Your new kitchen is arriving Thursday. The contractor won't install over the old carcass. Or the landlord wants the flat back by the weekend and that crumbling laminate cabinet bolted to the wall isn't going to walk itself out.
Kitchen cabinets are one of the most awkward items to remove from a home — not because any single piece is impossibly heavy, but because they're designed to stay put forever.
What Actually Happens When We Remove a Kitchen Cabinet
A typical run of upper and lower kitchen cabinets is screwed directly into the wall studs or masonry through the carcass back panel. Lower units are often shimmed to the floor and siliconed along the countertop edge. In our 10+ years of clearing Singaporean kitchens, we've never once seen a built-in cabinet that could simply be lifted off and carried out.
Our crew — usually two to three people for a standard kitchen strip — works methodically. Upper wall cabinets get unscrewed from the wall first, then lowered. Lower carcasses are detached from the countertop, disconnected from any plumbing pass-throughs behind the sink unit, and pulled forward. Laminate and melamine carcasses weigh roughly 15–25 kg per section, manageable for a two-person carry. Stone countertops are a different story: a 2.5-metre granite or quartz slab can weigh upward of 80 kg and needs to be handled separately, sometimes cut on-site to fit through doorways.
One thing we're always upfront about: removing built-in cabinets leaves marks. Expect exposed screw holes in the wall, adhesive residue, and mismatched tile lines where the backsplash met the cabinet edge. That's not damage we've caused — it's what was hidden behind the unit for years. Your contractor or painter handles the make-good; we handle getting the old cabinet out of your life.
HDB Kitchens
Most HDB kitchen removals mean navigating the cabinet pieces through a standard passenger lift and along the common corridor. There's no service lift in an HDB block, so we size each section to fit. If your flat is in a walk-up block or the lift is out of service, surcharges may apply for stair carries — we'll confirm that at the quote stage. Town councils do offer bulky-item collection, but they require you to dismantle the cabinet yourself and leave the pieces at the void deck on the scheduled day. If you're staring at a wall of screwed-in carcasses with a deadline, that's not a realistic option.
Condo and Landed Kitchens
For condos, your MCST will likely require advance notice and possibly lift padding for the service lift — that's between you and building management, and it needs to be arranged before our crew arrives. We've cleared kitchens in older walk-up condos and newer high-rises alike; the logistics differ per building, so flagging access constraints early keeps the job smooth. If you're dealing with a high-floor condo removal, service-lift booking windows can be tight. More on navigating condo rules in our condo disposal guide.
Where the Material Goes
Solid wood components and metal hardware get separated and routed through recycling channels. Laminate and melamine board that's too degraded for reuse goes to licensed intermediaries for further sorting before eventual disposal. Stone countertops, being inert material, follow a separate stream. We won't pretend every splinter gets a second life, but we route what we can away from the landfill.
If you're clearing the entire flat — not just the kitchen — our same-day furniture removal service and move-out handover guide cover the full picture.
Get It Sorted
Send us a few photos of the kitchen on WhatsApp. Show the full run of cabinets, the countertop material if you know it, and your lift or stairwell situation. We'll reply with a quote — no charge, no obligation.
Urgent jobs can often be accommodated subject to availability — extra charges may apply for after-hours, Sundays, or public holidays.
FAQ
Do you pay anything for kitchen cabinets or countertops you collect? No. This is a disposal service, not a buyback programme. Even granite and quartz slabs are collected as part of the removal job — we don't offer cash, credit, or trade-in value for any items we take away.
Can you remove just the countertop and leave the lower cabinets? Yes. Stone countertops are often siliconed and clipped to the carcass below, so separating them without cracking requires care, but it's a job we handle regularly. Let us know in your WhatsApp message what stays and what goes, and we'll quote accordingly.
Will you disconnect the plumbing or gas line behind the cabinet? No. Any plumbing disconnection, gas line capping, or electrical work needs to be done by a licensed plumber or technician before we arrive. We remove the cabinet structure and materials — we don't touch active utilities.