New kitchen for $90,000 to $100,000???

[momtofour]

I need help from my budget minded disboard friends!! We are looking to gut our kitchen that is 22 years old. The cabinets were poor to begin with so refacing etc. will not work. The space is large so we are not adding any square footage, moving walls etc. Looking at granite, medium grade cabinets, upper end appliances. My first quote came in at about $70,000 to $80,000 not including appliances. Does that seem about right? I am going from a U shape to an L shape with a large island. I have a hardwood floor so that needs to be sanded down again. It seems exorbinant!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It does seem high but I guess it depends on where you live and other factors, too.

 

[ICF]

I need help from my budget minded disboard friends!! We are looking to gut our kitchen that is 22 years old. The cabinets were poor to begin with so refacing etc. will not work. The space is large so we are not adding any square footage, moving walls etc. Looking at granite, medium grade cabinets, upper end appliances. My first quote came in at about $70,000 to $80,000 not including appliances. Does that seem about right? I am going from a U shape to an L shape with a large island. I have a hardwood floor so that needs to be sanded down again. It seems exorbinant!

Do you live in a million dollar house? If not that seems high to me.

We replaced our countertops last summer (going to quartz) and it cost about $4k. We got a new stove, fridge&freezer, microwave and dishwasher and I think it came to about $3K.

Cabinets would've been $10-$15K -- based on our rough restimates. So in total had we done everything (but not reconfigured our space) it would have been about $20K - $25K -- and as a point of reference our house was just appraised at $210K as part of a refi.

 

[Gina]

I need help from my budget minded disboard friends!! We are looking to gut our kitchen that is 22 years old. The cabinets were poor to begin with so refacing etc. will not work. The space is large so we are not adding any square footage, moving walls etc. Looking at granite, medium grade cabinets, upper end appliances. My first quote came in at about $70,000 to $80,000 not including appliances. Does that seem about right? I am going from a U shape to an L shape with a large island. I have a hardwood floor so that needs to be sanded down again. It seems exorbinant!

That's more than my very nice little house cost...

 

[eliza61]

Does not seem out of the realm of possibility
1) cabinets. Those suckers can really get expensive. Let me tell you, you start getting into different size and woods and you can easily drop 30K on cabinets alone. I feel in love at a home show with some custom cherry cabinets, shaker style. ~800 bucks a foot. I about fainted but they were gorgeous. LOL

2) Counter tops. same as above granite counter tops. once again the cost can vary according to grade but easily 200 bucks per foot.

sticker shock is definitely why many folks become DIY'ers LOL.

Heck, I spent 2,000 dollars on replacing the kitchen cabinets KNOBS.

 

[momtofour]

Market value of my home is about $750,000. We would not be doing any of the work ourselves. The appliances are about $20,000. I am dealing with kitchen places that do all of the work. Would I save much by hiring a general contractor? We do not know anything about this!

 

[Kies99]

I put a 2 story addition with full master bath on my house only 2 years ago and only spent $50k!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Get several estimates.

Market value of my home is about $750,000. We would not be doing any of the work ourselves. The appliances are about $20,000. I am dealing with kitchen places that do all of the work. Would I save much by hiring a general contractor? We do not know anything about this!

 

[trinchick]

I haven't renovated a kitchen myself, but my home is about the same value as yours, and I think I'd be willing to put about $50K into a redo. I think this would update the kitchen to make it more competitive from a resale perspective without pricing us out of comparable homes in our neighborhood.

Like anything else we buy, you have to consider how you will use it. If you're a gourmet cook and need a pastry station, potfiller, warming trays, super duper range hood, and Viking appliances, you're going to want to spend more. If you're an average cook, you probably wouldn't want to invest in these upgrades.

The same consideration must be taken if you're looking for high design finishes or are just happy to have the room clean and modern, and doesn't have to be done again for another decade or two. For myself, granite is granite so I don't need the $200/foot variety and can happily choose something from the offerings that are $50 a foot. It helps if I never set foot in the pricier area so don't start to covet the expensive options. Others, though, might feel like they skimped every time they had to look at the counters.

There was a thread here on Ikea cabinets recently and it spurred me to investigate the reviews. I was shocked at how favorably many designers look at them.

I know that for my kitchen - which is old and outdated with dark wood cabinets and (gasp!) Formica counter-tops - I'd love to do a total reno. However, if it was going to cost upwards of $70K, I'd live with it for a few more years. Of course, then I'd redo it in order to sell it and someone else would enjoy my new kitchen while I suffered with the old one, but now we're exposing some of my own issues, so I'll leave....

 

[Mariep26]

I would agree to get multiple estimates and try a contractor. We are looking at redoing our kitchen but we are knocking down a whole wall and utilizing porch space to extend the kitchen. Our estimates are around $60k (without appliances) and that includes custom cabinets.

 

[2disneyboys]

I agree w/ others... get several estimates and makes sure each company KNOWS your getting several estimates.. it's their job to "sell" you on using them. What can they do for you to make you pick them! Only accept bids from companies that have good reviews and insurance/bonding.

 

[momtofour]

Thanks for the input thus far. Keep it coming! I am looking at Sorrento cabinets (any input?) granite, satin nickel hardware. Pretty simple design. Just for fun we priced out Thomasville cabinetry at Home Depot and that alone was about $18,000. We looked at IKEA cabinets and they did not appeal to us. I will continue to shop around...........

 

[Rosiekins]

My husband is a GC and I often help with his quotes. That number seems really high to me. We are from MA so prices here are fairly high and I don't think the kitchen jobs we have done have touched that with out the appliances added in also. I am not as sure with kitchens but I know with the things like windows, the companies that do installation have HUGE markups on their install prices, so it is much cheaper to have a Contractor do the job in that case. I can ask my husband when he gets home if Kitchen places are the same and what he thinks of that number.

My advice would be to get a another quote and call a few contractors in your area and get quotes from them, I am guessing they will be less. Good Luck!

 

[gracie1]

That price surely doesn't seem excessive. I work with contractors every single day, I bid the work out and also get work for fellow contractors. I can tell you that two bathrooms in a condo - to gut them runs about $30k - $40k. And the bathrooms are so small that you cannot even fit a tub in the one, it has to be a stand up shower.

It definitely comes down to what you want also, are you getting wood cabinets, cherry cabinets, etc. Are you getting granite, quartz or formica? Are you doing double ovens, exhaust vents, stainless steel packages? New backsplash, new flooring, tiles?

You definitely need to get 3-4 bids from different contractors, ask to see their work (if possible). Look at pictures, and even ask around to their competitors.

 

[momtofour]

OP here. We live in the suburbs of Chicago. If I used a general contractor would I first hire a kitchen designer or architect to come up with the plan? Or do they do that? I am naive about this process. Then does the general contractor give me allowances for everything?

 

[DOREEN1779]

That number sounds a bit high but not impossible. I sold higher end appliances to contractors for years and I have seen some over the top kitchens but only in homes that were worth at least a million plus. I would recommend getting at least 2 other quotes. I would also cut the project up and not let the contractor handle everything. Hire your own plumber, get your appliances wholesale, go directly to the distributors. Good Luck!

 

[shortbun]

We redid a small kitchen with a contractor-3 years ago-$11,000. We bought all the materials ourselves and we saved a lot of money. For instance, we found two pieces of granite-remnant pieces-that could be seamed and looked perfect-saved a lot. We went to a cabinet store and looked at everything they had-chose the least expensive, on special, set of cabinets they had-the savings here was ridiculous! We had wood floor refinished by a separate person-$1500 savings(not sure what process the other guy was going to use but whoa!). We did our own demolition and removal-another big savings. We bought the backsplash tile in a back room markdown area of a tile store and my husband brought it home in his truck. We paid 1/20th the original cost. It was fairly plain but pretty and discontinued. My girlfriend, a home colorist and lighting expert, chose all the fixtures and colors. It was much cheaper to pay her than pay them-I have no idea why but she had my back and found good deals for similar or even better stuff. We didn't hire a big company, we had a private contractor, who didn't mind our contribution because he still got his laborers jobs and he actually sent us to the cabinet store. The kitchen looked great!! It sold the house. We left our 2 year old refrigerator and bought a new, matching stove/oven. The dishwasher was only a year old. All were stainless. I'm looking to redo our current kitchen now. DH thinks he wants to do it himself. (where's that scary smiley?) We live in a large, mid-century ranch and the kitchen is vintage 1959. Again, we will do our own demolition. We'll hire our own plumber and electrician. I'm going to install stainless counter tops and backsplash this time-it's great looking but inexpensive. We need a new stove/oven but have the new dishwasher and refigerator. Cabinets will be interesting. The original were knotty pine and the last owners painted them for the 1st time before we saw the house or we would have stopped them and pulled them out for resale. The floor, original square tiled, probably asbestos so we'll be laying a wood floor right over it. There's no way I'd pay $90K for a kitchen remodel without appliances. That's simply outrageous. Keep shopping. My realtor friend recently had her big kitchen redone, floor to ceiling. She just emailed me. It's huge and with appliances, cost her $70K. She says she didn't go with the high end finishes but it looks great to me!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You might also check with a local realtor to see if those numbers would support your investment.

 

[Robbi]

My husband was a cabinet/furniture maker. He built custom and did semi custom as well. DH said that the Kraftmaid cabinets are well built and he advises the option of all wood. Home Depot or Lowes can help you to design a kitchen and they can arrange for installation as well. There are a ton of options to get the cabinets you want from finishes to cabinet and drawer options. You'll spend a fraction of the money. If you love to cook, spend money on great appliances.

BTW, he won awards for both his custom work and his semi custom work so he knows the business.

 

[Rosiekins]

OP here. We live in the suburbs of Chicago. If I used a general contractor would I first hire a kitchen designer or architect to come up with the plan? Or do they do that? I am naive about this process. Then does the general contractor give me allowances for everything?

So in our case normally my husband will sit down with the person and figure out what they want, and mock up plans. We have used an architect before but often don't, it depends on what the customer wants and sometimes the zoning of the building (3 family buildings have all kinds of rules here for example) Then he normally goes with the customer to look at cabinets, tile, counter tops etc. He orders them and deals with all that once decisions have been made and contracts signed. Sometimes the customers do that themselves, it saves a little as most contractors mark up materials, however most people seems to like the ease of having him do everything and sometimes he can get a better price on things as he gets contractor discounts. I am not sure all contractors will go with you, but if you tell them what you want they will work them in to the quote they give you.

If you want ask/tell the contractors that you will buy the counter tops, cabinets, etc, it may save you their markups however there is a chance they will be able to get a better price even with a markup. I would just ask. One thing you might do is come up with how much you would like to spend then talk with them about that, they will hopefully work with you in getting the what you want in to as close to it as you can. If there is no way they can do it for that number I am sure they won't be shy about telling you. Remember too when working with a GC to ask to check their insurance and license (if they need one in your state), here if they pull a permit they will have to have those things to get it anyhow. Also check references! Ask your friends who they have used and how they felt about them then consider giving who they recommend a call.