Cost Breakdown of Renovating A Kitchen

How Much Does a Kitchen Remodel Cost?

1. Cabinetry: The Most Attractive (and Most Expensive) Part of the Kitchen

Cabinetry will make up 30-50% of the budget in most situations. Whether it be simple white shaker cabinets or fully custom hand-crafted cabinets, this item should be priority number one when starting your renovation journey.

To start, you will need a qualified designer or carpenter to take measurements of the space and provide a set of plans showing the exact list of cabinets that will be purchased and installed. Another factor to consider is the cost of cabinet installation, which can vary depending on whether you hire a professional or your uncle who may have done something like this before.

Prices: The cost of cabinetry depends entirely on the layout and quality of the material purchased. It can range anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000, with custom cabinetry reaching even higher. Cabinetry installation can be priced per day, but for this example, we'll use a per-cabinet price, which can range from $100 to $200 per box.

2. The Countertop

Now you need something to complement those beautiful cabinets you just purchased. The next item on the list is the countertop. There is a wide variety of stone, laminate, and other materials that qualify for countertops. In my experience, most people gravitate towards quartz counters due to their low maintenance and high durability.

In this category, there are two parts:

1. Slabs: Material like quartz is usually sold in sheets of around 50-55 square feet. The size of your kitchen will determine how many slabs need to be purchased. The price of these slabs will reflect their beauty—a basic color like white quartz will be cheaper than a more elaborate quartz with loads of color and movement.
2. Labor: Now that you have the material, you need to pay a fabricator to cut and install the stone. This has to be precise, so choosing a skilled fabricator with good reviews and references is advised.

Prices: Quartz countertops (as well as other stone counters) range from $700 to $4,000, depending on the color and style you pick out. Most kitchens will require two of these slabs. Labor for quartz is usually calculated on a square footage basis and can range between $30-$60 per square foot. The average kitchen has about 60-80 square feet.

3. Labor, Labor, and More Labor

 Now that we have the materials out of the way, it's time for the nitty-gritty work that needs to be done:

1. Demolition: This can be a fun or ugly part of the renovation, but what you don't love has to go, and someone needs to take it out and throw it away.
2. Plumbing: Your sink, dishwasher, and refrigerator need to be reinstalled after the demo. The plumbing price will change based on whether you are relocating any of these items. In my experience, the more you keep these items in their existing locations, the less expensive this will be. The current state of your plumbing also plays a role—if the pipes haven't been changed in 40 years, maybe it's time to take a look.
3. Electrical Appliances like cooktops, ranges, refrigerators, hoods, and microwaves all require electricity. In some cases, what you have now can suffice, but as with plumbing, relocating any of your appliances, adding additional outlets, and installing that under-cabinet lighting you saw on Pinterest all count as additional charges for your electrician. It's important to create a list of wants before you get surprised at the end of the job.
4. Drywall, Framing, and Painting: Depending on whether walls are being removed and the current state of the drywall in the area, you might need a qualified carpenter to address the state of your drywall. If you plan on adding or extending walls, this has to be taken into account as well. After everything is done, you might want to put a fresh coat of paint to match your new kitchen.

Prices: Every job is different and requires a different degree of work in each category. I recommend assuming between $500 and $2,000 for each of these items.

4. Accessories

Don't forget the details. Sinks, faucets, handles, pendant lights, knobs, pot fillers, etc., are all accessories a kitchen can have. You can go crazy looking over them, but make sure you have this conversation before starting so everything can be prepared as the job progresses.

Prices: An allowance of about $500 to $1,500 should be allocated for these items.

Kitchen renovations are something that most people do once or twice in a lifetime, so it's important to get all the details before diving in headfirst. While we are going over approximate costs, it is hard to provide specific numbers due to the nature of how different some jobs can be. For smaller apartments, a new kitchen from A-Z can cost between $10,000 and $15,000. For small to mid sized homes, the price can range from $15,000 to $30,000. For larger and more luxurious homes, the price is really unpredictable.

The main factors that will drive the price will come down to the following: how much of the existing layout you want to change and the quality of the materials you want installed.

Every kitchen is different, and each will have different costs, but the main message of this article is to make you, the homeowner, aware of the different moving parts in renovating a kitchen. Many contractors are eager to present an "affordable price" but fail to show a lot of the required line items we went over.

I only briefly introduced each category, and each one has its own rabbit hole you can fall into. It's important to find a contractor who can guide you through this maze to create the kitchen of your dreams. If you are looking for one, feel free to stop by Liberty Kitchen Design located in Delray Beach. Estimates are free, so give us a call to see if we can help you!