3 quotes.

In NYC area? Yes, might even be a good deal. Good to get another quote though.

We used this contractor for out bathroom and liked his work. high quality, fast and a good price and that was a gut job. We used him again to do some stair work and take out a wall in our basement, and we weren't a fan of his crew's clean up. So we know what we can get with him, have generally liked him, etc but i just had to check to confirm that my original expectations on labor budget were unrealistic.

It's surprisingly had to find a contractor that anyone likes here. He was record my a friend who liked him. No one else seems to like their contractors. And others find my projects or budgets too small to bother with. Ugh, NYC problems.

In Greensboro, NC, I am paying $15,000 for full kitchen gut/flooring demo, moving two doors (one on load bearing wall), building tiny "deck"/landing area into garage entry, installing 7 recessed lights, lots of electrical changes, installing 25 IKEA cabinets (we built the cabinets/will do the doors/drawers), installing pocket door, adding external range hood vent out the side of house. Some floor prep will be included but we are DIYing the floor install. Design plan was handled separately and cost about $400.

M_Gabriel, thank you for the numbers. Is that considered a high cost? Less the the Triangle market i would think. It seems like we have a similar scope.

Unrelated, but are you using Ikea doors or Scherrs etc?

Sounds reasonable to me.

I guess we aren't much of hand holders and i would rather have $4000 in my pocket anyway. I hunt for stuff all on my own. I think he is only suggesting a stone guy but knows he'll use whatever i find in the end. So his basic just is just do labor away with whatever we give him.

Have you started putting the cabs together?

Yes, our projects do sound very similar, Lee. Cabinets are already up (we built them in advance in early September) and we are starting on building the drawers this weekend. Counter goes in Wed and we'll put in doors/drawers once it seems they are done with all the dusty work. Middle of floor still needs work to get rid of the mortar left from the old tiles. We are doing Marmoleum Click floor and one of my colors is back ordered so we can't start that part till Nov 15th - making everything else not as much of a rush.

"We used this contractor for out bathroom and liked his work. high quality, fast and a good price and that was a gut job. We used him again to do some stair work and take out a wall in our basement, and we weren't a fan of his crew's clean up. So we know what we can get with him, have generally liked him, etc but i just had to check to confirm that my original expectations on labor budget were unrealistic."

So you have a proven successful relationship and that's still not good enough for you? Niggling over cleanup? That's the best you've got? You want to waste the time of several other contractors by getting bids?

Move along, please. This guy deserves better than you.

Um, no it's more than basic clean up. It's using my person vac and ruining it to clean up dry wall dust instead of my shop vac or THEIR shop vac. It was leaving spackle/ puddy all over the floors, which while ugly, we were keeping until further notice, etc. In short it was the opposite of the extremely neat first job done that took us around 2 weeks to get cleaned up and the vacuum replaced. So yes, I was looking around for other contractors. However, since no one seems to have any they like an the did a good job on my first project I am coming back to him. And in any event, I did not ask if he deserves better than me, but if the price was fair for the area.

I'd just clarify with him what your expectations are for clean up. My guess is he would apologize profusely for using your good vacuum for drywall dust and for good measure I'd take the extra step of hiding the vacuum during the kitchen remodel (just in case his crew or subs get an idea while he's not watching). Seems manageable if you otherwise are happy with his work. It could be much, much worse.

Stan Z, im definitely hiding the vacuum!

im thinking $20 is a good deal for the amount of stuff being done. It hurts all the same though. I really must get handier!

"We used this contractor for out bathroom and liked his work. high quality, fast and a good price and that was a gut job. We used him again to do some stair work and take out a wall in our basement, and we weren't a fan of his crew's clean up. So we know what we can get with him, have generally liked him, etc but i just had to check to confirm that my original expectations on labor budget were unrealistic."

With what you said, canNOT believe you would even ask the question. High quality, fast, and good price - usually at best only get to pick 2 of those.

Sounds like a good deal to me!

m_gabriel.... I tried to message you but couldn't figure it out! We are local to you and have been having quite a time finding a contractor who doesn't want to charge us 40K for a very simple kitchen (not counting cabinets). Do you mind sharing the info of the contractors of the top two bids you got?

ericakn:

As a contractor, if you want to send me running from your home, just tell me how "very simple" your kitchen is. Nothing sends me packing more quickly than a potential who thinks she's qualified to assess the degree of difficulty of her job. I've been doing it 30 years and still screw it up.

If the very guy you want on your job hears these words or a version thereof, you'll never get a bid back, I promise.

Ok.... already have a few bids and working on a few more. No walls are coming down, footprint is staying the same, adding one outlet and refinishing floors. Three cabinet people who have come to bid and measure have said it is a "simple" remodel and one said "a handyman can handle this" and she is a high end kitchen designer. One GC said it would be "easy". So the description is from the professionals. It is an old house and when we open the walls it may be interesting. If that happens we will have to come out of pocket for the unknowns above the bid and are prepared to do that. We bought the house for 350K. We are reusing appliances, 16K for cabinets and are not willing to spend 40K for the scope of work. That would not be financially prudent.

Simple IS 40K. Average middle of the road is 60K. Complicated luxury adds a 1 in front. 20% of the home value is average ballpark.

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You've gotten decent to quotes. You can either revise the scope, or DIY if you want a lower price. Or, find the lowballer that will cost you triple when he screws it up and walks away with your money.

It would be 40K plus the 16K for cabinets plus the contingency money for unknowns. This is not including new appliances. From what I have read one should not go over 15% of the home's value. If I use one of those helpful kitchen remodel cost estimators that puts us at 39K (taking out appliances and since cabinets are costing 16K instead of 21). There are no structural changes to the house.

ETA: We are in a low cost of living area.

Sophie.... That is why we have decided not to go with the recommended gentleman who said 5.5K and wanted 50% up front. I am in the same general area as the previous poster that got her/his job done for 15K and we sound like we are doing less work. I have no problem spending money for quality work (hence the wonderful cabinets we are getting). However, I have no desire to pay 40K when there is a suitable contractor in the area who will do it for less than half of that.

20% of the home's value is 70K, which is 10K over the national average kitchen redo. Subtract 10K for upper end consumer grade appliances like GE Profile, and you are at 60K, which is national average for everything in a gut redo. Your quotes are right in line.

You need to revisit your math and your goals.

I am quite good at math! Thanks though. You are operating at 20% and I am at 15% since every article I have read has said 10-15% of the home's value. Cabinets including installation are 16K so labor costs may be lower. These 60K remodels you quote.... do they include making the kitchen open concept by removing walls (possibly load bearing, replacing windows, moving plumbing? We are doing none of these things and our cost should be lower. I was asking for info from the previous poster since apparently there are contractors in our area who can accomplish the scope of work we want for less than 60K. Cabinetry% = $ 21000 Counters% = $ 7875 Appliances% = $ 0 Faucets, Plumbing% = $ 2625 Electical% = $ 2100 Wallcovering% = $ 0 Flooring% = $ 1050 Labor% = $ 9450 Total= $ 44100

ericakn, you can email me at m underscore gabriel at outlook dot com. I'm happy to share my local info.

None of those things. Just replacement with like for like. The standard guideline for a kitchen redo is 10-20%. 10for a refresher and 20 for a full remodel. More if structural items are being done.

Looking at your numbers, your counters seem very high for where you are in the market. Cabinets seem high also given what you want your budget to be. Those are two places to downgrade.