What Would It Cost To Renovate My Kitchen?

11/17/2011 at 9:51:53 PM

We did a kitchen *addition* a couple years ago (brand new structure added to the existing house), so this is going to be different than what you're doing unfortunately, but it may help.

We borrowed the Mike Holmes book on renovations from the library and read that (scared the tar out of us, but it helped) first. Then we looked online and in the phone book for companies to give us quotes. Also got names from a Home Show that was at the local arena in the spring. Quotes ranged from $70,000 (quote was hand written on a piece of un-lined paper with a boot print on it) up to $200,000 (someone who did super fancy high-end work - much fancier than we required). However we ended up going with someone who was not online or in the phone book - he was a friend of a cousin of a friend who was recommended to us. He had a medium-low price quote but he was clearly very interested in the complexities of the job, rather than how much he'd make out of it, if that makes sense. He had a very detailed quote for us, much more than the others, and it was an approximate quote, giving him a little bit of wiggle room if prices fluctuated (and they did, lumber prices rose when up during our reno.) so we had a reasonable range for what we expected to pay. Nothing went majorly sideways (ie nothing that was his fault) and we love our new kitchen, and even had them back to build a new front deck for us last year.

I suggest asking your friends, family, butcher, baker to see who they might recommend. Ask if you can see past jobs and visit the locations & talk to the other people.

A $10,000 kitchen, in my experience (thinking about how much mine cost) is more likely to be IKEA style cabinets, lino flooring and a couple appliances. Better to save for $60,000 and make it a kitchen you can be happy with until you retire. :)

(pic is my kitchen when it was still in progress - style very different from yours, but it makes me giddy with glee)

11/18/2011 at 9:22:45 AM

Hi Amy,

Thanks for your reply and I love your kitchen. The picture I included represents my "dream kitchen" which is what it will remain unless I win Loto Max this weekend. Our kitchen size and layout is not too different from yours so what you did would be along the lines of something we'd be interested in. If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for your kitchen?

11/18/2011 at 12:22:37 PM

Good Morning Wanda,

Kitchens can vary, not only in price, but in options, quality of materials, type of doors and finish. They have to stand the test of time, so look for quality constuction. After you have established that, then the style and frills will send it climbing. The pics of your dream kitchen are not specific, but when comparing it to the other kitchen of Amy's shows a basic, flat paneled unit. You can get the doors with the plastic over fibreboard: get cabinets that have real wood doors and framework. Screws pull out of chipboard over time.

If you go to our site, you will see 3 kitchens. they are ALL HAND BUILT to our design and specifications. The smaller kitchen in alder was $6,300 including matching vanity and countertops: The second with the dining room table was 19,000 including two vanities, but no countertops. The third was 24,000 including two vanities and two countertops. The final kitchen is 1/4 sawn oak, It has pull out wire pantries, a 4 ft breadboard roll-out (2nd kit has as well), all lower drawers ( a must) and BLUME slides with soft closers. The 2 kitchens also have built in wine racks as well.

Our cabinet maker mounts all the cabinets on a base that is the length of the units being put in place. He levels the base instead of the cabinets separately. The key is the cabinet construction itself. You can adapt any door size. check out cabinet shops. If you want a comparison, check the base line and Thomasville lines at Home Depot. I would NEVER use them, but look at them for the quality and price, then go to the small, well established shops with good ref's and are willing to give you the leads to talk to their customers.

When building homes, we emphasize "FLOORS, CABINETS, QUALITY ROOFING, LIFETIME GUARANTEE ON PLUMBING rough ins; we use MOEN from a plumbing dist: not a box store-use your plumbers contacts. I hope that this helps a bit.

Good Luck,

Chuck

11/20/2011 at 9:04:09 PM

You want a proper kitchen reno done by Pro's?? Expect to pay $20-30,000+ cabinets/counters and these can run you from as low as $7,000-60,000. The kitchen reno with materials as pictured was $35,000, 100sqft, 1940 historical reproduction.

3/26/2014 at 5:59:46 PM

You have it right...there is a big range but your question is reasonable. But the trick is average materials for one person isn't what someone else would consider average. Start with $25k as an "average" average materials, average labor etc.

As far as location it varies a lot - also if you live in a million dollar home the same kitchen will cost you likely closer to $40k much of this because the contractors and you are just more comfortable with charging and paying more..as a % of a homes value it is less.

There are some great online kitchen cost calculators - like this one: http://www.remodelormove.com/kitchen-remodelling that takes into consideration your location, the materials you will use and how much you will do and how much your home is worth. Also the contractors from higher cost / more expensive areas charge more because 1. their customers will pay it and 2. they have to live there too so their cost of doing business is higher.

So try calling a contractor or 2 to come and quote on your project from a lower cost town or suburb or area 20 or 30 minutes away. Quotes will come in plus or minus 20%..that is normal. Make sure you are giving everyone very specific instructions on what you want and then pick the contractor you think will do the best job...it could be the lower or higher cost contractor..let your confidence in their work help you make the decision.