint. You can clamp and re-glue, but if the frame has moved more than a quarter inch, the cabinet is compromised.
- Finish is peeling or the wood is soft to the touch near the sink. That’s moisture infiltration. The clear coat has failed and the underlying wood is wicking water. In a Florida kitchen with un-vented humidity, this spreads. We’ve pulled sink bases in South Tampa where the entire bottom panel came out in one waterlogged sheet.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Here’s the straight number for Tampa: a full Wellborn kitchen remodel, including cabinet replacement, countertop install, backsplash, and fixtures, runs $14,000 to $45,000. A smaller kitchen remodel with Wellborn stock cabinets comes in between $9,000 and $20,000. If you’re replacing cabinets only, budget $4,000 to $13,000 installed, depending on linear footage and whether you’re doing stock, semi-custom, or full custom Wellborn.
| Job Scope | Tampa Installed Price Range |
|---|---|
| Cabinet-only replacement (Wellborn stock/semi-custom) | $4,000 – $13,000 |
| Small kitchen remodel | $9,000 – $20,000 |
| Full kitchen remodel (cabinets, counters, backsplash, fixtures) | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Countertop installation | $2,000 – $6,500 |
| Kitchen island installation | $3,000 – $10,000 |
What drives the range: linear feet of cabinetry, whether walls need repair behind the old boxes, countertop material, and whether we’re moving plumbing or electrical. Every project gets a written price before we start. The Garrison Standard is the framework: line-item scope, exact material specs, no numbers that move at the door. Every completed job carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the work fails within a year, we return and correct it at no charge.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely handle a hinge adjustment or tightening a loose screw. If a drawer glide is shot and you can identify the part number from the stamp inside the drawer box, ordering and swapping it is doable with a screwdriver and patience. But here’s where DIY goes sideways on Wellborn cabinets: drilling new hinge holes in the face frame. The frame is solid hardwood, but it’s only 3/4 inch thick at the stile. One drifted drill bit and you’ve blown through the front, and now you’re paying us anyway to repair or replace the stile.
Drawer glide replacement on a Wellborn under-mount system is not a screw-out, screw-in job. The glides are indexed to the drawer’s notched rear bracket, and a quarter-inch misalignment means the drawer binds against the adjacent cabinet. We square the box, shim the glide, and test the full travel before we call it done. If the part is cabinet-structure related, like a pulled face frame or a water-damaged sink base, call (941) 655-9297. That’s not a parts swap. That’s a rebuild, and it needs to be right the first time.
FAQs
With proper care, Wellborn cabinets last 20 to 30 years. Hardware fails earlier: hinges and glides typically need replacement at 10 to 15 years, sooner within a few miles of Tampa Bay where salt air accelerates metal fatigue. The cabinet boxes themselves hold up well unless they’re exposed to water. Call (941) 655-9297 and we’ll inspect what’s failing before you spend on anything.
Yes, in most cases. Hinges, glides, and soft-close dampers are direct replacements. Face frames can be re-glued and clamped if the joint hasn’t moved more than a quarter inch. Water-damaged sink bases are repairable if the damage is limited to the bottom panel and the side panels are dry. Call (941) 655-9297 and we’ll give you an honest assessment and a written price either way.
A hinge or glide swap takes one to two hours on site. A single cabinet replacement, assuming we have the Wellborn part matched and ordered, takes half a day including cleanup. A full kitchen remodel runs three to eight weeks depending on scope, permitting, and countertop lead times. We’ll put the schedule in the written scope so you know exactly what happens and when.
We stock common Wellborn-compatible hinges, mounting plates, and Blum and Grass drawer glides on our truck. Finish-matched doors, drawer fronts, and face frame components are special-order from Wellborn, and lead times vary by line. We also stock parts for KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone product lines. Call (941) 655-9297 and we’ll tell you what’s on the truck today and what has to be ordered.
Straight number, clear scope, no surprises at close-out. Call Bradford Remodeling Co Tampa at (941) 655-9297 for a free estimate on your Wellborn kitchen remodel or repair.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling Co Tampa, serving Tampa and nearby areas.
