My husband and I are in the beginning stages of our DIY kitchen remodel, so I don't have too much advice to give other than if you're willing to do a lot of research, it's possible to do just about any part of a remodel yourself. We have a motto though that we like to keep in mind when we're working on the house. "you can have speed, quality, or low cost, but you can only have two of the three at the same time".

Looking forward to seeing how your kitchen progresses!

What I would do first is to find out what specifically is included in his estimate so you can see where the costs are building up. Is that price largely for cabinets and the cost of install or are you having other structural changes made that are causing your price to rise? If it is mainly the cabinets that are causing the overruns, I'd suggest you shop around some more. Cabinet costs can vary substantially, even among semi-custom lines with similar features. In my case, cabinet estimates varied from $14,000 to $21,000 for essentially the same layout and features.
Also, with full service kitchen places you are rarely getting the best price. They have to build in overhead etc. and those costs are passed along to the consumer. Of course, you are getting their expertise and it is a one-stop-shop so you save on the headaches of arranging things yourself so there are certainly many pluses.
In our case, we used a cabinet shop to help design and order the cabinets, but I went out and got the other tradespeople myself. It is a bit more to organize, but will save us quite a bit of $$$.
Hope that helps.

I chose to do kind of a mix. I did the design myself and then DIY'd building a small wall to make a pantry and widening the main doorway. With guidance from a carpenter friend we installed a new 6 foot window (more difficult because it involved a load bearing wall). And then initially we were going to do all the electric but DH got a bit nervous so we called up an electrician we've used in the past. He's semi-retired but he agreed to come and let me help him to save on cost. I plan on doing the plumbing, fingers crossed. We're having the flooring done by someone else and the cabinets are being done by a custom shop (very reasonable price including installation, got what I wanted by going custom) I can't imagine that we haven't saved at least $15-20k

Bottom line is that I think if you are determined you can do it. One thing that helped me stay on track was using the deadline of the cabinets arrival. The minute we got that date we listed all of our to do's and planned our weekends from there. We demo'd in late March and the cabs are due next week!

This is a timely post for me, as I am thinking of GC-ing my kitchen remodel, with a bit of DIY (I will assemble my own Ikea cabs, but will have a certified installer put them in). I'd like to know what others think, but if you have an electrician, plumber, tile guy, floor guy, cabinet installer and painter you like, it seems to me you can GC the project yourself. Isn't it the DIY part that causes the project to drag on? Or is this more complicated than I think? How much money can I expect to save by being the GC?

I would definitely get a breakdown on costs so you know what percentage is the cabinets. There is such a huge price differential among cabinet lines. Also, things like corbels, split posts etc cost a ton. I think my 4 ountertop supports cost as much as my huge glass door cabinet.

GCing and doing some things DIY can save tons of money but the compromise is that it WILL take longer. It is hard to line up the subs to be able to get back right away when you are overseeing the project yourself. For instance, the plumber roughs everything one week. You then can call and arrange the cabinets installation or make the time to do it yourself. Then you have to wait for the counters to get templated and installed. You can't call back the plumber to hook up the sink till the counters are in. The plumber then can't get there for 3 days..etc. My kitchen took 4 months from cabinet order to workable (excluding backsplash, final paint color etc).

I added up what I spent on my kitchen and I was frankly amazed. Only 10% of my costs went to labor because I DIYed quite a bit and found great plumbing/electrical/handyman and ceiling drywall guys myself. I was able to get higher qualilty materials with my savings on labor. From what I read, it seems like labor can account for as much as 50% of costs sometimes.

well, he did give me a breakdown, and cabinets are a bulk of the cost- $21,000- even though I told him to the frameless cabinet line, he decided to quote us inset doors, which I know are a lot more. I have gotten many other quotes and they have ranged from $10,000 to $17,000 for other lines (kraftmaid and armstrong at the lower end, candlelight at the higher end). I told him that cost needs to be more like $15,000. The other shocking figure was the labor- $12,000. That was cabinet install, plumbing, electric, and tear out. We are not moving any walls, or changing the location of any plumbing or appliances. Considering the only plumbing that needs to be done is to disconnect the sink (which I can do myself), it just seemed really high to me. Other cabinet quotes I have gotten have included installation, too. After sleeping on it, I am really leaning towards being our own GC this morning!

I am going to say this as nicely as possible. I will NEVER have a GC again. That being said you have to do what you are COMFORTABLE with.

I am nearing the end (I think) of a 3 yr. total reno. We had our 1st builder embezzle and then go bankrupt. Our new builder, well lets put it this way, he is just a crook. The amount of money, materials, etc. that is missing is ridiculous. He has been to our job site 5 times since last Aug. This is a 6000 sq. ft. home.
He shorted our budget so much, now the bank says dh and I have to figure out how to get it done. I am not afraid of hard work. But, that means we are out there doing the physical work. Thats with running 2 restaurants, homescholing 8 children etc. We do have an attorney, our builder got wind of this and put a lien on our home on friday. He isn't even done nor is his contract. Our lawyer thinks he may just have hung himself.
But, enough of the sob story.
This is all to say that I would tackle the GC'ing yourself. You can do it. Just read alot, GET REFERENCES on everyone you work with. Be clear with subs, get everything in WRITING.

Sorry to be such a downer, but I don't know one person that has had a good experience. I know good GC;s exist, I just don't know where they are.

$12,000 sounds like a lot for labor considering the extent of your remodel. Just to give you an idea, following are the amounts I'm paying for some of the basics:
Demolition - $800
Cabinet Install -$2000
Plumbing - $2700 (I am having some significant changes)
Electric - $2200 (7 recessed, 2 pendant, new outlets, phone jack - plus hooking up all appliances)

FYI, I live North of Boston (I know prices can fluctuate by region, but tend to be a bit higher here).

If this KD is NOT listening to you now, what makes you think he will listen during the project! It sounds like he is making decisions on his own and already over budget. Drop him fast!!

I wouldn't be getting a new kitchen if we didn't DIY it ourselves. Yes, we hired a custom cabinet guy, granite guy and linoleum guy, but I acted as GC and coordinated it all. I also purchased most items online or shopped around locally for the best deal. But my DH did all the electrical and plumbing, we are tiling our backsplash, doing own appliance installation, etc. You don't have to do all of it yourself, but you can save $$ by acting as your own GC. This forum is SO VALUABLE in keeping you headed in the right direction and helping with tons of advice. Save some $$ and put it towards your kids college fund... Good luck!

jammonit - My words of advice. Shop around and negotiate. $12K is too high for labor in what you describe. In our current kitchen remodel, we had 3 quotes, 3 different cabinet lines. Pricing was different for cabinets and labor in all. On the highest one, the labor was initially quoted at $11K - the others were around $6K to $7K. I basically negotiated the $11K down to meet the others. For what you describe, $6K to $7k would be more realistic.

I also DIY'd a kitchen remodel in our old home 20 years ago. Saved money but it takes time and while I think I did a very good job, I wouldn't compare the final results to a job done by a professional.

I also DIY'd finishing our basement - so I have significant DIY experience. But $30K is a big investment -and my philosophy now is if I am going to spend that much (or more in my case) I am going to make sure its a top notch job and hire a pro.

acountryfarm - well here is one person who had a good experience with a GC. Actually had two of them - one when we built our house 17 years ago, another in our current kitchen remodel. It just takes being careful in the assessment process, doing your homework and ensuring you hire the right GC and using the contract to protect yourself

If you like the guy - I would take the open approach - saying:

I love what you have come up with and I am dissapointed that it is out of my league. Can you help me make adjustments to your plan to get me to my number? If not, I'm going to have to go elsewhere and I don't want to do that. I have done some digging around and find that I can get cabinets and labor for a lot less. I'd rather give the job to you though.....

I think it's kind of funny, there's another thread at the moment talking about the lack of creativity in a KD's design and discussion around, was the design boring because of the budget? That KD wasn't seen too highly by our boards either. I think that it's really easy from behind the computer to think someone isn't doing the right job. Truth is, only the customer can know that. I feel that you should just talk it through.

Good luck! BTW - I liked the expensive design, decided to pay for the design and then wen't and sourced all of my stuff myself and saved my $$ there.

Sounds like your remodel is very similar to what ours was - no structural changes and keeping appliances in the same location. Will you be tearing out drywall and replacing flooring? Getting any new windows or doors? If not, then basically you're just replacing fixtures and finishes and that is the best situation to have if you decide to GC yourself - as long as you have a plumber, electrician, cab installer that you trust, that is. We did our own demo on a Saturday morning - me, DH and a couple friends - and I thought that was the easiest part (except that old cabs were nailed together, screws would've been too easy I suppose, and it got to be like pulling teeth) - so don't know how much we would've spent had we hired someone else to do it. But if we hadn't bought new appliances, our remodel would have ended up costing $20,922. I too think your labor cost quote sounds high. Our cabinet install was $1817. Plumber was $488. Electrician was $1,623, which included bringing some things up to code, installing plugmold and undercab lighting. That comes to If you've been planning this for 5 years, you must be thoroughly familiar by now with exactly what you want and have all your specs and measurements memorized by heart. And if you've been following this forum for a while, you should have a pretty good idea of what kind of things to look out for. So you can absolutely do this and keep to your budget. Having said that, I have to admit that my remodel was extremely stressful - and I didn't have small kids either. I tried to time things well but still ended up without a working kitchen for 3 months (some cabinets had to be sent back several times, had to wait 3 weeks for c-top install, etc.) Setting up a decent temporary kitchen would've helped a lot. Even though the process was horrible and stressful, I'm very happy with my new kitchen and feel like it was all worth it at last. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks so much for all or your great responses! I actually went to a discount cabinet place in our area today to get another quote (they are quoting us on yorktowne and shiloh cabinets which they sell at a 30-40% discount depending on the size of your order). My mom used them to buy some cabinets in her living room, and they did a great job with her project- took back a scratched door no questions asked, and placed the order for a replacement the same day. They also gave me a reference for a contractor to do the installation of the cabinets, who also does plumbing and electrical (which the work on our kitchen will be minimal)- and this contractor has done work on the kitchens of several people who worked at the cabinet place, so I am going to schedule a meeting with him as well to get a few more references. I am still going to try to work it out with the other KD because I really did like him, but I figure getting a few more quotes will help to give me some negotiating power:) It does concern me that he just blew off my budget, though, so if the next meeting doesn't go well it is sayonara. I am pretty new to the forum (I found it a few weeks ago when researching countertop materials), and I am so happy I did- everyone has been so helpful so far!

I have a 10 ft by 7 ft galley kitchen inside a condo.
A gc had the gaul to give me a $32,000. estimate for labor only. I provide the
material and supplies for the job.
The kitchen cabinet company is charging $3000. to install cabinets as a separate charge.
The gc work involves closing one entrance to my kitchen, putting in a ceramic tile floor and painting only. No electricl or plumbing and some demolition.
Everything stays in the same place. No walls being removed.
It is a bad joke the contracting profession.

Whatever you do don't use craigslist. It is another headache.

We did a little of both. We had KD do the cabinet layout, but we picked styles, colors, appliances, countertops, etc. We were our own GC. The kitchen came in at about $80K. We checked with one of the KD companies that does everything and they wanted $130K for the same project.

It sounds like you should be able to stay within your budget fairly easily. Acting as your GC is a bit of a pain, but it saves big. You can also save a lot by dropping the inset doors. They are about 20% more.

berryberry -- your absolutely right about your checklist. Not one of which we did because or bank said this is who you have to use. After our 1st rotten experience we were desperate to get going again. I claim complete and utter stupidness. Not my usual way, for sure.

Rahime, I love your motto! My DH and I DIY all of our projects, mostly woodworking so our motto was "What happens in the garage, stays in the garage!" But now that we are in the middle of our kitchen renovation, we need a new motto & yours fits perfectly. We have quality and low cost because we are DIY'ing, but certainly NOT speed. I'll use this to remind DH when he complains that we aren't making any progress... Thank you. Good Luck!

We went the DIY route. Our budget would not have supported the quality materials we chose if we had to pay for all the labor too. We are pretty experienced DIY'ers and DH can do anything (except drywall he says). We did not move walls or window or doors.

We did pay the cabinet company to install the cabinets as there was a lot of moldings etc and our house is so wonky that we felt we might not get a professional looking install if we tried it ourselves. We did some minor replumbing and drywall repair with some help from friends. We paid a guy to assist DH in laying the travertine floor tiles. And our soapstone counters were partially fabricated prior to delivery and we had lots of friends help install them. Beer labor is not skilled but it is cheap. Everything else we did. The demolition was the easiest and most fun part. I so enjoyed removing the PO's pink countertops.

DIY was definitely the right way for us but I'm sure it took longer than a good contractor. We started demo in July '07 and we had the big elements (flooring, cabinets, appliances and counters) done in Jan '08. It was a long haul and at times seemed overwhelming but we did it. I think our kitchen is much better in so many ways because we did it ourselves. We still have a few details to finish up but we have been sidetracked with some other projects. But wow the kitchen functions so much better than I even expected. I think someone else mentioned this but research was a key to saving money and doing things right the first time. We compared many different options for almost everything we did. That took lots of time and energy but was worth it in the end. It is difficult to estimate but I think we saved a large chunk of change by DIY'ing.

Best of luck.

Thanks, Ngng. We usually go for those two also...but I oftentimes have to remind myself of that when a project is going particularly slowly.

I'm planning a pretty big redo of my kitchen and since I'm not a DIY type, I assumed I'd need a GC. I've always used one for previous reno projects, but I'm not so sure now that I can't do the management part myself.

I like my basic layout, but the cupboards, countertops, floors, window, lighting have got to go. I don't have to move any walls, and I've pretty well researched a lot of the replacement materials, and have a KD doing some drawings for me. The first GC who looked over the job quoted me OVER $100,000!!!!! which didn't include the appliances. I talked to another guy last night who couldn't understand why I wanted a 600cfm vent fan over my proposed pro-style 36" 6-burner gas range, let alone why I would consider make-up air for it (like, it's CODE here, fella!). He tried to tell me I didn't need a vent fan at all unless I fried a lot, but "frying isn't healthy for you", so why bother. I've got another guy coming Monday morning, and I'm dreading what he may suggest.

The more I think about it, the more logical it seems to contract individually with my suppliers to provide installation of my chosen components. I'm pretty sure I can find a handyman type to do the demolition, clean-up, and finishing details. I'll need a bit more advice before dealing with electricians, but hey, what are friends for? My biggest fear is finding appropriate trades to come in and do their bit in a timely fashion. There is a building/reno boom occuring in my town right now, and labour is tight. Still, I'm sure the GCs are operating under the same constraints. At least I don't have to pay myself 30% of all costs to cover overhead.

I'm not sure what I'd call our approach. We have a builder who is doing the "work". DH and I came up with our own design, and then we purchased all the cabinets, appliances, and surface materials, as well as our French doors, from vendors we chose ourselves. Our builder purchased all the building materials, as well as some windows (because we didn't know how to measure and specify those). Our builder will coordinate with the glass company, our cabinet guy, and our countertop fabricator for those installations, and our builder is supplying the painter and the tiler. This approach worked well for our two previous remodels (both bathrooms), so we feel confident that it will work again.