We’re in a rural part of California and are remodeling our L-shaped with island 16x14 kitchen. We are using pre-fab quartz, midline semi-custom cabinetry, and other mid grade materials. We purchased 30” slide in electric range, counter depth fridge, hood, and dishwasher…all GE Profile except hood. We did have a discount through my work association. We also had a beam replaced with a glue lam beam in ceiling and removal of post and soffits. We were hoping to spend 40-50k. Final cost around 70k. We had another quote for higher. I hope this is helpful.

Very helpful (and kind of in line with what my gut was telling me.). Thank you for sharing

I spent $40k seven years ago for a tiny kitchen with mid-range appliances, nothing custom and no structural changes in a mid-cost market. I remember thinking I could do it for $25k but was quickly disabused of that unrealistic notion. I'm afraid you'll have to double your budget, Mike. Luck!

Everything is relative in a situation like yours….and almost always the costs are higher than expected….or even higher …than may be appropriate …for your location..size of house…etc….tho’ this kind of investment could add as much or more to the re-sale value …the best way to start is to decide how much you can afford to spend ….and move forward with a strict plan that fits that budget…also in anticipation….put a little $ aside for unexpected costs..

We spent $55k nearly eight years ago on a 8 x 12 kitchen with no structural work in a LCOL area, with flooring and painting in separate budgets.

With permits and bringing things up to current code, I'd be surprised if you get out for less than $100k. A venthood and make-up air will be $$$. Then there's lacing in and refinishing your hardwoods. Countertops for a big kitchen are likely to be 15k, unless you're doing laminate.

We're re-doing our master bath. The contractor adds 20% for overhead.

We're doing a kitchen of slightly smaller dimensions. New wood floors, new beam to remove a center support post (so similar to removing a load-bearing wall). Construction alone (labor, flooring, quartz, plumbing and electrical materials) is $70k. Cabinets, appliances, and tile are separate expenses. High cost of living area, so you might be able to adjust down a bit. Not $40k.

The big thing that will affect the price is your plan to make the kitchen into 2.5x sized the average kitchen space. It’s the most expensive room in the house to renovate, so making it bigger dramatically makes your renovation costs bigger before you do a single bit of demo. Your budget needs to be up in the price range of luxury kitchen costs, for average, to below average results, simply because of the project size and scope. https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/major-kitchen-remodel-upscale?y=2022

When removing walls, in my market, this kitchen would be a minimum $100k investment.

There is no way to guess without at least a floor plan and do you already have appliances ? IMO an Ikea kitchen can be the best choice for cabinets and IMO the best bang for your buck . Are you at least able to assemble the cabinets your self Many of my clients find it kind of fun once they get the hang of it. The removal of the wall needs some more info . Is this a load bearing wall and if so how will this be built to take the load ?This IMO is a big ticket item and so are new floors since all the floors will need to be refinished to match another pretty big item. I think the budget is way too low even for cheap cabinets . BTW please look at real stone for your counters since plastic fake stone is often the same price .

I gutted/remodeled the kitchen of my previous house 5 years ago. In Los Angeles area, in a high cost town. No walls moved. New electrical run for a dual fuel range and separate convection-steam oven. Labor ONLY was $50K and that was before we discovered some water/termite damage below the main sink and had to rip out and rebuild that corner of the house and then spend a few nights in a hotel while we tented the house for termites. Also had to pay for private security to sit outside the house for 2 nights, because breaking into and robbing houses filled with poisonous gas seems to be a popular activity! The final cost is always much more than that initial quote!

Look at what similar houses in your area are selling for and their kitchens. Do not over-improve relative to your market.

I have heard figures of 15-25% of value for a kitchen remodel. I suspect it's closer to the 25% when it's all contracted out, you're removing a wall and installing real wood flooring. I bet $40K is not 25% of your home's value since you're in the Northeast.

I'm in Seattle. Did a gut kitchen remodel with removal of a non weight bearing wall, finished size 16*x10. Custom cabinets (32k) two new windows in new positions, closing off of three windows, kept all old appliances except fridge. Total about 90-100k. Hard to say exact total because we also replumbed whole house and upgraded electrical service so those trades I tried to separate kitchen from rest of house issues for these purposes.

ETA finished June 2022

Just sold a kitchen job ( I'm in Westchester county , NY ) . $29,000 materials and $28,000 labor and that included opening a load bearing wall, semi custom cabinets, quartz counters, tile floor. This did not include appliances.

Good luck!

No, not even close to realistic. Maybe Ikea, which I happen to love.

Thanks all for the feedback. You’ve confirmed my hunch! Will have to reduce scope and reassess.

I think it is useful to get budget-level estimates for your project based on what you're going to put in there.

I am remodeling a roughly 12x12 kitchen, full gut plus new (custom milled to match existing 100-year old hardwood) floors. We DIY-ed the gutting of the project, including hauling off and disposing/recycling and making sure the framing was still good.

But before we removed a single item from the kitchen, I already knew what cabinets I was buying, what flooring I was getting, what appliances I would order, and what countertop material I wanted. I even had the hardware, sink, lighting and fixtures chosen/priced out. I had a complete picture of what the budget would be, almost a year in advance for most and in some cases over a year in advance. Sure, some of the prices changed, but I also left some room in the budget to absorb those increases. When I finalized my cabinet order, the person I've been working with remarked that it was just a bit more than a year to the day since she'd run the estimate.

The only reason my small kitchen is not over $100k is because dh and I can DIY some of it, and I'm acting as the GC. It sucks up a fair amount of time to do that, and I get all the headaches that go along with it. I'm fine with managing my project; we've done it for more major projects over the years. We're used to living amongst the contractors in and out and the messes that come with a remodel. You pay more for someone to watch all that for you, and in today's market, you're going to be paying even more.

(I will say that I was nearly right on the dollar for electrical and drywall estimates. Like under $100 off for each.)

The estimate I got from my contractor to remove 2 non-weight bearing walls and expand a 100 sq ft kitchen into roughly 200 square feet was $180k. This is with semi-custom cabinets, mid-range appliances and quartz countertops (but I will likely use custom cabinets, marble or soapstone, and higher end appliances). We are budgeting $220-250k. This is in the Midwest in a smaller city where the cost of living is about 28% lower than Chicago. Note this is a 1930s home. plumbing and electrical in old houses is just wildly expensive.