Kitchen remodel - change the design or wait for costs to go down?

4 years ago

Phew. We're looking into a kitchen remodel, and boy, have costs skyrocketed! We knew about supply issues and were prepared for a long haul, but we weren't prepared for how much more expensive everything is since the last time we did this five years ago. So the question is, do we wait until the price of lumber goes down and the labor market hopefully picks up for trades people, or do we do what we can to shave the cost off now? We already decided not to redo the floor in the kitchen to save lumber costs. But now we're considering open shelving instead of upper cabinets. We're reusing all our appliances except the cooktop. But the price quoted - with the upper cabinets - is still more than we had planned for. What are others doing?

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Comments (4)

missb_remodeling
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
We haven't done a kitchen in 25 years. It was a much larger project than our current kitchen remodel- back then we added on to the back of our 1912 house, adding a half bath, period appropriate windows, matching existing (small, weird profile) cedar siding, semi-custom cabinets and high end appiances. There was a lot of concrete and wood involved. Felt like we spent a lot back then - $40k, if my memory serves.

We've budgeted over double that (includes the 15% buffer for cost overruns/unexpected issues) for a simple removal of existing and not changing the footprint or the windows in this kitchen. We are doing a floor, but this 100-year old house deserves the right wood and the right width, so we bit the bullet and worked that in to our costs. Had to have it milled.

We're semi-competent DIYers- always passed inspections on the first round for what we do (moving/installing beams when needed, electrical, insulation, finish trim work). We also do our own demo, which allows us to really get to know any issues up close and personal. These things save us money (or show us where we need to redirect our funds).

I don't think costs will go down appreciably.

Either put it off a bit longer and save some more or choose different options. Try different cabinet shops. (I'd avoid open shelves - I hate to dust already so I'm not adding to that chore.) RTA cabinets? I'd go that route if I was short on cabinetry funds, but only if one is handy.

Other than computers, microwaves and calculators, I'm hard pressed to think of when costs went down on items. Demand is still there.
cat_ky
4 years ago
Prices are not likely to go down anytime soon, if ever. Yes it is very expensive. You may want to keep what you have and save more money, to put for the remodel, and then get just what you want. There will always be unknown things that swollow up money, that you havent planned on too.
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marge234
4 years ago
Can you paint your existing cabinets?
Melanie B
Original Author
4 years ago
Yes, we could. But they're from 1990 and not high-end even from that era, so there are so many improvements in cabinets since then. We'd probably have to replace hinges, too, since they're exposed and very old-fashioned looking and not the finish we really want. It's a dilemma. Trying to forecast what costs will be if we wait a year is impossible! Trying to balance a real improvement over making do is tough, too. It's fully functional - that's not an issue. Nothing's broken or missing. The cabinets and counters are simply very outdated.