DIY Kitchen remodel, cost?

[andyvh1959]

I'm started into the kitchen remodel in my 1973 tri-level. Just ordered 15 drawer kits to assemble. I already have most of the Blum drawer undermount slides. An upper cabinet slick lazy susan with pullout sides. Building a big base corner cabinet lazy susan which features 27" long center pullout drawers on Blum slides. All new doors and drawer fronts to create the newer frameless style. Pullouts for the trash bins, baking sheets/trays, bulk baking goods. The 15 drawer box kits for $1500, got about $300 in Blum slides (some I bought used), plus the premade upper lazy susan for $450 and I'll build the lower lazy susan for about $250. I'll build a walk in pantry into one corner. Going to install an apron style deep sink, $450. Doing all the work myself, but I bet I'll spend easily $8000 just in materials. But then, to have a contractor come in and do it all I bet would easily top $25,000.

 

[unslow1]

The only thing that really surprised me when I first started doing kitchens was the cabinet pricing.

 

[Mike65]

The last 2 kitchens we renovated in our current house & our last house cost us around $15,000 each cabinets, counter tops, & new flooring not counting new appliances, with us doing the majority of the work.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Quartz or granite countertops are going to run around $100 sqft minimum. You can go slightly less for the highly undesirable colors.

 

[jar944]

Quartz or granite countertops are going to run around $100 sqft minimum. You can go slightly less for the highly undesirable colors.

I'd say thats location depdent. Ive been paying closer to $50/ft.

 

[lolaetype]

When we remodeled the kitchen in this house the cabinets were about $14,000. Flooring was about $2,000 including a short hallway breakfast area and utility room. Appliances, not including a refrigerator which wasn't replaced, were about $3,800 and countertops were just under $4,500. So figure about $25,000. We supplied all the labor except for installing the countertops.

The old cabinets and countertops found new homes in the garages and exercise room.

 

[jar944]

I had about (roughly) 10k in lumber/hardware/paint for my kitchen cabinets. I was closer to 30+ when the kitchen was finished.

 

[PWC Repair]

Too many variables to even answer........." How much does an older Chevy cost?" Well, is it a 1983 Chevette, or a 1969 Cevelle SS with a 396? My kitchen remodel would be a late 80's S10 with a V6 and power options. It's a fairly plain kitchen but looks nice and functions well. Total cost of mine would come in less than 10K.

 

[cgall]

Ex-wife managed this project in 2014, I only had to paint the walls and install the dishwasher. Cabinets were a maple finish, she had a crew from NHance come in and paint them, they took the doors and drawer faces back to their shop to paint. All new granite countertops, appliances, sink, faucet, disposal and drawer and cabinet pulls. Floor and lighting were not touched. The budget buster was the tile backsplash, she saw some tile artist on a TV home show and had him do the glass tile backsplash. Came in around $30K total.

 

[jar944]

Too many variables to even answer........." How much does an older Chevy cost?" Well, is it a 1983 Chevette, or a 1969 Cevelle SS with a 396? My kitchen remodel would be a late 80's S10 with a V6 and power options. It's a fairly plain kitchen but looks nice and functions well. Total cost of mine would come in less than 10K.

Op is building his cabinets so it's somewhat constrained.

 

[oilslick]

Please take pictures, I’m interested in your project

 

[cgrutt]

If materials were 8k I'd be happy to do it for 16K just saying

 

[kaffine]

Op is building his cabinets so it's somewhat constrained.

That is going to push it to well over $100k. Need a new shop, a sliding table saw, shaper, clamps. Then depending on countertop choice either a large slab saw and polishing equipment or a large brake and a tig welder.

Me I'll spend $20k in appliances easily. I have high end tastes. Oven with built in rotisserie, steam oven.

 

[MushCreek]

When I built our house, I was shocked to find that I'd spent $8K on the kitchen (in 2014), but that included all of the appliances and a tin ceiling. I did Formica counters, which we recently replaced with granite ($67/sq/ft). It was all DIY, including the floors and cabinets. We have 33 drawers. Our kitchen is not huge at 12X14 feet, but has everything we need, including 2 sinks. Our kitchen is unusual in that we have no upper cabinets at all, as we both hate them. Lots of windows instead.

 

[djbmw]

Quartz or granite countertops are going to run around $100 sqft minimum. You can go slightly less for the highly undesirable colors.

We purchased a polished granit slab (if memory serves me it was 35 sq ft) for $400 CAD. They loaded it onto my trailer and I used our tractor to unload it once we got home. I then purchased a profile bit for my grinder, polishing pads, a 10" diamond saw (ran backwards so the blade cuts top to bottom), some diamond hole bits, a GFCI extension cord (since you need water flowing over the cutting area).. and I went to work cutting the slab to size, profiling the edges, and polishing those edges. All in it took a weekend to finish and looks amazing. This was 8 or 9 yrs ago. We also fully built our cabinets (that was wayyyy too much work), and DIYed the remainder of the kitchen. I think we spent $7,000 CAD for a total gutt out (floors removed down to joists, same for walls) of our 10x12' kitchen (that price so includes a new range, hood fan, sink, and dishwasher (we kept our existing fridge)).

 

[mmb617]

I could never afford the kitchen remodel we did in 1998 today. We gutted the room including taking out the load bearing wall between the old kitchen and back porch in order to enlarge the kitchen. From there it was new walls, ceiling, floor, sink, cabinets and countertops. We did reuse the old appliances for a while. And I was able to get the solid surface material for the countertops for next to nothing as it was a discontinued color that my friend who managed a building materials warehouse got for me.

My wife and I did all the work ourselves and I don't think we had $10K in the entire project. I shudder to think what a project like that would cost today.

 

[KansasArt]

I remodeled our kitchen (entire first floor actually) about 3 yrs ago. New subfloor, sheet rock, installed a beam in the ceiling to replace the load bearing wall...was very luck to have found an entire kitchen of custom high grade cabinet-shop cabinets on CL. The guy had just updated his kitchen and had them stored in his shop for over a year. He said he couldn't bear to just toss them. Said a lot of folks have looked at them but they didn't fit their application. I was able to make them work in our application. Had 1 piece left over, donated to habitat for humanity. Took 5 trips in a pick up to transport. Total cost was $1,500. They were made in the late '70's. Minimal scratches, boxes all 3/4" plywood. Save us about $20,000!

 

[jar944]

That is going to push it to well over $100k. Need a new shop, a sliding table saw, shaper, clamps. Then depending on countertop choice either a large slab saw and polishing equipment or a large brake and a tig welder.

Me I'll spend $20k in appliances easily. I have high end tastes. Oven with built in rotisserie, steam oven.

You forgot the widebelt and cnc..

If materials were 8k I'd be happy to do it for 16K just saying

There is about 8k in lumber/cabinet hardware here, if you can sell it for 16k (and make a profit) you would have work for the rest of your life.

 

[cgrutt]

You forgot the widebelt and cnc..



There is about 8k in lumber/cabinet hardware here, if you can sell it for 16k (and make a profit) you would have work for the rest of your life.

Beautiful work. OP was talking about and I was responding to store bought kits not custom cabinets made from scratch.

 

[jar944]

Beautiful work. OP was talking about and I was responding to store bought kits not custom cabinets made from scratch.

I read the OP's post as he is building the cabinets and bought KD drawers.

 

[cgrutt]

I read the OP's post as he is building the cabinets and bought KD drawers.

My bad I missed the building part I thought they were prefab.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Lately around here material costs are crazy expensive. We just finished a complete kitchen overhaul and turned our breezeway into year round living. It was an easy $40k for the kitchen alone. My contractor just did his own guest bath and it was over $20k with his self-supplied labor. Our guest bath overhaul is starting this month and he's guessing $20k. Keep in mind, the kitchen was completely gutted to the studs, all new electric, plumbing, insulation, hydronic baseboard...

 

[jms158bmx]

Im nearing the end of my kitchen remodel and Im getting close to 25k. Built the cabinets and island myself for 3kish. 55sq ft of granite was close to 6. Floors close to 5. Appliances 6. Electrical plumbing and drywall 2. Paid a buddy 4k to do the majority of it and hes got over 150 hours into it. My kitchen is tiny but have an open floor plan so alot of the cost like floors was theres no real stopping point. Also granite price varied wildly. Went with a little more expensive small mom and pop shop but they treated us great. Im located in ne Ohio and prices are still high.

 

[andyvh1959]

Actually, I am only building the enclosure above the fridge, and I'm building the 34" diameter lazy susan with pullout drawers (like a Korner King lazy susan). I'm also modifying the upper corner cabinet to install a Korner King lazy susan with pullout sides (really slick item). My house was built in 1973, the old full frame style base cabinets and upper cupboards, pine construction with solid oak face frames. I am cutting out the rails and cutting the stiles back to make the cabinets/cupboards nearly frameless style. That way I can install all larger drawers with undermount slides. Everything in the base cabinets will be drawers or pullouts, no doors, to minimize kneeling on the floor to get access into the cabinets. Planning to install an apron style sink.

Once I have all the drawers, pullouts, lazy susans installed I'll order new drawer fronts and upper doors, hopefully prefinished. My wife and I were at Menards yesterday checking out kitchen designs and she likes the bicolor setups, a navy color on the lower cabinets and light gray on the upper cupboards. Her sister remodded their kitchen and they did light olive color on the base cabinets and light beige on the upper cupboards.

 

[jar944]

Once I have all the drawers, pullouts, lazy susans installed I'll order new drawer fronts and upper doors, hopefully prefinished. My wife and I were at Menards yesterday checking out kitchen designs and she likes the bicolor setups, a navy color on the lower cabinets and light gray on the upper cupboards. Her sister remodded their kitchen and they did light olive color on the base cabinets and light beige on the upper cupboards.

Since you are converting to essentially framless, figure out your desired overlay distance, then pick your hinges. You will have a minimum width of the frames. Typically upper boxes back to back would provide 1.5" of "stile" between openings. If you go less, make sure the hinges will work.

 

[andyvh1959]

Exactly and thank you. Before I decided to go to hybrid-frameless on the base cabinets I also checked into how much "frame" the newer frameless hinge/overlay will allow. I will have to trim the stiles back to a minimum 1-1/4" wide to suit the newer hinges for overlay style doors. I also checked on standard size overlay style doors to make sure I wouldn't need to spec all non standard size doors.

I say "hybrid-frameless" as I am cutting the upright stiles back enough to make the drawers wider by up to three inches. I am not cutting the frames out completely. Also, by using undermount slides I can maximize the width of the new drawers.

 

[jar944]

Also, by using undermount slides I can maximize the width of the new drawers.

It's a bit like daylight savings... ypu either loose width or height.

undermounts take up vertical height so ypu loose 1/2" minimum compared to a side mount.

Side mounts loose up 5/8" width compared to undermounts.

 

[andyvh1959]

Well, I'm just into my remodel project, that I am doing myself. So far I have $1400 in new drawer boxes (15), $450 for the upper lazy susan (with pullout sildes), $300 in the large lower lazy susan (I built from scratch), the apron sink will be $400 (I do my own plumbing), $400 for the drawer slides, I estimate $300 for the door hinge sets, estimate $1500 for the 12 doors, estimate $1600 for the quartz countertops, estimate $1000 for the pantry I'm building, estimate $1000 for the backsplash, estimate $500 for lights (I do my own electrical), and estimate $1200 for the floor. So my total just for materials in my 10x12 kitchen will be $10.050. That doesn't include and paint, taking off any current wallpaper, etc. I am doing all the demo and installations.

Now, I am not relocating anything major, I'm using the appliances we already have. If I add another $1000 for sundry extras I'm nearing $11,100. In general a contractor will charge twice the materials cost for the labor, so that pushes my total, if contracted out, over $22,000. I had a contractor come in to review my project, thinking I might hire them for the countertops, but they only do the full kitchen or nothing. He said for the work I am planning, and the features I plan, I'd be at $35,000 to start.

$65,000 for your quote is ridiculous IMO. Perhaps see if you can find a reputable do it all single guy you can work with. Have you do the demo work, he does the details, should be able to get it way down to below $40K.

 

[carlaisle]

Hi, I was hoping to get some people's experiences with recent kitchen renovation costs. I have a dated galley kitchen (think a longer, skinny room with 70s wood cabinets, sheet linoleum floors, roughly 200 square feet), and I was considering getting the kitchen demoed, floors tiled and some new cabinets put in (mostly just a cabinet swap, no moving appliances around). I've had one quote so far and a guy quoted me 65k (I live in West-ish GTA). No other quotes yet, takes a while due to COVID. Includes demo, tiling, new custom cabinets, countertop, hood venting, a new railing (we have a backsplit and the basement stairs are off the kitchen), and any ancillary drywall, painting, electrical and plumbing work. Doesn't include the cost of the tile, which we already bought, or any appliances. This seems kind of high to me? I've done some other reno work but I've never done a kitchen reno before. Do people have any of their own experiences to relay and what costs are kind of reasonable for this? If anyone has any recommendations for midrange kitchen renovators or any recommendations for how to approach this please chip in. I'm having a hard time and this is a big ticket!

Without a lot more detail it's difficult to say if the $65,000 quote you received is a bargain or highway robbery. Get a few more bids and where the pricing clusters will tell you the going price for the products and services you are requesting.

 

[dcg9381]

The only thing that really surprised me when I first started doing kitchens was the cabinet pricing.

I've done below-builder grade cabinets off the shelf from Home Depot.
And I've done custom cabinets from a guy who all he did was cabinets.

The difference in function and quality was nuts.

The difference in cost was nuts.

 

[MushCreek]

'West-ish GTA?' Greater _______ Area? Tacoma? Tallahassee? Tampa? Toronto?

 

[K13]

'West-ish GTA?' Greater _______ Area? Tacoma? Tallahassee? Tampa? Toronto?

More than likely Toronto. It's quite often how Toronto is referred to in Canada.

 

[jonesg]

You forgot the widebelt and cnc..



There is about 8k in lumber/cabinet hardware here, if you can sell it for 16k (and make a profit) you would have work for the rest of your life.

I spent my life working in kitchens, these pics don't look like kitchens, maybe a medical examiners morgue.
bureaus with drawers in the middle of the floor ? and cupboards ?
granite tops ? are we doing a lot of pulled sugar and chocolate tabliering then ?

 

[jar944]

I spent my life working in kitchens, these pics don't look like kitchens, maybe a medical examiners morgue.
bureaus with drawers in the middle of the floor ? and cupboards ?
granite tops ? are we doing a lot of pulled sugar and chocolate tabliering then ?

Do you get out much? That's a pretty common residential kitchen layout.

Who buys a home these days that doesn't have stone countertops and an island.

 

[dcg9381]

bureaus with drawers in the middle of the floor ? and cupboards ?

This was a more recent architectural style thing. Looks great to me. But my **** gets firmly kicked out of designing the kitchen.

granite tops ? are we doing a lot of pulled sugar and chocolate tabliering then ?

Quartz, granite, silestone - buyers choice.

Here's the one that I had done. Cabinet guy was one of the best contractors I've ever worked with. Lighting is mine.



These were designed in CAD with a 3d rendering.

 

[Garcky]

Do you get out much? That's a pretty common residential kitchen layout.

Who buys a home these days that doesn't have stone countertops and an island.

Lots and lots of people buy homes that don't have that stuff. You'd be surprised, I guess.

Places like Home Depot are still selling tons of Formica-topped counters and cheap pre-fab cabinets. Someone's using those. Lots of people are using those. In fact, most of the houses being sold around the median home price in most places have pretty basic kitchens. They have to.

 

[jar944]

Lots and lots of people buy homes that don't have that stuff. You'd be surprised, I guess.

Places like Home Depot are still selling tons of Formica-topped counters and cheap pre-fab cabinets. Someone's using those. Lots of people are using those. In fact, most of the houses being sold around the median home price in most places have pretty basic kitchens. They have to.

I haven't seen a new build with anything but stone In a very long time. Median here is expensive though.

 

[dcg9381]

Places like Home Depot are still selling tons of Formica-topped counters and cheap pre-fab cabinets. Someone's using those. Lots of people are using those. In fact, most of the houses being sold around the median home price in most places have pretty basic kitchens. They have to.

There are a whole bunch of levels with "pre-fab" cabinets. It's like putting together legos - it's not that hard and you can get decent quality cabinets.

I was told that formica tops were being produced a lot less. You could still buy them at HD, but their "custom cuts" of that stuff was approaching cost in much better options. I don't seem them used a lot.

Epoxy counters are a thing too. I've also always wanted to try to cast my own concrete counter...

 

[jar944]

bureaus with drawers in the middle of the floor ? and cupboards ?

This was a more recent architectural style thing. Looks great to me. But my **** gets firmly kicked out of designing the kitchen.

I'd say all kitchens have cupboards/cabinets. I mean who has a kitchen without any cabinets

 

[dcg9381]

I mean who has a kitchen without any cabinets

There was a switch from lower cabinets to pulls... We did our kitchen that way. Obviously you can't do it up top, but most of our kitchen below the counter is pull drawers. It's easier on you ergonomically, if we have to justify....