Those prices seem outrageously out of line to me! In early 2010, TOTAL cost for ours, including the actual working vent was less than $2500. Here is a picture of my kitchen where you can see the hood. My custom cabinet maker charged me $800 to make the custom range hood cover out of clear coated mahogany. (I JUST looked up his invoice to make absolutely sure that I was remembering the price correctly.) He designed and built the cover so it would fit over this stainless steel vent hood that we purchased from Sears for about $1500 on sale. The purchased vent rests on a couple of very small ledges inside the custom cover and fits so that bottom edge of the stainless steel hood sits about about 1 inch higher than the lower edge of the curved section on the front face of my vent cover. That way the purchased vent is completely hidden by the vent cover but the controls are easily accessible. In the shot below, (taken from underneath) you can see how the purchased vent fits inside the custom cover and you can see one of the "ledges" at the side of the vent. BTW, I just looked and Sears currently has the exact same stainless steel hood we used on sale for $1626. Here is a link to it: http://www.sears.com/vent-a-hood-euroline-series-model-wall-mount/p-SPM7417651910?prdNo=13&blockNo=13&blockType=G13 Or for even less money, Sears also NOW sells a 27" Broan range vent that is designed specifically to be installed in a custom enclosure for less than $600. See the link below. When we were building, I couldn't find ANY vent hoods that were designed to be installed inside a custom cabinet. (They may have been available but I could not find them for sale to consumers anywhere and I'm usually pretty good at finding things.) Thus we paid extra for the fancy Modern Euro "finish" on ours and then paid to have a custom cabinet cover made to give it the old-fashioned look we like! So, even if cabinet builders are now charging twice what we paid 3 years ago to have our vent cover made, it still looks to me like you should still be able to get the look you want for under $2500. You might need to pay a bit more if a very high powered vent fan is important to you...but the cover alone SHOULD NOT run you anywhere close to $4000. Sounds to me like maybe your cabinet maker probably ONLY knows how to make cabinets (boxes) and drawers and then probably purchases pre-made doors to go on those. He's probably doesn't know HOW to make a vent cover and the mere idea of making one scares him. Thus, he quoted you that utterly ridiculous price in order to scare you off from ordering a vent cover while still hanging on to the rest of your cabinet business. If it were me, I'd talk to another cabinet builder or two. And if by any chance, you're in my neck of the woods (central Texas), I'd be delighted to give you my custom cabinet builder's name. He was absolutely terrific! Here is a link that might be useful: vent designed for installation in a custom mantle style hood.

It's important to understand what you are getting for your money so that you can adequately compare your choices. That means not only an "apples to apples" comparison based on the same cabinets and trim, but also understanding quality differences. Builder grade cabinets are generally not customizable at all compared to mid grade semi custom cabinetry which has some customization available. The biggest difference between builder grade cabinets and mid grade cabinets is the material. The construction material and hardware is lower grade for builder grade. But many lower grade cabinets available will still pass KCMA construction guidelines, and you would not be purchasing significantly more durability by purchasing more expensive cabinet boxes. Once you reach a certain level of construction in boxes, anything above that is overkill with little return. The doors are a different matter. What separates mid grade cabinets from upper grade cabinets is the finishing of the doors. The boxes and the hardware are pretty comparable. What you are buying is the extra time required to do a more premium job in selecting and finishing the wood for the doors. We all know that labor is the most expensive component of any product or service. In higher quality cabinets, the wood matches better, it's sanded smoother, and the staining or painting is of better quality. Since the doors and drawers are what show on cabinetry, the difference in finishing can impart significant differences in appearance and wear over time. The difference between upper grade cabinets and premium grade cabinets is back to the materials chosen and the ability to completely customize them to any degree. Exotic woods, solid polished stainless, or specialty box materials like no VOC plywood can be part of the mix. You're also talking custom labor installation from people who do nothing else and are part of the package. Christopher Peacock customers aren't DIYers. ;) The term "custom" gets bandied about a lot, but it doesn't have a fixed unalterable meaning because some wood workers (NOT woodworkers) have usurped the term to make themselves sound more skilled than they are. The term is stretched almost to the breaking between a builder's carpenter who makes a couple of big long boxes on the wall to fit doors that he pre-ordered from a wholesaler to a true craftsman who will make any wood you want in any door configuration and in any size. Custom is NO guarantee of quality---EVER. Some of the worst slapdash quality cabinets you will ever see will come with that label, as well as some of the finest furniture quality casework. Be sure to do enough research to know what you are getting for your money. Sometimes the products considered are not worth the money difference, but much of the time it is. But, even if it's intrinsically worth the money doesn't mean that it's not overkill for your situation and thus not "worth" the money to you. There is sometimes a world of difference between what we want and what we really need. It's not "settling" to spend 20K on full overlay semi custom cabinets rather than inset fully custom 100K cabinets if that is where your budget number needs to be. It's probably where your house needs to be as well.

idrive65, There really isn't a total price. The builder supplies flat panel maple or oak in a natural finish as the default. If I want to upgrade to a raised panel or different finish I have to pay to "upgrade". live_wire_oak, The standard door is not veneered, but a solid-wood oak or maple. Is it really that expensive to move from solid maple flat panel to solid cherry raised panel? I guess I was surprised because my friends recently had their entire kitchen cabinets replaced (hurricane Ike) and the total bill for raised panel solid-maple cabinets with natural finish was $4500 for almost exactly the same number of cabinets I'm looking to install. So I was surprised that the "upgrade" was more than the cost of installing brand new cabinets. Regarding the granite, I was afraid that it wouldn't be possible to remove and re-install :( The builder doesn't do "credits" so there isn't really any way for me to get that money back if I chose to go with laminate instead of granite :( You're right about the sticker shock. The upgrades have basically all come in at exactly the same price as just buying new. For example, the upgrade from stainless GE standard wall oven to stainless GE profile convection wall oven is $2400. I can buy the same oven at Bestbuy for $2500. They're basically giving me $100 credit for the stock stainless GE wall oven (which retails for $1300). I guess that's what you get when you work with a track home builder :(

marcolo - you obviously have some pent up frustrations left over from your bluecollar childhood. You also have no clue about how the industry works either! A GC can be a project manager or not. Can be a sales man on not, can, and often is, both. He or SHE might have employees and might not. That $40 an hour to a sub doesn't just go into that plumbers pocket ( less uncle Sam's cut) like your "salary" does. (S)he gets to pay our uncle just like you but, many get the privilege of sending a lot of that money in ahead of time in quarterly estimated payments, not taken out of a paycheck every two weeks like most people on salary. You should try paying your tax bill in advance - you'll love it! Out of that $40/hr comes professional fees an licenses and overhead like a phone or two, and a vehicle that gets outasite gas mileage and some have offices believe it or not, and then there is workman's comp insurance so if he steps on a nail at YOUR house you are protected, and many even have something like obamcare too, and lets not forget one of the biggest - Liability Insurance - you want your slave.... I mean contractor to have that , right marcolo? I mean you don't want him accidently cutting a water pipe and flooding your house and then leave you with the bill simply saying "sorry maser, I dinnen mean ta , I guess ya can whip me." So, what do you suppose all that is worth? Would you like to pick up some of you're job's overhead like contractors do? You can easily give your employer back $$$ for use of the phone & pay ALL of your health care costs, and buy your own computer and pay for the internet out of your salary - sound good? While your at it why not round up and pay him for your desk/chair and pencils, pens and all the reams of paper you use? Another thing none of you math wizzes have taken into account in the scenario is that the bid @ $40/hr include some material, drywall, paint, cost $$$ and should be deducted BEFORE you start computing labor scenarios. So, now we are really talking about less than $40/hr or $80k/ year , which really isn't - see weismann's explanation. To all of you that think the "hidden conditions" is just a scam - grow up. If contractors included everything that might happen in your job's bid you'd soil your pants when you saw the estimate/contract. You'd also never do the job because it'd be too expensive. The vast majority of people that did decide to move forward would be overpaying especially when no asbestos laden corpse or flesh eating mold was found in your walls or it turns out you really didn't need an all new electrical system. You'd be obligated under the contract to pay for that stuff whether you needed it or not. -OR- Do you folks think the contractor is going to assume all the risk for what might be there AND only charge you if it actually comes up? Get a clue gang. - AND / OR _ You'd all then be complaining that remodeling prices are ridiculous (even worse than in this conversation) and the threads would be about "how can I lower/ afford my remodel" And- why isn't a plumber or carpenter with 20 years experience worth $80k? Is your broker that just yaks on the phone all day, tells you to buy COKE and sell DOW and buy as much Fannie Mae as you can - "it's going through the roof" AND who is WRONG more often than not, worth $150-$500k + bonuses a year and deserving of that Maserati? Or what about the Calif. prison guards that takes home $122k a year, or the actor on the silver screen that get $10 -$40 million for 6 months work? Oh, he's worth it , cause "he's dreamy". Even better is the one whose only talent is she's recognized all over the world often gets $1milion an appearance - can't even tell the difference between cocaine and bubble gum. That's certainly a trait more valued by our society than making sure you kitchen floor is level or that hot/cold water flows to your sink for 30 + years without a problem or the lights work and don't burn your house down - so now I'm probably the one who has no clue. Oh, what about that mechanic at your Ford or Honda dealer that is charging you $90/hr? he even gets to work in a climate controlled building. Sure stuff is expensive - and I'm not saying that the OP should accept those two bids, but this is a two way street. Just because you you only have or are willing to spend $24,635 doesn't mean you can get a new kitchen in YOUR house - especially the one you really really have been salivating about. BTW marcolo, what do you think is fair for the nail driver to earn a year. What would you really like to pay him? How about: 1.your auto mechanic 2.your broker/financial planner 3.your minister/rabbi/priest - they should prob. do it for nothing? 4.the TSA worker at the airport 5.your kid's teachers 6.your accountant 7.your Gen. Practice doctor