s/o: how much did your kitchen remodel cost (or new kitchen in a new home)

[AnnieW625]

of course numbers will be off due to size and how long ago you did it, but since I plan we will most likely have to pay cash for this (no equity in our home) I need to be able to get some idea of what to expect.

poll question #10: if you have a large kitchen and spent between 15k and 24K then vote here, I ran out of space and 15K should actually be 25K.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6135/6016713512_161698d625_m.jpg
This is my kitchen (you can't see the fridge, but it is on the left side at the bottom of the photo), the dishwasher you can't see as well, but it is towards the top left of the picture), and there are cabinets to the right next to the oven as well. In an ideal world where the boxes are at the top of the photo I would like to add cabinets there and again where the kitchen cart. Microwave would be on top of the cabinets or above the range, but leaning towards above the range.

[brittone2]

of course numbers will be off due to size and how long ago you did it, but since I plan we will most likely have to pay cash for this (no equity in our home) I need to be able to get some idea of what to expect.
Would you keep the general layout or do you need to do things like move sink location, gas lines, etc.? I think that is one of the biggest budget busters...if you can preserve the overall layout, it should be less expensive.

[AnnieW625]

Would you keep the general layout or do you need to do things like move sink location, gas lines, etc.? I think that is one of the biggest budget busters...if you can preserve the overall layout, it should be less expensive.

yes we can preserve the overall layout of the kitchen. Ideally I would knock down the wall that is out to our patio and convert the covered patio area to extra living space and a 3/4 bath, but we definitely won't have the funds for that unless we win the lotto or our mortgage company feels sorry for us and gets rid of our second mortgage (which is almost equal as to what we are underwater for).

[ourbabygirl]

Well, we haven't exactly "remodeled" our kitchen, but we did put in granite countertops, a new (double drawer) dishwasher, and a new sink & faucet, and repainted. Maybe should have added in a pretty backsplash, too, but we didn't want to spend the money. :) We did all of that for ~$4000, I think, two years ago, when there was more of a housing slump.

I would say our kitchen is medium to large (big island in the middle, but not big enough for seating), and almost three full walls of cabinets, so we needed some big slabs of granite. We have a corner sink and put in a new under mount sink, so that was tricky for the people to cut the granite right and add in the holes for the faucet and soap dispenser.
We live in the midwest, in probably a MCOL area. We have builder-basic oak cabinets with gold/ brass hardware and exposed hinges, and as much as I would've loved to redo the outsides of the cabinets to distressed cream with oil-rubbed bronze handles and hide or change the hinges, it would've been way too much money since we have so many cupboards, and probably would have priced us way out of our neighborhood. I'm just glad the house had wood floors when we bought it, or I would've wanted to rip out the linoleum or tile.

[sophiesmom03]

We kept the same layout, but did a to the studs reno with new cabinets, counters, appliances, sink, windows and flooring. Maple cabinets, budget granite (not the cheapest but I think the 2nd tier from the cheapest, it was still beautiful) stainless appliances. We splurged on the range and reined in on the fridge to get what we wanted (dual fuel, slide in range was $$$ so we did a more basic, bottom freezer fridge).

New oak flooring to match the rest of the house.

This was 3 houses ago now, so almost 8 years.

[egoldber]

In our current house, we kept the same layout but updated counter tops and added a new cooktop. Recently we replaced the linoleum floor with tile.

All of that was done for less than $10K in a large kitchen with an irregularly shaped island in a HCOL with high end materials.

If we had done the cabinets that would have been a LOT more.

[crl]

First one we DIYed and painted the existing cabinets. It was a tiny kitchen too so materials cost were low. We painted the cabinets (and walls and ceiling), replaced the flooring with glue less click cork, replace the countertop with granite tile, replaced the ceiling fan lighting fixture with some nice track lighting that put lighting over the sink for me, took down a couple of upper cabinets, fixed the window molding, put up a couple of shelves and a pot rack, and bought all new mid-price range appliances and a new sink and faucet. This was in about 2002 and we did all the work ourselves. Total was right around $5,000 if I recall correctly, with the appliances as the biggest chunk by far.

Second one we paid for every bit of work and gutted it. This one was bigger, but didn't have a ton of cabinets/counters as part of it was intended to be an eat in section for a table and chairs. The kitchen was down to the studs. We took out a wall. And all the electrical wiring got totally redone back to the box (unexpected expense that came when the electricians realized what was there had been done badly during the previous 1970s remodel). We used ikea cabinets (love, love, love), ikea butcher block countertops, glueless click cork flooring, mid-range appliances with one splurge on a GE Advantium wall oven, a gorgeous custom copper pot rack, and an Ikea farm house sink. This one is a bit harder to tell cost because we also had the laundry moved upstairs and a powder room remodeled at the same time and the bills weren't broken down by room. The work was done in 2007. I think we spent about $25,000 on the kitchen--nearly $5000 of that was the electrical work, iirc.

Both houses were in Northern VA, so not CA, but fairly high cost of living.

Consumer reports does a kitchen edition and I seem to recall that they have a chart on figuring prices based on your materials selections.

Also, if you are interested in ikea, you can download their planner and design a kitchen and the planner will give you the cost of what you designed.

Catherine

[niccig]

It all depends on size and what materials you do it with (high end, low end) and how much you can do yourself.

If you go over to the kitchens forum on garden web, many people do more budget makeovers as well as high end. I think budget is around 20K.

You can get some great deals on things - my friend got great sink from ikea for super cheap, and closeouts on other things (appliances, tile). If you're flexible and not set on only a certain type of thing, you'll have more options. Reuse your existing appliances and then replace with ones you want of same size as needed.

I think we're going to do ikea cabinets but get custom doors (there's a couple of places that make doors to fit) as we don't like the ikea doors. From what I've read, it is more money than ikea doors but not as much as complete custom cabinets.

If you do some of the work too, that can cut costs but can increase time/hassle. I know I could paint a kitchen, but that would be about it.

[AnnieW625]

Also, if you are interested in ikea, you can download their planner and design a kitchen and the planner will give you the cost of what you designed.

Catherine

I played around with that as well, it is pretty cool. I just eyeballed measurements so next time I do it I will do actual measurements, but I pretty much kept the same layout as we had now, just added space for a larger dishwasher, larger fridge, and some more cabinets along one side of the kitchen.

[niccig]

I played around with that as well, it is pretty cool. I just eyeballed measurements so next time I do it I will do actual measurements, but I pretty much kept the same layout as we had now, just added space for a larger dishwasher, larger fridge, and some more cabinets along one side of the kitchen.

If you go to ikeafans there's a kitchen forum and you post your planner file and people will comment on it, give suggestions you never thought about etc. I've done that and got suggestion for how to deal with current set-up w/o removing walls.

[khalloc]

We've remodeled a kitchen before. I dont remember how big it was. it was a tiny galley before, but we knocked down a wall and opened it up to an L-shape with an island.

Can you do any of the work yourselves? Because that will save you a ton of money. We did everything ourselves except for installing the granite counters. Even then we spent about $25k. We didnt really keep track. We sprung for quartz counters, cherry cabinets, stainless appliances. DH is very handy and was able to move a window, we both had fun knocking down a wall, we tiled the kitchen, moved a propane line to where the new stove would go, installed lighting, installed cabinets, etc...

Old Kitchen
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b4dc35b3127cced7087a00375200000010O08AcNGrZi0atA e3nwY/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

New Kitchen
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b5df01b3127cceca7cb9554f7800000010O08AcNGrZi0atA e3nwY/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

[marymoo86]

I live in a medium to lower COL and our remodel was less than 10k. HOWEVER, we did a lot of it ourselves. DH added moldings and painted the cabinets - didn't replace them and he did the tile floor. We did contract removing a large picture window and created a sliding door, had Corian installed, added a gas line. We updated appliances but took advantage of killer sales.

[niccig]

Wow, what a transformation. I would think I've gone to heaven if my kitchen turned into that.

[khalloc]

Yes, that was before we had kids and we ate frozen meals, take out pizza or Panini sandwiches for about 5 months!

[egoldber]

khalloc, what a beautiful kitchen!

[wolverine2]

Wow, what a transformation. I would think I've gone to heaven if my kitchen turned into that.

:yeahthat:

We're looking at doing ours too- it has to be a a gut reno and we need to update the electric and move plumbing. Trying to decide whether to knock down half a wall or a whole wall (or leave as is). I wish IKEA made cabinets as beautiful as those!! We're leaning towards IKEA so we can spend the money on the above, but I don't love any of the options that much.

[khalloc]

Thats not my kitchen anymore. We moved about 1.5 years later. It was really hard to give that kitchen up! But my new kitchen (6 years new!) is much bigger and has alot more potential. But its stuck in the 90's with oak cabinets and oak trimmed formica counters. But DH assures me we are definitely remodeling this spring. So I will be visiting Garden Web alot in the next few months.

[khalloc]

:yeahthat:

We're looking at doing ours too- it has to be a a gut reno and we need to update the electric and move plumbing. Trying to decide whether to knock down half a wall or a whole wall (or leave as is). I wish IKEA made cabinets as beautiful as those!! We're leaning towards IKEA so we can spend the money on the above, but I don't love any of the options that much.

Wolverine - those are Kraftmaid cabinets ordered from Home Depot. Natural cherry finish. The door panel is even a veneer. They didnt offer a solid wood panel in that style in cherry. I think the total was about $8k for the cabinets. We went with all plywood construction. Now I would probably skip that and just upgrade to plywood for the end cabinets and for the sink cabinet. It would save some $$.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

I'm thinking we will remodel our (not that big, but biggish for a 1947 house) kitchen at some point, and I wouldn't be surprised if cost pushes over $50k. We spent $30k on a bathroom last year. If we do it, we will want to move things around and open up a supporting wall.

We just got new french doors in the kitchen, replacing an exisisting door & window, and that was I think just over $3k.

We've done some temporary fixes - $1k for lighting changes and $1k for paint/crown molding - that have made it a lot nicer. Now we need to decide if we want to just redo the counters and leave the rest or go for the whole enchilada. We don't like the floor that much, so it's tempting to just rip out everything and start bottoms up.

[crl]

If you go to ikeafans there's a kitchen forum and you post your planner file and people will comment on it, give suggestions you never thought about etc. I've done that and got suggestion for how to deal with current set-up w/o removing walls.

Yes! They helped with our layout as well. And when we get around to doing our new house's kitchen I will be back there again begging for layout help. (But at the rate we are discovering unexpected, expensive and necessary work on boring things like drainage, it's going to be a while before we get to the kitchen).

Catherine

[DualvansMommy]

we're starting our project after new years....

50K for us with high end materials and appliances, gonna be down to studs for demo then start the construction.

50K includes all new custom cabinets, lighting, plumbing fixtures, new hardwood flooring (replacing our existing stone tile) paint, new french door to replace our existing bay window, granite countertop (and extending more countertop to a two tier countertop for eat-in. Backsplash is also included.

As far structure goes, everything is in same location, with exception of fridge/wall oven (i have a single 24" wall oven) it'll be replaced by a bigger french door fridge in that spot, and moving the new 2 30" wall ovens into old fridge spot. Dishwasher will be moved few inches away.

[wolverine2]

Wolverine - those are Kraftmaid cabinets ordered from Home Depot. Natural cherry finish. The door panel is even a veneer. They didnt offer a solid wood panel in that style in cherry. I think the total was about $8k for the cabinets. We went with all plywood construction. Now I would probably skip that and just upgrade to plywood for the end cabinets and for the sink cabinet. It would save some $$.

Good to know! They really look good!

[AnnieW625]

Thanks again for all of the input. Thankfully the dishwasher was just clogged with Cascade gel pack things that didn't fully dissolve so that was an easy fix, but we still need to have someone look at the floors as well, which will probably wait until after the holidays.


We've remodeled a kitchen before. I dont remember how big it was. it was a tiny galley before, but we knocked down a wall and opened it up to an L-shape with an island.

Can you do any of the work yourselves? Because that will save you a ton of money. We did everything ourselves except for installing the granite counters. Even then we spent about $25k. We didnt really keep track. We sprung for quartz counters, cherry cabinets, stainless appliances. DH is very handy and was able to move a window, we both had fun knocking down a wall, we tiled the kitchen, moved a propane line to where the new stove would go, installed lighting, installed cabinets, etc...



That is one beautiful kitchen. We could do little things like painting, and crown moulding, and we would knock down a wall on our own if we needed to. If we did Ikea or Kraft Maid cabinets we could probably install ourselves because it is not a huge space, but I know DH would probably feel more comfortable having someone else install it, esp. if we are able to get a good labor rate. We could probably also do our own backsplash as well seeing that the home improvement stores now sell sheets of glass or ceramic tiles and offer classes as well.

[khalloc]

Thanks again for all of the input. Thankfully the dishwasher was just clogged with Cascade gel pack things that didn't fully dissolve so that was an easy fix, but we still need to have someone look at the floors as well, which will probably wait until after the holidays.

That is one beautiful kitchen. We could do little things like painting, and crown moulding, and we would knock down a wall on our own if we needed to. If we did Ikea or Kraft Maid cabinets we could probably install ourselves because it is not a huge space, but I know DH would probably feel more comfortable having someone else install it, esp. if we are able to get a good labor rate. We could probably also do our own backsplash as well seeing that the home improvement stores now sell sheets of glass or ceramic tiles and offer classes as well.

You know when DH installed our cabinets and then we had the countertop people come measure for our quartz countertops, the guy said he could tell that DH had installed them himself - they were actually level! he said homeowners seem to take more time to do the job right than the installers from places like Home Depot/Lowes.

[AnnieW625]

You know when DH installed our cabinets and then we had the countertop people come measure for our quartz countertops, the guy said he could tell that DH had installed them himself - they were actually level! he said homeowners seem to take more time to do the job right than the installers from places like Home Depot/Lowes.

Okay, that makes me feel a bit better! DH is a mechanical engineer as well so who knows maybe he would be up to it, but sometimes I have a feeling he would say he isn't, but since we don't really have the money to spend on the project at this moment I haven't even brought it up. He got home last night and we were both tired so we still haven't really talked about it yet.

[hillview]

Ours was about 75k including new tile floor and all new appliances. Here is my post about it. We contracted ALL the work.
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=433943&highlight=kitchen

[crl]

If you go ikea, one possibility is to build them yourselves, but hire someone to install them. I put some of our cabinets together (we built the island ourselves after the rest of the work was done) and it was easy. And I am NOT handy. At all.

Catherine