The short answer
If your shop has spare CNC time and spare hands, making one-piece MDF/HDF doors yourself usually costs less in cash than buying them. Buying pays when your CNC, spray booth or people are the bottleneck, when each shop hour you free up earns more than the price difference, on small orders where setup eats the time, or when you would have to hire to take on more work. In the kitchen example below, 40 doors (120 sq ft) cost about $966 to make, using Connecticut average cabinetmaker pay and the assumptions listed on this page, and $2,178.00 to buy from Zauber sanded. Buying frees about 9.9 labor hours and 2.2 CNC hours, so it pays if each freed hour earns your shop more than about $122.
Making usually wins when
- Your CNC has idle hours
- People in the shop have spare time
- You run large batches of one style
- You need a replacement door the same day
- You already own the tooling and finishing setup
Buying usually wins when
- The CNC is booked cutting cabinet boxes
- The spray booth or finishing room is the bottleneck
- You would have to hire to take more work
- Orders are small and setup dominates
- You want the door price fixed before the job starts
Worked example: a 40-piece kitchen (sanded)
40 doors and drawer fronts averaging 18" × 24" = 120 sq ft. Zauber 3/4" HDF, sanded, picked up in Danbury, against making the same pieces from your own board on your own CNC with the default assumptions below.
| Line | Buy from Zauber | Make in your shop |
|---|---|---|
| Board or price | 120 sq ft × 1.10 waste factor = 132.0 billed sq ft × $16.50 = $2,178.00 | 5.36 sheets (4×8, 70% usable) × $55 = $294.64 |
| CNC time | None | 2.23 h × ($30 machine + $41.44 operator) = $159.46 |
| Hand work (sanding, inspection, handling) | None | 40 × 10 min = 6.67 h × $41.44 = $276.25 |
| Setup, programming, handling | None | 1.00 h × $41.44 = $41.44 |
| Overhead | None | 9.90 labor h × $15 = $148.48 |
| Scrap and rework | Remakes for our errors and defects are free (see Refund Policy) | 5% = $46.01 |
| Pickup or delivery | Free pickup in Danbury (delivery would be $55 on this order) | None |
| TOTAL | $2,178.00 ($54.45 a piece, $18.15 per sq ft of door) | $966.28 ($24.16 a piece, $8.05 per sq ft) |
Buying costs $1,211.72 more and frees 9.90 labor hours and 2.23 CNC hours. That is $122.41 per freed labor hour. The rule: buy when (buy price − make cost) ÷ hours freed is less than what an hour of other work earns your shop.
Primed instead: buying is $2,675.64 (132.0 × $20.27). Making is $1,266.32 if priming takes 6 minutes a piece (4.00 h) plus $0.50 per sq ft of primer. Buying costs $1,409.32 more, frees 13.90 labor hours, and breaks even at $101.40 an hour.
Zauber's price is for 3/4" HDF; the make column uses whatever board you enter. If you would make the doors from HDF, enter your HDF sheet price. Bought doors still need receiving and inspection, and this example counts no time for that or for a pickup trip. With a 60-minute round trip to Danbury, the break-even rises to about $141 an hour.
Worked example: a 6-door punch list
6 doors at 15" × 30" = 18.75 sq ft, sanded 3/4" HDF, pickup.
- Buy: 18.75 × 1.10 = 20.625 billed sq ft × $19.85 (orders up to 29 sq ft) = $409.41. The order is above the $175 minimum. Delivery starts at $750, so this order is a pickup.
- Make: board 0.84 sheet × $55 = $46.04; CNC 0.35 h × $71.44 = $24.92; hand work 1.00 h = $41.44; setup 1.00 h = $41.44; overhead 2.35 h × $15 = $35.23; scrap 5% = $9.45. Total $198.52.
Buying costs $210.89 more and frees 2.35 labor hours: $89.79 an hour. On small orders the setup hour doesn't shrink, so buying pays at a much lower hourly value.
What changes the answer
The kitchen example, sanded, with one assumption changed at a time. The buy price stays $2,178.00 in every row.
| Change one assumption | Cost to make | Labor hours freed | Buying pays above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand work 5 min a piece | $768.75 | 6.57 | $214.65/h |
| Hand work 10 min a piece (default) | $966.28 | 9.90 | $122.41/h |
| Hand work 15 min a piece | $1,163.81 | 13.23 | $76.65/h |
| Hand work 30 min a piece | $1,756.40 | 23.23 | $18.15/h |
| A $75/h shop rate that already includes overhead (overhead set to $0) | $1,159.22 | 9.90 | $102.92/h |
The answer moves most with the hands-on minutes each door really takes. If you build 5-piece doors, count milling, glue-up, clamping and joint sanding too.
Run your own numbers
Change any number and the results update. The defaults are the kitchen example; section 07 says where each one comes from. The page does not save or send what you enter.
The formula
- Square feet = pieces × width × height ÷ 144.
- Make cost = (board + CNC + hand work + setup + priming + overhead) × (1 + scrap %).
- Board = square feet ÷ (sheet sq ft × usable %) × sheet price.
- CNC = sheets × minutes per sheet ÷ 60 × (machine rate + operator rate if someone attends the machine).
- Hand work = pieces × minutes per piece ÷ 60 × loaded labor rate. Setup = setup minutes ÷ 60 × loaded labor rate.
- Priming (primed only) = pieces × priming minutes ÷ 60 × loaded labor rate + square feet × primer cost per sq ft.
- Overhead = labor hours (CNC if attended + hand work + setup + priming) × overhead per hour.
- Loaded labor rate = hourly wage × payroll and benefits load.
- Buy cost = the supplier's price + delivery fee + your pickup time at the loaded labor rate.
- Hours freed = labor hours above − your pickup time. Break-even = (buy cost − make cost) ÷ hours freed.
Each money line is worked from unrounded hours and rates, rounded to the cent, and then added, so the totals match the lines shown. Hours, sheets and rates are printed rounded.
This is the same method as section 05 of our HDF guide.
Where the defaults come from
| Input | Default | Source or assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Order | 40 pieces at 18" × 24" (120 sq ft) | Example kitchen. Assumption: enter your job. |
| Hourly wage | $27.81 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: cabinetmakers and bench carpenters (51-7011), Connecticut mean. Other presets: $28.50 Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury metro area (BLS area 14860, Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury, CT); $28.86 New York State; $30.24 New York–Newark–Jersey City metro. |
| Payroll and benefits load | × 1.49 | BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (released Sept 9, 2026), Table 4. For private-industry production occupations, wages are 67.3% of total compensation, and 1 ÷ 0.673 ≈ 1.49. |
| Loaded labor rate | $41.44/h | Wage × load. If you use your own all-in shop rate, enter it as the wage, set the load to 1, and set overhead to $0. |
| Sheet price | $55 per 4×8 sheet | Assumption. Use your invoice price. |
| Usable yield | 70% | Assumption. We found no public benchmark; use your nesting reports. |
| CNC time | 25 min per sheet | Assumption. Use your machine's real cycle time. |
| CNC machine cost | $30/h | Assumption: the machine's own cost (payments or depreciation, tooling, vacuum, power, maintenance), without the operator. |
| Operator attends the CNC | Yes | Assumption. |
| Hand work | 10 min per piece | Assumption. Try 5–15. |
| Setup, programming, handling | 60 min per job | Assumption. |
| Overhead | $15 per labor hour | Assumption: rent, insurance, utilities, supervision. |
| Scrap and rework | 5% | Assumption. We found no public benchmark; use your own history. |
| Priming (primed only) | 6 min per piece + $0.50 per sq ft | Assumption. |
| Pickup trip | 0 min | Assumption: no driver time. Enter your round trip to Danbury; at 60 min the kitchen break-even rises to about $141 an hour. |
| Zauber prices | The table in section 08 | Zauber Door App price rules as of November 2, 2026. |
Sources: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026
How Zauber prices doors
| Order size (true sq ft, whole order) | 3/4" HDF | 1" HDF | 7/8" MEDEX (moisture-resistant MDF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 29 sq ft | $19.85 | $21.25 | $23.38 |
| Over 29 to 200 sq ft | $16.50 | $17.90 | $19.69 |
| Over 200 sq ft | $15.25 | $16.65 | $18.32 |
- Prices are per billed sq ft. Billed sq ft = the real size of each piece × 1.10, a 10% material waste factor.
- Primed adds $3.77 per billed sq ft; painted (finished white, satin sheen, lacquer-base paint) adds $10.50 per billed sq ft; sanded adds nothing.
- Flat slab doors are $14 per billed sq ft at any order size.
- Near each break the price stops rising: you never pay more than the smallest order in the next size band would cost.
- There is no minimum quantity. There is a $175 minimum order charge on the goods; delivery is extra and does not count toward it.
- Trade account holders see the live price in the Door App. Without an account, place an order or estimate without pricing and we email a quote, usually within one business day.
- Glass-ready doors and other options: see the Door App.
What the price doesn't show
Besides the price
- Typical production is 3–5 business days from order confirmation. Lead times are estimates, not guarantees. See our Terms, section 6.
- If a piece doesn't match your confirmed order or has a manufacturing defect, we remake or credit it at no charge, and a remake runs as a priority job. Claims must reach us within five business days of collection or delivery. See our Refund Policy.
- Every door is routed from a single panel, so there are no rail-and-stile seams to open up or telegraph through paint.
- Every door in a run comes off the same CNC program, and the profile and sizes stay on file for reorders.
- Trade only. We never sell directly to your clients.
- Free pickup in Danbury. Delivery up to about one hour from Danbury on orders of $750 or more.
Honest limits
- Sanded means paint-ready, not finished, and primed means ready for topcoat.
- Paint grade only. Not for stain or visible real-wood grain.
- HDF is not waterproof and is not suitable for continuously wet locations or exterior use. 7/8" MEDEX is a moisture-resistant MDF option.
- Outside the delivery area we ship by UPS Ground. A $110 shipping fee is charged up front and applied to the UPS cost; any remaining balance is billed as an extra delivery charge.
Questions
Is it cheaper to make or buy cabinet doors?
It depends on spare capacity. With spare CNC time and spare hands, making one-piece MDF/HDF doors usually costs less in cash. Buying wins when the CNC, finishing room or people are the bottleneck, on small orders where setup dominates, or when you would have to hire. Compare the extra cost of buying with what the freed hours earn your shop.
How do I work out my true in-house door cost?
Add board cost including waste, CNC time at a machine-hour rate, every hands-on minute at your loaded labor rate, setup and programming, overhead, and scrap or rework. Compare that with a bought door at the same stage of completion, then value the hours you would free.
What does Zauber charge for one-piece MDF/HDF doors?
Price is per square foot and set by the size of the whole order. For 3/4" HDF it is $19.85 up to 29 sq ft, $16.50 over 29 and up to 200 sq ft and $15.25 over 200 sq ft, per billed square foot, which includes a 10% material waste factor. Primed adds $3.77 per billed sq ft. Painted (finished white, satin sheen, lacquer-base paint) adds $10.50 per billed sq ft. There is a $175 minimum order charge and no minimum quantity.
How long do Zauber doors take?
Typical production is 3–5 business days from order confirmation. Rush is sometimes available when scheduling allows. Call (203) 947-9323 before you order.
Where does Zauber deliver?
Pickup is free at 11 Precision Rd, Danbury, CT 06810, Monday to Friday, 8–4. We deliver up to about one hour from Danbury on orders of $750 or more. That reaches Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties and into Westchester and Putnam, NY. Delivery is $55 on orders of $1,200 or more and $110 on orders from $750 to $1,199.99. Outside that area we ship by UPS Ground. We charge a $110 shipping fee up front, which is applied to the UPS cost; any remaining balance is billed as an extra delivery charge once the order is weighed.
What if a door is wrong or defective?
If a piece does not match your confirmed order or has a manufacturing defect, we remake or credit it at no charge, and a remake runs as a priority job. Claims must reach us within five business days of collection or delivery.
Do you sell to homeowners?
No. Zauber Woodworks is trade only. We do not sell to homeowners or to the public, and we never sell directly to your clients.
Price your real list
Enter your sizes in the Door App. Trade account holders see the price as they build the order; without an account we email a quote, usually within one business day.
Further reading
- Our guide: calculate the true cost of building doors in-house
- WOODWEB: Cabinet doors, to build or to buy (forum thread, 2000)
- Woodshop News: Outsourcing revisited (June 2026)
- One-piece doors for cabinet shops
- Cabinet door supplier in Connecticut
The worked examples are illustrations, not quotes. Your costs will differ. Zauber prices on this page are from the Door App price rules as of November 2, 2026; the Door App and your emailed quote show the current price. Wage figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 and ECEC June 2026.