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

[Eastern]

imo 90-100k is a lot for a kitchen in a 750k house. My house is around the same price and I spent about 50k but I did not change the flooring or change any plumbing locations. I got custom cabinets, quartz countertops, and midrange appliances (Kitchenaid, Bosch midprice, frigidaire).

I would not spend the money on high end appliances. My friends all have them and they do nothing but complain about maintenance issues.

I would look at a breakdown of your estimate and see where the money is being spent and where you can possibly trim costs. Remember that 90-100k is an estimate and things always seem to end up costing more in the end.

 

[momtofour]

OP back again. Thanks to all for your responses. Obviously there is such a range and I am at the beginning stages so I need to do my homework and get more quotes. I am in the "real world" so that is why I am questionning this estimate. The budget board is a great place to get ideas on how to stretch a dollar from other frugal minded disers. Just because the quote is $90,000 does not mean I have $90,000 for the project. It is no different than someone wanting to go to Paris and finds that the airfare is so high and then questions it. Thank you again for the input.

 

[Mepooooo]

90 000 $ is really high price. Please share with us some 90k projects

 

[mom2rose&john]

OP back again. Thanks to all for your responses. Obviously there is such a range and I am at the beginning stages so I need to do my homework and get more quotes. I am in the "real world" so that is why I am questionning this estimate. The budget board is a great place to get ideas on how to stretch a dollar from other frugal minded disers. Just because the quote is $90,000 does not mean I have $90,000 for the project. It is no different than someone wanting to go to Paris and finds that the airfare is so high and then questions it. Thank you again for the input.

It's is good to question. You will never gain knowledge without asking questions.

Have you gone to the gardenweb kitchen website yet? I have been a regular and a lurker there for years. If you want to do a search through garden web, it is better to get on google and search "Gardenweb kitchens + "your search". The forums search engine is quirky.

Don't be too rushed into making your decisions. It is a huge undertaking and an expense that you will want to do only once. Check out every model home in your area. There are also home shows around this time of year (at least in my area, Western NY) and you can get many ideas, leads and discounts through these shows. The web is your friend and you can easily compare prices you have been quoted for appliances, hardware, faucets and on and on. Can you tell I am KO (kitchen obsessed)

Good luck with you remodel. Maybe I'll see you over on Gardenweb

 

[momtofour]

I have started to search on garden web. Thanks for the suggestion regarding googling it. I have looked around HOUZZ quite a bit and it is alot of fun to dream!

 

[mm1971]

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!

I could build my whole house for $110K. Just saying.

It seems pretty high from a first glance, but it is hard to really know without details. We did our kitchen 6 years ago and it was around $32K. We gutted, removed a wall, added an L shaped island. New electrical work, cabinets and appliances. I can see how we could have spent a lot more if we wanted to. I would price out the materials and labor separately. Materials are what they are for the most part. According to my brother, who has built several houses, you should check the cost per square foot and see if it makes sense. In our area that is around $146/sq ft. for construction.

 

[HM]

When we redid our kitchen my DH was the "general contractor". We did not hire anyone to take on the role because he could manage buying what we needed and making sure that the installers and others could be there when they told us.

We did some work on our own. We took off all the wallpaper and painted the walls. DH added moulding to the area by the ceiling himself.

We bought cabinets and flooring from Lowes and they installed them. We did change up the configuration of the cabinets adding some between the kitchen and eating area for more counterspace and storage. We bought new appliances from Sears. We redid the lighting and bought what we wanted at Lowes and Home Depot and had an electrician do the work of putting them in. And we bought Corian countertops through Lowes but they contract that out to another company.

The entire project cost us about $20,000. (Our house was worth $300,000 at the time).

My advice to you, if you want to save some money, is do more of the work yourselves.

We looked at getting a contractor to help with the master bath remodel and she added 20% to the cost of supplies and labor. We said no thank you, we'll be our own contractor on this project too.

 

[clutter]

One thing to keep in mind when you interview contractors is to ask about who will actually do the work. I decided against a local guy in my neighborhood because I knew the guy that worked for him and would be showing up every morning for a few weeks. Nice guy, but he, and his boss smoked, and I just didn't want the smell along with everything else going on. I had dd watch an episode of Murphy Brown to understand why I nicknamed the guy that I did hire "Eldon."

And watch out for the remodelling magazines. I bought one because it featured the colors I was doing. But they did a 'budget' remodel that incuded a $3,200 fridge! (and yes, that's where the $500 faucet came from...)

 

[Suz D]

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!

I would definately look into getting your cabinets at Lowe's. They have some that can be custom sized for your space.

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

Totally but I'm in Morgantown, WV. Would you be willing to PM me the name of your contractor? We are looking at doing the same type of addition and can't find a local contractor. Yours may be willing to come to Morgantown for the right price. Thanks!

I find it very insulting that you would find it appropriate to put a $90,000-$100,000 renovation question on a budget board? Apparently your budget is way different than mine. My 3 Br, 2 Ba home (built in 97) didn't even apparaise for that this year! I don't really think a $100,000 renovation question belongs on a Budget board.....most of us live in the real world!

The OP is obviously on a budget. The high end factor of the budget are not relevant, and it does belong on a budget board, the OP is just trying to make smart financial choices.

Should not be insulting. This is the budget board - not the poor board. It is for people of all budgets - and millionaires like to save money too!

The real world has people of all classes and financial situations.

Just my $.02

the poor board

 

[BeachLove]

the poor board [/QUOTE]

It can be a sub-forum to this board. I think we need it sometimes because of poor understanding of the word budget.

 

[ccgirl]

OP back again. Thanks to all for your responses. Obviously there is such a range and I am at the beginning stages so I need to do my homework and get more quotes. I am in the "real world" so that is why I am questionning this estimate. The budget board is a great place to get ideas on how to stretch a dollar from other frugal minded disers. Just because the quote is $90,000 does not mean I have $90,000 for the project. It is no different than someone wanting to go to Paris and finds that the airfare is so high and then questions it. Thank you again for the input.

For us, the first step was to come up with a budget. And then work within that budget. My DH has always been in the building industry and refused to purchase the cabinets at Lowe's. Depending on your house price, they could be fine. My DH wanted semi-custom real wood cabinets. To him, we were going to do it and do it "right". If you have a $750,000 house but put in a $20,000 kitchen, chances are you are doing yourself a disservice. We went with Silestone rather than granite. I did start at Lowe's to get ideas and see what they could come up with for a design. We also tried, and ultimately ended up going with, a Home Center. To us, either we were going to remodel it into a kitchen we love or improve the value of our property or we weren't going to do it.

I have a friend that remodeled her kitchen and went with laminate counters in a $400,000 house and stock cabinets. Needless to say, when she sold her house all buyers were discussing how that had to remodel the kitchen. So, it ended up being wasted money.

If there are any open houses near you, it is good to walk through and see how their kitchens are. You definitely want a kitchen that fits with the home as far as price.

Just my two cents. YMMV.

 

[Lehuaann]

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!

OP back again. Thanks to all for your responses. Obviously there is such a range and I am at the beginning stages so I need to do my homework and get more quotes. I am in the "real world" so that is why I am questionning this estimate. The budget board is a great place to get ideas on how to stretch a dollar from other frugal minded disers. Just because the quote is $90,000 does not mean I have $90,000 for the project. It is no different than someone wanting to go to Paris and finds that the airfare is so high and then questions it. Thank you again for the input.

Op, that quote seems insanely high. Like beyond HGTV high. And I've seen some gorgeous 50K kitchens on HGTV, which at the time I thought were high. I mean you're talking $70-$80K for U-shape to L-shape, granite, and med grade cabinets here...what is justifying the cost to be that high!?

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!

Are you willing to contract some of the work out yourself to save money? Personally, I would never use those kitchen showrooms...as you can see, they can get awfully expensive...

Several years ago we gutted a large kitchen in a 120 year old Victorian...literally gutted; everything was stripped floor to ceiling. We hired a *licensed* GC for the difficult work (bones of the kitchen; ceiling, walls, subflooring, windows) and contracted out the other jobs (tile/hardwood, cabinets, plumbing, gas, etc). We found that hiring different people/companies was the only way to keep the cost down. I also designed how I wanted my cabinets to be laid out with approx measurements on paper. I had never done anything like that before - but it made quotes so-much-easier since builders knew exactly up front how/what I wanted. We ended up paying somewhere around $3,800 for custom walnut stained solid alder cabinets with nickel pulls. Some of the cabinets even had glass panes...they were gorgeous. The builder was so proud of his work, as were we. Home Depot/Lowes came no where near that price. Those mom/pop businesses will surprise you sometimes...quality work for less.

...so, if you are willing to put in some prep/work and be assertive, you can really bring the cost down. Also - be honest and tell them you are working under a budget. Just don't ever tell them your actual budget. Trust me. There are some good business owners out there willing to bid you a great price for a little work themselves...

Should not be insulting. This is the budget board - not the poor board. It is for people of all budgets - and millionaires like to save money too!

The real world has people of all classes and financial situations.

Just my $.02

 

[Friendly Frog]

We gutted out kitchen last year, took out a closet, parts of two walls to open it up.. New cabinets, solid top counter, moved some plumbing, added electrical, new hardwood.. Cabinets were Kraftmaid from Lowes.. Spent around $21K.

Wow, what state?

 

[TLSnell1981]

We updated our kitchen 10 years ago.... granite counter tops, blanco granite sink and faucet. We also had to replace a couple of appliances..undercounter ice maker, dishwasher and microwave (KitchenAid). A close family gave us a hefty discount...about 40%, plus free installation. I was shocked when I added these up retail.

Now, I'd like to replace my floors, cabinets and remaining appliances. I also have a Sub zero and Jenn Air double combo wall oven and a 42" cooktop, including a built in wine cooler. I'm afraid, I won't be able to save my countertops.

OP, my initial reaction was the estimate is high, but upon reflection, it's probably not. Although, I would get a couple more estimates.

BTW, I love all of my appliances. My only disappointment was the granite sink.

 

[ccgirl]

OP - as you can tell you are going to get various answers on this. It is also extremely regional.

My house appraises out at $350,000. As I mentioned earlier, my kitchen remodel 8 years ago was around 40K. Granted, we moved plumbing, added some electrical work, replaced a window, slider and two doors. We went with an L shaped counter and med-high grade cabinets. The price of granite really depends on the amount you need. Posters really can't say the price is high without knowing how much granite is needed. Again, keep in mind that this is a 750K house, double the value of my house. Having a kitchen remodel come in double what we spent is pretty accurate.

You can't really go by HGTV. They usually get massive discounts on things. My DH has worked with a few of the shows and agrees the price they usually quote is well under what it would cost the "normal" homeowner due to discounts and not having to pay contractors etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[momtofour]

OP here. Thanks for the great input. I so appreciate it. Does anyone know the ins and outs of HGTV? I watch those shows and am amazed at what they can do for a very reasonable price. Are they getting the materials at cost and labor free? I would love to have Hillary from Love it or List it take a look at my space! It seems like she can do so much for the money.

 

[ccgirl]

OP here. Thanks for the great input. I so appreciate it. Does anyone know the ins and outs of HGTV? I watch those shows and am amazed at what they can do for a very reasonable price. Are they getting the materials at cost and labor free? I would love to have Hillary from Love it or List it take a look at my space! It seems like she can do so much for the money.

I know of the shows my DH has worked with a lot of their material is donated in exchange for advertising. They are their own contractor so they are not paying contractors any money so there is no labor cost. In addition, if they do use a price they go by contractor pricing. What I mean by that is a lot of home stores have a pricing tier. The average homeowner pays the highest price and then contractors pay a different price. The more a contractor buys from them and does business with them, the more of a discount they receive.

Hope this helps.

 

[mistysue]

I'm sorry if I missed this, but are you re-doing it for you? Or are you planning to move sometime fairly soon?
It may matter to you more, but when I re-did my kitchen I realized that I could get laminate tops for about 10-20% the cost of stone ones. They make textured laminate so I've actually gotten complements on my granite tops before... and they are particle board.
I figured I didn't care and if 10 years from now we want to move- if homes by us have granite we can replace them and they won't have any dings or whatever. I wouldn't necessarily trust that we would go 10-15 years without damaging our tops.
If you have good cabinets, the tops, sink and faucet are sort of like the dressing that can be switched around so you can save a bit that way.

As others have said, even if you break out a couple of your items it can save a lot. I had to remove a wall and some soffets meaning we had to rewire a few outlets, re-run all of the gas and plumbing lines in our kitchen and add lighting. We spent around $600 between the electrician and the plumber, that would have been at least doubled by a GC because they estimate in case something goes wrong, if it doesn't, they just keep more. Markups on subcontractors are out of hand enough that when you start doing large construction projects they now write maximum markups into the contracts and require backup. In residential, nobody is setting that limit. I had an insurance claim and saw some of the subcontractor invoices by accident- my insurance was paying about a 70% markup! These guys are not going to think anything of charging you that as well. My dad's rule of thumb is get a contractor quote and you can usually complete the job and throw in a couple frills for half that cost. A lot of the work can be done by local handymen that you can just hire for cash. Not the big things, but paint the walls, hang the cabinets, stain some trim for your toekicks.

If it comes up in your budgeting... don't skimp on drawers. Seriously. Most of my base cabinets are drawers and they are one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

 

[ccgirl]

Forgot to add that I was also a realtor. As PP said, it matter is you are doing this for you or intend to sell in a few years. A good rule of thumb is that a kitchen remodel should be about 10% of the value of your home.

 

[momtofour]

I do have resale in mind but do not expect to downsize for at least 10 years. Now I am starting to think I am doing this too early. Years from now when I want to sell I am afraid I will hear that the kitchen needs to be updated, appliances are old. Is there such a thing as a timeless kitchen? This kitchen is in bad shape. Only appliances that are fully operational and in decent shape are the frig and oven! Formica is chipped, cabinets are horrible. Went to grab a plate recently and the door fell off! I need to do something but am way too frugal to spend huge amounts!