I think you need more than one quote, because it's extremely difficult to compare costs from job to job. If you want to know whether or not the quote is competitive, check with the contractor's competitors. ;)

That said, $40k is certainly in the ballpark for what you describe.

I don't know about CT, but in the bay area, jobs like this done by a very skilled contractor would be around 15-20K, I even know people who would do it for 5-7K, but their work are not much better than DIY.

My GC is charging me $17,000 for: demo of existing kitchen (including soffits), new sheetrock/spackle, new floor molding to match existing, installing new cabinets (including all upper crown molding and LRail molding and some custom touches), taking down a 1/2 wall between Kitchen and DR, all electrical (including material: wire, switches, UC lighting, canned lighting, moving outside door light to new outside door area, relocating electric on wall that will be removed), all plumbing, installing tile BS (whatever tile/pattern I'd like), moving DW, Stove and refrig locations & appropriate plumbing/electric for each, removing existing sliding door in current kitchen and building that wall for cabinets, installing new slider and window in DR space, removing existing tile floor in existing kitchen to prepare for new laminate floor. It does not include costs for new window/slider, 2 pendant lights, laminate floor, paint, cabinets, sink, handles, faucet, appliances, BS material and granite counters. Hope this helps!
Barb

40K sounds high for what you've described.

Hmmm. Well maybe the Boston area is way expensive, or maybe I'm being zipcoded, but we're paying about 30K for cab removal and install, removal of a wall & installation of beam, enlarged window opening & new window, removing half a french door & replacing it with outside wall, all electrical and plumbing related thereto. As with other quotes no paint, no counters, no appliances.

I agree w/ zobeet - I live around Boston too and know that I had zipcode-inflation HOWEVER I think 40K sounds like a steal (or at least it would be around here).

Suzyct - I also live in the Boston area. I got bids from 6 contractors that I found on Angie's List for project that was somewhat similar to yours. The bids ranged from 18K to 40K, not including the cabinets, countertops, and appliances. Make sure to do your research and get plenty of bids!

Yep, forgot to put in my vote for lots of quotes - I ultimately got 6 contractors through here for quotes and the top and bottom had a range of $85,000 between them when comparing apples-to-apples....definitely, more bids are needed!

Also in metro Boston (Newton)--also think that 40K sounds in line with other prices I have heard. Of course prices around here are completely nuts. But I bet CT is similar.

Mnhockeymom--a 85K spread??! Did you go with one in the middle? I have been very lazy so far and have only two bids, and am going with the higher one bc he has worked with our architect a lot and he has fabulous references...but his quote does make me sick to my stomach.

You know, that moving the laundry sounds expensive to me. I've no idea if it (and the whole project) is worth $40K, but I do know that relocating laundry can be tres cher .... Just bringing gas to our existing laundry was $3K. Just the gas! (We didn't do it because we figured we'd never save $3K in utility costs to make it worthwhile.)

For our kitchen project I only took two quotes and nearly danced with glee at the second quote: all along he was my top choice (based on the quality of his workmanship and quality of his workers) and he ended up being ~$20K less (for just the kitchen portion) of the other numbskull my (former) KD was in cahoots with.

You definitely have to get more quotes. And don't forget to keep us informed!

That sounds in the ballpark to me. You might be able to lop $10k off that price, though, IMO.

We're going to spend about $20k for a complete gut and tearing down half a wall (plus applicances/fixtures/cabs), but we have a small kitchen. If we were to relocate our laundry it would probably be 5-10k alone. Plumbing is really expensive relative to thinks like demolition/cabinet installation/tilework.

BTW, we got three bids but are going with the highest one becuase he worked in our building before, so we're hoping he'll be the fastest, too.

I'm also in Boston area, and your price sounds good to me for what you are getting. (Although at this level of detail you can't expect much accuracy.) I paid more than that for what may be more or less work. But I had considerably less $$$ of cabinets. For installation it should be the amount of cabinets rather than the price that matters. But I suppose if you have cheap cabinets you may not be expecting the same care in installation as for expensive cabinets.

I know I paid a Cadillac price for my job, but I also got a Cadillac job. After adjusting for differences in the work between quotes, I think my final quote was about 25% more than my cheapest quote. But we ultimately didn't come to agreement on that - I think he concluded I was expecting more than he could deliver, and was probably right.

I am north of Boston (Andover) and I'm paying my contractor $17,000 for the following: demolition of existing cabs/appliances and install of new cabinets, taking out some back stairs, moving existing back door to new location and installing new back door and pressure treated stairs, removing 3 existing windows and relocating & installing 4 new windows, taking down existing boxed in chimney and repairing floors and roof - he's also putting up new drywall, insulating, painting and installing trim. The labor that is not included is installing our new hardwood floor, plumbing and electric -- those items will probably cost another $10,000+ so total construction-related stuff will come in close to $30,000. (Of course none of these costs include cost of counters, appliances, cabinets etc . . .)

After several years of getting estimates (we started planning a much bigger project that we have put on hold due to market conditions) I can say prices seem to be coming down a little. Definitely shop around - it took me a while to find the guy I am using -- also, in my case the guy I'm using is not from my general area (which tends to feature higher priced contractors) so I think that is helping (less "neighborhood" markup).

holly - Yes, I ended up going with the middle guy but that was also in part because my "evaluation" process includes deciding whether I want to live w/ this person for 4-6 mos and whether in the event of a conflict I feel we could resolve the issue rationally and fairly. We've built 3 custom homes (in MN) over 11 years prior to this remodel and I've learned a few lessons the hard way so for me price and reputations weren't the only factors that I used to decide. For what it's worth, one thing I've learned is that sometime the builder that your architect works with is a little inflated and you'll probably be able to find comparable work a little less...

If you need any names of other contractors that you could talk to, let me know (I'm next door in S-wellesley).

Sorry for taking so long to get back - busy week! Thank you all for your input. I agree about getting more estimates and plan on doing that. One thing I will say for my first quote is that the contractor is someone I have worked with before on a bathroom and he did an excellent job. No major surprises and he is an all around good person. I think that is worth a lot. It is hard to know how fair all of these numbers are so it is helpful to hear what others are doing. I am in Fairfield County, CT and I am sure that impacts my prices. I initially wanted to bump out the seating area of my kitchen but was told that it would be "expensive". I never got a number for it but now am thinking the extra room would allow me to have the island I want... It never ends! I will keep you updated!