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

[ccgirl]

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!

What you could do is cabinets now and countertops later. We went pretty neutral as far as cabinets so it would go with more tastes. The other thing that can be a budget breaker/cost savings are fixtures (cabinet knobs/drawer pulls/lights). I was amazed at the cost spread of cabinet pulls. The kitchen we put in 8 years ago is still very much "in style" today so to speak. I probably wouldn't spend a ton on appliances now and would think about purchasing better appliances before resale in 10 years. It's up to you though. If you have the money, go for it. I haven't regretted my kitchen upgrade at all and I'm glad my DH talked me into the Silestone and cabinets that he did.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

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 have not read anything on this thread but this post. I did my kitchen for 20K. All new cabinets, appliances and granite. Let me just say I used two full slabs of granite(most kitchens do not even use one) and there is a ton of it( but it is ubatuba). I have an island, new tile floor, new walls, new cabinets and new appliances. I did not get the top of the line appliances my stove was only 1600 and my fridge was only a year old so I did not need a new one but I did get a micro convection for over the stove. What I did do was go on line and research and search websites for the best prices on items. My kitchen encompasses 2.5 rooms in size because I took down a wall. I have a sitting area with hard wood and the work area has tile. One thing I did find with cabinets is I went to Cabinets to Go. I was skeptical of these cabinets but HONESTLY even my contractor was AMAZED at the quality. I cannot give you the dimensions but I can tell you my penninsula seats 5 and my island seats 3. I have a small room off the kitchen with upper and lower cabinets too. I have had them a year and a half now and they are still wonderful and have dovetailed draws and are self closing. I have an island, penninsula, and then a small room off the main kitchen so I have a TON of cabinets. What I don't have is a lot of the upgrades like the wine rack, or under counter trash.

I got the top of the line faucets and my penninsula is also like a divider with wainscotting and corbels on one side and it is a step up so I have the lower and upper parts.
Let me just say that the company where I got my tile and granite wanted a photo for their website( I never did it).

YOU CAN most certainly do a beautiful kitchen for a lot less than your quote. I did not need any structural stuff like pipes but they did put lally columns in my basement because I had so much granite.

 

[ccgirl]

It all depends on so many things and can/want are two different things so it's all up to what you wanted to do. Sure, I could do my kitchen for 10K but I didn't want to (absolutely nothing against those that do). I went with the no slam drawers, the pull out trash and recycling, the sliding drawer pantry cabinet, pull out base pantry cabinet, plate rack etc.

Again, for a $750,000 house chances are a kitchen remodel would require a good deal of money in order to keep the quality of the kitchen consistent with the house. I only say that because you mentioned selling. If you were not going to sell; it really wouldn't matter.

It's all in what you want to do and what you can afford.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

I sent you a private message. Yes you should be able to renovate a kitchen that will still look good/be a good sellable look 10 years from now.

Do it now! Don't wait. YOU need to enjoy it too, not just for resale.

 

[SpecialK]

I'm in the south suburbs. When we finished our basement five years ago, we got estimates that ranged from 30k to 65k. Don't stop at one.

Two of my friends have recently redone kitchens and both used guys they found through word of mouth who acted as general contractor for the work they couldn't do themselves. My sister used a kitchen design firm for hers, and the work was poorly done and a lot more expensive. I'd suggest you put the word out for referrals.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

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!

You should be doing a kitchen remodel for YOU to enjoy now, not for resale purposes 10 or more years down the road.

I know two people who did an expensive remodel thinking that it would make it easier to sell their home and the people who bought ended up ripping out everything they put in because it was not their taste.

I live in Northern NJ and I think the prices you got are in the ballpark for a large kitchen.

I also think that what you want to spend is not unreasonable for the price of your home.

I guess according to some on here, you have to have a multi-million dollar home in order to justify spending $100,000 on a kitchen remodel.

 

[rainynight]

I haven't read through any replies so not sure if this has been mentioned but check local small time wood workers for custom cabinets. My dad is remodeling and found some guy with a small home based cabinet business and does beautiful high quality work for a small fraction of the price you can buy at any home improvement store. About 10 years ago a neighbor did the same thing and got beautiful new solid wood cabinets from a small time wood worker for next to nothing. As far as counters goes I've always loved tile counters. We did a minor kitchen remodel and everyone seems to love our counters, a few family members actually installed their own tile counters after seeing ours. We also went with a copper sink which adds a beautiful touch. Our house looks expensive and professionally done but we've done the work ourselves and find ways to add beauty and class without spending a lot. DIY can be scary to think about but some of our best memories is of us trying to figure things out. : -) sorry about the lack of paragraphs, my phone isn't working so well with this site.

 

[dminnie]

Check out gardenweb.com under their "home" forum, you'll find a kitchen forum. That was invaluable when we redid our kitchen. Lots of pictures, advice, ideas that I never would have thought of. It's a REALLY great site.

Take your time planning this. Costs will add up even faster if you change your mind about this or that after you've started.

The quote seems pretty high to me, but it really depends on what you're putting in and what the labor costs are. We spent about $30,000 with a TOTAL gut, but we did 98% of the work ourselves.
about $4000 for appliances, $9000 cabinets, 4000 counters, then all the "little" things add up fast.

 

[dminnie]

Now I read more of the thread and see you've already looked at gardenweb!

 

[limace]

I'd do some serious research on consumer reports-I think you can bring those appliance costs down a lot. Are you a really big time cook? If not, the double oven, etc, might be overkill If you're thinking of resale, what kind of appliances do comparable kitchens in your area have? And I vote for avoiding stainless I think the stainless, granite, cherry cabinet look is going to shortly look super dated. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WHO HAS THAT KITCHEN!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Is 90k reasonable? Possibly. For the location, materials, and your answers, maybe. It really varies though. When you talk about moving plumbing, oven vents, or heating, it adds up. My DH is a contractor and he did our kitchen -doing ALL the labor himself - for 20% of our homes value. We invested in quality cabinets (which I wouldn't trade!) and higher quality appliances (but not the top). If he had to pay for labor, we would have incurred 2-3x the cost. If you want to save money, expect to take on the project management position and become extremely knowledgeable about remodeling. Otherwise, get several bids and accept one - and be glad you don't have to be PM.

 

[dminnie]

I think the stainless, granite, cherry cabinet look is going to shortly look super dated. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WHO HAS THAT KITCHEN!

Ha! That's what I have! No offense taken!

We love it. When we put it in we talked about resale value, how dated it would look etc. One thing we realized is that no matter what you do...it will probably look dated whenever you are selling it down the road. Or, if you put something really odd in, it will look...odd down the road. You just have to balance all that with your budget and what you like.

 

[Aliceacc]

Ha! That's what I have! No offense taken!

We love it. When we put it in we talked about resale value, how dated it would look etc. One thing we realized is that no matter what you do...it will probably look dated whenever you are selling it down the road. Or, if you put something really odd in, it will look...odd down the road. You just have to balance all that with your budget and what you like.

I'm pretty much planning to be buried in the back yard; I can't imagine moving.

We we're doing the kitchen for US. Twenty or 25 years from now, when we think about selling the house, WHATEVER we do this summer is going to look dated. So we may just as well please ourselves and not sweat it.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I'd do some serious research on consumer reports-I think you can bring those appliance costs down a lot. Are you a really big time cook? If not, the double oven, etc, might be overkill If you're thinking of resale, what kind of appliances do comparable kitchens in your area have? And I vote for avoiding stainless I think the stainless, granite, cherry cabinet look is going to shortly look super dated. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WHO HAS THAT KITCHEN!

No offense to you, but I think you are wrong about stainless and cherry cabinets ever looking dated!

Stainless has always been and will always be in if you are looking to put in restaurant style appliances. (Did you ever see an avocado or harvest gold oven or stove in a restaurant kitchen? )

Ditto with granite--it will never go out of style.

I think what you use for tile or back splash is what will *date* your kitchen.

When you redo your kitchen (or bath for that matter) I think it's best to stick with traditional styles and not go with the latest redo look from HGTV (unless you have the money to change it whenever you grow tired of the style).

 

[shoney]

I'm pretty much planning to be buried in the back yard; I can't imagine moving.

We we're doing the kitchen for US. Twenty or 25 years from now, when we think about selling the house, WHATEVER we do this summer is going to look dated. So we may just as well please ourselves and not sweat it.

I agree with you. When we bought our second home I said to DH "how does it feel to buy your tomb?" I'm not going anywhere...I hope!

I also agree that everything becomes dated. While stainless as a finish may be here to stay, at least for a long while, the style of them will change making older ones "dated". The same goes for tile, colors, finishes, materials, etc.

Even patios, pools and outside things become dated. Landscaping, too. Styles in homes change just like fashion.

 

[dminnie]

We we're doing the kitchen for US. Twenty or 25 years from now, when we think about selling the house, WHATEVER we do this summer is going to look dated. So we may just as well please ourselves and not sweat it.

I

also agree that everything becomes dated. While stainless as a finish may be here to stay, at least for a long while, the style of them will change making older ones "dated". The same goes for tile, colors, finishes, materials, etc.

Even if you think you'll only be there 5 years, do it for yourself. It's a lot of work and money. We actually talked about how the stainless, granite, cherry look could go out of style shortly after us doing it. It was a look that we just really liked though...for a long time...since we kept liking it, we figured we'd probably keep liking it once it was in our house. We actually liked it BEFORE a family member bought a house with it a few years ago...we hoped they wouldn't think we were copying or something. What I really love is that we made our kitchen so much more functional: a whole wall of pantry space, a penninsula, microwave in it's own cabinet, exhaust fan that works, lots of drawers where we now keep our dishes, pull out spice cabinets, etc.

 

[esk]

haven't read all the pages, but OP, you can go to gardenweb.com and get amazing advice there....beware, you will get sucked in and start spending all your time on that site.

We built a house 2 years ago (south west IL) and our cabs were about $25K, appliances $9K (stainless, GE Profile, double ovens, french door fridge), granite (Black Galaxy, $95 sq ft, glass front doors, granite sink (home and stone.com, shipped to you), hardwood floors, blah blah....we have an island but probably our kitchen is smaller than yours?

I think $90-100K is high without any structural work like walls and windows but I am not a contractor or builder, so I really have no idea. But the people on Gardenweb do....

 

[Califgirl]

esk, we have black galaxy granite, too. I LOVE it! We have a copper sink and oiled bronze hardware. Looks fabulous!

 

[Eastern]

I think the big swirly granites all look dated.

Before I redid my kitchen I googled backsplash images and there are tons of ugly backspashes.

The simpler the better in terms of resale. It's cheaper, too.

 

[Jenny3]

Since we're on the topic of kitchens... what are your opinions on stainless appliances vs black? I like the look of stainless better, but those I've talked to said they are a pain to keep clean.

When we renovate our kitchen, I'll need a new oven, microwave and fridge. My current dishwasher is fairly new and black. We haven't chosen anything yet, but I'm leaning towards the dark brownish red cabinets from Ikea with light solid surface countertops and subway tile backsplash if that matters any!