Alcove unit cost calculator
On our example rates, a pair of alcove units, one each side of the chimney breast, 1 m wide, with low cupboards and floating shelves above in MFC, comes out at £2,000 – £2,450. One alcove on its own is £1,100 – £1,350. Your fitter's own rates will differ, so use this to get a rough number before anyone comes out. Every price on this page is subject to survey.
Example rates, not any firm's prices. It shows a price and asks for nothing: no name, no email. As you choose, a line drawing of the alcoves changes to match.
Example prices by layout and alcove width
| Layout | 0.8 m each | 1.0 m each | 1.2 m each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cupboards with floating shelves | £1,600 – £1,950 | £2,000 – £2,450 | £2,400 – £2,950 |
| Cupboards with bookshelves above | £1,750 – £2,150 | £2,200 – £2,700 | £2,600 – £3,250 |
| Floor-to-ceiling cupboards | £1,750 – £2,150 | £2,200 – £2,700 | £2,600 – £3,250 |
| TV cupboard with shelves | Needs 0.9 m | £2,100 – £2,650 | £2,550 – £3,150 |
| Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves | £1,100 – £1,400 | £1,400 – £1,700 | £1,650 – £2,050 |
Which layout?
Cupboards with floating shelves is the one most makers show: low cupboards with a worktop on top, and thick shelves on the wall above. Our example prices the other layouts against it.
Cupboards with bookshelves above swaps the floating shelves for framed shelving that runs up to the ceiling. Floor-to-ceiling cupboards puts doors on the whole alcove, so everything is hidden. Both come out about a tenth more.
A TV cupboard with shelves has a deeper, lower cupboard for a TV and the boxes that go with it, with shelves above. It costs a little more than plain cupboards, and needs an alcove at least 900 mm wide.
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are open, with no doors to make or hang, so they come out about 30% less.
If a layout needs a wider alcove than yours, the calculator still shows it, greyed out, with the width it needs.
Is one alcove much cheaper than two?
Not always. Most fitters have a minimum job, a price below which the survey, the drive and the fitting day aren't covered. Our example minimum is £1,200, so a single 1 m alcove comes out at £1,100 – £1,350, the same as a single 0.8 m one. A wider single alcove of 1.4 m is £1,400 – £1,700.
So on our example rates a pair works out cheaper per alcove than one on its own.
What changes the price of alcove units?
Width first. Alcove units are priced per metre, so the calculator asks the width of each alcove and adds the two together.
Then the finish of the cupboard doors. For the 1 m pair with floating shelves:
| Finish | Example guide price |
|---|---|
| MFC | £2,000 – £2,450 |
| Vinyl-wrapped MDF | £2,300 – £2,850 |
| Spray-painted MDF | £2,650 – £3,350 |
| Real wood veneer | £3,150 – £3,950 |
Door style moves it too. The same pair in spray-painted MDF with Shaker doors is £2,850 – £3,550.
Lights over the shelves are an extra, charged for each alcove. With lights in both, the 1 m MFC pair is £2,450 – £3,000.
A high ceiling adds to anything that runs up to it. With a ceiling between 2,400 mm and 2,700 mm, the 1 m pair is £2,200 – £2,750. Under a sloped ceiling it is £2,500 – £3,100.
How do I measure an alcove?
Measure from the side wall to the chimney breast at the widest point, in millimetres. A rough figure is fine for a guide price.
If your two alcoves are different widths, give the wider one. The guide price then leans to the high side, which is the safer way to be wrong. The fitter measures both properly at the survey, along with the depth, the skirting and anything in the way, like sockets or a radiator.
Can I have wardrobes in the alcoves instead?
Yes. In a bedroom, the alcoves either side of a chimney breast often take a fitted wardrobe each. The fitted wardrobe cost calculator prices those: choose "In alcoves" when it asks where the wardrobe will go.
Questions
Is this a quote?
No. It is a guide price from example rates. Only a fitter who has seen the alcoves can quote.
Where do the example rates come from?
They are the starting rates GuidePrice gives a new fitter before they enter their own. They are not a UK average, and no firm is bound by them.
Are alcove cupboards made to measure?
Fitted ones are. They are made to your alcove's own width and fitted to its walls, however far out of square those are.
Does the price include painting and wiring?
The examples cover making and fitting the units. Lights are an extra. New sockets or moving one is electrical work and usually needs a qualified electrician, so ask whether that is in the price or on you.
Why is the price a range?
Because nobody has measured the alcoves yet. How square the walls are, what is behind the plaster and access all move the final price.
Are you a fitter?
Put this calculator on your own website, with your own rates. Homeowners see a guide price from your numbers, and you get the enquiry with their alcove widths, layout, finish and postcode already on it. Free for your first three leads a month.
See how GuidePrice works