If you are buying kitchen cabinets for a house in Alexandria, two things decide your timeline, and only one of them is the cabinets. The first is whether the door style you picked is sitting in a warehouse or waiting to be built. The second is which permit line your layout falls on.
That second question has a local twist. Alexandria is an independent city, not part of Fairfax County. A kitchen inside the city goes through a different permit office, and it can meet historic district and condominium rules that a house up the road never sees. Most guides to buying cabinets in Alexandria skip all of it.
Below: what you can buy locally, which city rules govern your project, and what to settle before signing anything.
Fabuwood Galaxy in Natural Oak (rendering). Natural Oak is a Signature finish, which Fabuwood describes as one of its “most popular stocked finishes.”
Kitchen cabinets in Alexandria, VA: the short answer
Yes, you can buy kitchen cabinets for an Alexandria kitchen and have them this week. We are an authorized Fabuwood dealer with a showroom and warehouse at 5731 General Washington Drive. Cabinets that are in the warehouse and ready for release can go home with you the same day.
What that means for an Alexandria address
Same day pick up on cabinets in the warehouse and ready to release. Ring ahead to confirm the exact items before you drive over.
5 to 7 business days is our published turnaround for kitchen cabinets, and 3 to 4 for vanities, where the order comes from warehouse stock. It is an estimate, and we confirm the date on your order.
In house delivery, not only tailgate, across Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the District. If the kitchen is up stairs or in an elevator building, tell us the floor and access when you order so we can confirm what is possible.
Open Saturday 8 to 5, a full day and not a half one. Monday to Friday, 8 to 6.
So getting cabinets is the easy half. What actually slows an Alexandria kitchen down is the permit line, the historic district rules in Old Town and Parker-Gray, and the extra layer that comes with a condominium. The sections below take those in turn.
Before you sign an order
Installing or replacing cabinets on their own is exempt from a permit under Virginia’s construction code. Moving the sink, adding wiring or taking out a wall is not.
The Board of Architectural Review does not review interior work, even in Old Town. Changes to the outside of the house are a different matter.
A condominium adds its own rules on top of the city’s.
Leave the old kitchen standing until the new cabinets are in the house and counted.
Would rather listen? Chris and Jessica walk through the same ground in under ten minutes, including the address check that decides which permit office you deal with.
The permit line in the City of Alexandria
This is where people get caught. Alexandria is an independent city, not part of Fairfax County. It runs its own Department of Code Administration and Permit Center, and a kitchen inside the city limits goes through them rather than through the county.
The postal address can mislead you. A house in 22314 or 22301 is almost certainly in the city. An Alexandria mailing address in 22312 can sit in Fairfax County instead. Our own showroom is an example: 5731 General Washington Drive has an Alexandria address, but the property is in Fairfax County.
Settle which one your property is in before relying on anything below. One call to the city’s Permit Center answers it. If you turn out to be in the county, our Northern Virginia guide covers the Fairfax County process instead.
The underlying rulebook is shared. The city and the county both enforce Virginia’s Uniform Statewide Building Code, so the cabinet exemption below applies in either. What differs is the office you deal with, its procedures, and the local layers on top: Alexandria’s historic districts and its condominium policy.
Installing or replacing cabinets
The rule is in the Virginia Construction Code, section 108.2 (13VAC5-63-80), in the text in force since 18 January 2024. Among the work it lists as exempt from a permit, at item 14.9:
“Installation or replacement of cabinetry or trim.”
So cabinets on their own need no permit, whether they go back where the old ones stood or into a new layout. What changes the answer is the work that usually comes with them.
The City of Alexandria’s own guidance agrees. Its Policy PP # 2012-01, When is a Permit Required, lists the installation of replacement cabinetry as exempt. That policy dates from April 2012 and was written against an earlier edition of the code, so treat the state regulation as the current authority.
The state code exempts one more thing that matters in a kitchen, at item 14.2:
“Replacement of plumbing fixtures and well pumps in all groups without alteration of the water supply and distribution systems, sanitary drainage systems, or vent systems.”
Read the second half of that sentence twice. The test is whether the supply, drain and vent stay as they are, not whether the sink sits in the same spot. Move it three feet to sit under the window and the pipes have to change with it, so the exemption no longer covers you.
Two limits apply to every exemption. Exempt work still has to meet the code, because the regulation says the exemption does not waive its other requirements. And in a special flood hazard area, the building official can require a permit even for exempt items. If your property is in a mapped flood zone, ask the Permit Center before you assume the exemption applies.
What moves you across the line
| What you are doing | What it needs |
|---|---|
| New cabinets, same or new layout, nothing else changed | Exempt |
| New countertop on the same cabinets | Exempt |
| New sink on the existing supply, drain and vent | Exempt |
| Sink moved to sit under the window | Plumbing permit |
| Dishwasher added, with new plumbing or wiring | Plumbing and electrical permits |
| New outlets for an island | Electrical permit |
| Wall removed to open the kitchen up | Building permit |
| Gas line moved or added for a range | Gas permit |
For most kitchens the pattern holds: cabinets and countertops alone are exempt, and changes to pipes, wiring, gas or walls are not. Location is not the only test, though. Work that touches a structural component, a fire rated assembly or regulated equipment can need a permit even when nothing moves. If you are unsure, describe the full scope to the Permit Center.
The fee is not the real cost. A permit brings inspections. You request them through the city’s APEX system, and each one has to fit the city’s inspection schedule, so work that needs inspecting waits for it.
Old Town, Parker-Gray and the outside of the house
Alexandria has seven National Register historic districts. Only two are locally regulated by the city’s Board of Architectural Review: Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray. Buildings designated by City Council as One Hundred Year Old Buildings are regulated too. National Register listing on its own does not bring BAR review.
If you live in one of them and you are redoing the kitchen, the city’s Historic Preservation page puts the good news plainly:
“Interior work does not require BAR approval.”
A Certificate of Appropriateness is needed for new construction and for exterior changes visible from a public right of way. Nobody on the sidewalk can see your cabinets. They are not the Board’s business.
Where the Board does come in is the outside of the building. That applies to a house in either district and to a designated One Hundred Year Old Building. A remodel that cuts a new window, adds an exterior vent for a range hood or changes a rear door is an exterior alteration, and it needs approval. The city also publishes this rule for the districts:
“The Board must approve a Permit to Demolish for any proposed demolition of more than 25 square feet of material on a structure, regardless of the visibility from a public way.”
The words regardless of the visibility mean the rule reaches parts of the building nobody sees from the street. If your kitchen project touches the exterior of the house in any way, or you are not sure whether it does, ring the city’s Preservation staff before you book anyone.
Taking out an interior wall is a separate question. It does not need BAR approval, but it can need a building permit, as the table above shows.
If the plan is cabinets and countertops inside the house, the Board has no part in it.
If your kitchen is in a condominium
A lot of Alexandria kitchens are in condominiums, and those carry a layer a house does not.
The Alexandria Permit Center publishes a condominium alterations policy. Unit owners have to follow their association’s governing documents, meet the Virginia Construction Code, and get whatever city permits the scope needs. Plans for work that modifies the building’s structural system or its exit access pathways, or that increases the fire hazard, must be prepared by a Virginia registered design professional. Upgrading an electrical panelboard needs an analysis of the whole building’s electrical system by a registered electrical engineer.
Two things follow. Your association’s rules sit apart from the city’s, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other. Your association may also set conditions of its own, such as working hours, elevator bookings, corridor protection or insurance certificates from each trade. Ask for them in writing.
None of that is building code. All of it decides whether twenty cabinet cartons reach the fourth floor on a Tuesday. Read the documents before you order, because the delivery route may decide whether assembled or flat pack makes sense.
Not sure which side of the line your kitchen falls on?
Send us the layout you have in mind and where the sink, range and outlets sit today. We will point out which parts usually fall under the cabinet exemption and which usually bring in a permit, so you know exactly what to ask the Permit Center.
Or ring the Alexandria showroom and describe it: (703) 259-9030
What “in stock” means when you ask
Ask any cabinet showroom whether something is in stock and you will hear yes. The yes is usually honest. It also covers three different situations, and the display door looks the same in all of them.
The cabinet may be in the warehouse you are standing next to. It may be in Fabuwood’s own inventory, ours to call down. Or it may not exist yet, entering a build queue on the day you sign. Those run to days, about a week, and a figure nobody will commit to.
Fabuwood’s own finish tiers make the point better than we can. On every door style it sorts finishes into Signature, described as standard lead time or stocked finishes, and Signature Select and Designer, described as made to order. The catch is that the tier belongs to the door and the finish together, not to the color.
| Finish | Galaxy | Fusion | Nexus | Luxe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oyster | Signature Select | Signature | Signature Select | Signature Select |
| Indigo | Signature | Signature Select | Signature Select | Signature Select |
| Nickel | Signature | Signature (being discontinued) | Signature Select | Signature Select |
| Frost | Signature | Signature Select | Signature | Signature |
Oyster is a Signature finish on Fusion and made to order on the other three. Indigo runs the opposite way. So a color name on its own tells you nothing about lead time. Name the door and the finish together when you ask. Remember, too, that these tiers describe Fabuwood’s stock, not what is on our floor in Alexandria that week.
Tiers as listed on Fabuwood’s Galaxy, Fusion, Nexus and Luxe door style pages on 30 September 2026. Fabuwood changes them, so check the current listing before you order.
We have written the full version, with the five questions that force the difference into the open, in Fabuwood cabinets in Northern Virginia: what’s in stock. If you are choosing a finish this week, read that next. Repeating it here in a thinner form would help nobody.
The short version for Alexandria: ask which of the three you are being offered, by name. Then ask for the date to go on the order in writing.
Why so many cabinet showrooms share one street
Shop for cabinets around Alexandria and you notice something odd. One stretch of General Washington Drive carries several cabinet showrooms within a short walk of each other. Ours is one of them.
It is not an accident, and it works in your favor. The street is light industrial, with warehouse units behind the showroom frontages, a few minutes from I-395 and the Beltway. That is exactly what a business needs if it means to hold real stock rather than order everything in after you sign. Showrooms cluster where warehouses are.
For a buyer, the benefit is simple. You can compare in one morning what would otherwise take three Saturdays. If you are coming to see us, see two or three others while you are on the street. We would rather you did. Someone who has opened four plywood boxes in a morning knows what they are buying, and that makes the conversation easier for everyone.
What the street cannot tell you is who holds stock, who carries your finish, and who will write a ship date on the order. Those are questions, not addresses. The answers can differ completely between two units a hundred yards apart.
What we do differently for an Alexandria kitchen
Most of what makes an Alexandria kitchen hard is not the cabinets. It is older walls that are not square, condo lifts and loading rules, and a Saturday that is the only free day in the week. Five things about how we work are aimed squarely at those.
1. Homeowners can walk straight in
Some wholesale cabinet suppliers work trade only and ask for proof of a contractor account first. We do not. Homeowners, contractors, builders and designers all buy from us, and nobody needs a business license to come through the door.
2. A full Saturday, not a half day
The showroom is open Saturday from 8 to 5, and Monday to Friday from 8 to 6. For anyone who works weekdays, Saturday is the only real chance to stand in front of the doors.
3. Delivery past the curb
A lot of cabinet delivery ends at the tailgate. Cartons come off at the curb and the rest is up to you. In a condo with one elevator and a loading bay booked by the hour, that can leave a kitchen sitting in the parking lot.
4. In house modification, and the question to ask first
Walls in older houses are rarely the length a 3 inch cabinet grid expects. We offer in house modification and customization, so a stock cabinet can be adapted rather than replaced with a custom one. Cost and turnaround depend on the change, and we quote both before any work starts.
5. Know which series you are buying
Construction differs between Fabuwood series, so ask which one a door belongs to. In the Allure series the box is plywood, the back is one solid piece of 1/2 inch plywood, and the drawers are 5/8 inch solid birch joined with dovetails. The Illume series is built differently, with a furniture board box and a metal Blum Merivo drawer. Blum Blumotion soft close slides are standard on both.
The Tuscany door shows why the series matters more than the door. Fabuwood offers it in Illume, on a frameless furniture board box, and in Ovela, on a frameless plywood box. Two kitchens can look identical and be built on different materials, so ask which series the quote is for.
Eligible Fabuwood cabinets carry a limited lifetime warranty for the first residential purchaser, covering most series bought after 1 October 2024. It does not transfer to the next owner of the house, and it excludes rental use, so a landlord buying for a rental unit should read the terms first.
| Alexandria situation | Stock, adjusted in house | Fully custom |
|---|---|---|
| Remodel has to start within two weeks | Warehouse stock, or a published 5 to 7 business days | A design stage and a production slot first |
| Pre-war wall several inches off the grid | Filler strip, or a modified unit (ask about warranty) | Every box made to measure |
| You want to touch the finish first | Doors on boards at General Washington Drive | Sample doors and renderings |
| Fourth floor condo with one elevator | In house delivery offered. Confirm floor and access | Ask each shop |
| Genuinely unusual room | Can struggle | The better choice |
That last row is meant seriously. Inset doors, integrated built ins, a finish no warehouse carries, or a room whose angles defeat standard units are good reasons to go custom. For an ordinary layout, stock is usually the quicker route, and a showroom visit will show you which kind of kitchen yours is.
What to bring to an Alexandria showroom
You do not need a designer’s drawing. You need enough for someone to draw the room and build a cabinet list from it, because the delivery date depends on the list.
- Every wall, corner to corner, in inches. Measure each one twice. They rarely match the figure in your head.
- Floor to ceiling, with a note of any soffit or bulkhead.
- Every window and doorway, and how far each sits from its nearest corner.
- The service points. Where gas, water and waste come in, and what stands over each now.
- Appliance model numbers, if you have chosen them. Refrigerator depth alone can rewrite a run.
- Photographs from two or three corners, especially of whatever part of the room annoys you.
- Anything out of square. Older Alexandria houses often are. Finding out at the quote costs nothing. Finding out on install day costs a day.
Bring inspiration photos as well if you like. But the seven items above are what turn a visit into something you can act on.
One more thing that saves a wasted Saturday: ring ahead and name the finish you want to see. Displays rotate. A five minute call tells you whether the door you came for is on a board today.
Why a late cabinet is never only a late cabinet
Cabinets sit at the front of a queue. Everyone behind them is booked against a date that assumes the boxes turned up.
Your fabricator will not template a worktop from a drawing. They template from cabinets already fixed to the wall and levelled, so nobody can measure until the install is done. Cutting and polishing then take their own slot. Only after that does the sink get plumbed, and a backsplash tiler works after the countertop is in.
That is four businesses and four diaries, and none of them is obliged to hold a slot for a job that slipped. A cabinet delay can grow as it passes down the line, because each trade has to be rebooked around its other work.
A permit adds inspections to the chain. You request them through APEX, and each has to fit the city’s inspection schedule. Put them in the plan at the start rather than finding them in week five.
Follow that one rule and you avoid the situation behind almost every kitchen horror story you have heard.
Kitchen cabinets in Alexandria, VA: your questions answered
Do I need a permit to replace kitchen cabinets in Alexandria, VA?
Not to install or replace them on their own. Virginia’s Construction Code, section 108.2 (13VAC5-63-80), lists “installation or replacement of cabinetry or trim” as exempt, and the City of Alexandria’s own guidance agrees. A permit becomes necessary once the work alters the water supply, drainage or vent systems, electrical wiring, gas lines or a structural component. Exempt work must still meet the code and a flood zone can change the answer, so confirm your full scope with the Permit Center.
Is Alexandria in Fairfax County?
No. Alexandria is an independent city with its own Department of Code Administration. Some Alexandria mailing addresses, particularly in 22312, are in Fairfax County, including our own showroom on General Washington Drive. Both follow Virginia’s statewide building code, but you deal with a different permit office, and the city adds its own historic district and condominium rules.
Does the Board of Architectural Review need to approve my kitchen?
Not for interior work. The city’s Historic Preservation page states that interior work does not require BAR approval. Exterior changes are different. In Old and Historic Alexandria, Parker-Gray or a designated One Hundred Year Old Building, a new window opening, an exterior vent or a changed door needs approval. The Board must also approve a Permit to Demolish for more than 25 square feet of material on a structure regardless of visibility, so ring Preservation staff if your project touches the outside of the house.
How long do kitchen cabinets take to arrive in Alexandria?
Our published turnaround is 5 to 7 business days for kitchen cabinets and 3 to 4 for vanities, where the order comes from warehouse stock. Cabinets in the warehouse and ready for release can go home the same day. A finish outside our stocking range is built to order and takes longer. These are estimates, so ask for the date to be written on your order.
Can I buy as a homeowner, or is it trade only?
You can buy as a homeowner. Some wholesale cabinet suppliers work trade only, but homeowners, contractors, builders and designers all buy from us. You do not need a business license to walk in.
Is the Alexandria showroom open on Saturdays?
Yes, from 8 to 5, a full day rather than a half one. Monday to Friday we are open 8 to 6.
What measurements should I take before visiting?
Each wall measured corner to corner in inches, the ceiling height, every window and doorway with its distance from the nearest corner, where the gas, water and waste come in, and appliance model numbers if you have chosen them. A few photographs help. With that, we can draw the room, build the cabinet list and give you a date that means something.
I live in a condo. What is different?
Two things. The Alexandria Permit Center’s condominium alterations policy requires owners to follow their association’s governing documents as well as the Virginia Construction Code and city permit rules. Work that modifies structural systems or exit access pathways, or increases the fire hazard, must be prepared by a Virginia registered design professional. Panelboard upgrades need a registered electrical engineer’s analysis. Your association may also have rules on working hours, elevator access and insurance, so settle the delivery route before you order.
Do you deliver into Alexandria condos and houses?
Yes. We offer tailgate or in house delivery across Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington DC, so an Alexandria address can have cabinets brought inside rather than left at the curb. Tell us about floors, stairs, elevators and loading rules when you order, and we will confirm what the delivery covers.
Will modifying a cabinet affect the warranty?
It can. Fabuwood’s warranty excludes cabinets modified from their original form. Before approving an in house modification, ask us which warranty, if any, will cover the changed cabinet, and get the answer in writing.
When should I take out my old kitchen?
After the new cabinets are in the house and counted against the order list. Not when they are ordered, not when they ship, and not while they are on a truck. It costs nothing to follow and it is the difference between an ordinary remodel and a story you tell for years.
Visit a showroom with your measurements
Arrive with the seven numbers from the list above and tell us whether the sink moves. From that we can draw your room, price it honestly, and spot anything that will not fit before it costs money.
Alexandria, VA
5731 General Washington Drive, Alexandria VA 22312
Open Saturday 8 to 5. Mon to Fri 8 to 6. (703) 259-9030
Fairfax, VA
2817 Dorr Ave Unit A, Fairfax VA 22031
Shorter from Vienna, Tysons, Oakton and the Loudoun side.
Columbia, MD
9315 Snowden River Pkwy Suite E, Columbia MD 21046
For projects on the Maryland side of the river.
Addresses and contact details for every IST location are on our locations page. Nearer Arlington, Annandale or Burke? General Washington Drive is usually the easier trip. See our Arlington, Annandale and Burke pages, or our guide for Washington DC kitchens.
Permit rules here are quoted from the Virginia Construction Code (13VAC5-63-80) and from the City of Alexandria’s Department of Code Administration, Historic Preservation office and Permit Center. Warranty terms are from Fabuwood’s published warranty. All were checked on 30 September 2026. Rules change, and only the permitting authority for your property can rule on your project. Confirm your scope with the Alexandria Permit Center on 703.746.4200, or with Fairfax County if your property is in the county, before you commit to a layout.
