Looks like you are going with option 1 unless you are doing the labor yourself.

@mark_rachel can you elaborate a bit? The point of my post was to get price estimates having literally NO clue how much it costs to redo a kitchen. Thanks.

What was the price you got for ikea cabinets? Most appliance packages will run $7k+, floors (Are you only doing kitchen floors or more?), hardware($100+), countertop (how much do you have? What type?), sink, backsplash, lighting, faucet, paint... It's all subject to what your space is & what your tastes are. Again, labor is going to cost you the most.

There's so many variables and specific home layout situations along with your preferences that would impact the $$. I can tell you $30kish is on the low-mid end of kit renos and #3 prob isn't going to happen. Appliances/counters can run bargain basement to ridiculous $$. I'd get the name of a few good kitchen contractors in your immediate area and let them take a gander at it. Sooo much of the cost is in the labor so you really need to get an estimate from someone in your immediate area.

To elaborate on labor charges. Years ago we moved from a middle class neighborhood to a more expensive one. The labor charges went waay UP with our new address...which was all of 4 miles away from our previous house. Small town is cheaper than the city....etc. If you're def doing IKEA, you might get some names from them and/or call a general contractor exp'd with kitchens vs a kitchen contractor who is in the biz of selling cabinetry.

If that’s your budget, you’re stuck with option a. Our kitchen remodel, which included moving some plumbing, new floors including entry and powder room, was about 100k.

I'm in So. CA (LA area) and for option #1, LABOR ALONE will run you around $30K.

I just paid $26K, for labor only, to gut and remodel a small bathroom.

The quote from Ikea was roughly $4000 vs 9500 from another RTB site. We have some Ikea already in our kitchen area that we'd ideally like to match (it's a built in storage unit that we put in knowing we'd like to eventually remodel the kitchen) We only have 40 square feet of counters which is a nice, low number. At our old house we had 80. We would be putting in Quartz. We will not go super high end on any of the appliances except the range; my husband already has a 36" one picked out and since he does most of the cooking I can't argue (though the price tag does seem quite high for a stove that doesn't even cook the meals for you haha.) We have a great, huge stainless sink but would be getting a new faucet as well as a new backsplash - that work my husband can do. Biggest labor costs that I see are demo and installation of the Ikea cabinets if we do option A.

You really need to price things in your area as prices vary considerably from one region to the next. I am located in Madison, WI, so I'm not sure my numbers will be that useful to you. But sometimes seeing what a person gets for $x is useful to help set expectations.

We took things down to the studs and made two rooms into one. We did not change any load-bearing walls, but did add a large, bump-out window and a sidelight window next to the sliding door. We did the demolition and the GC and his subs did the rest. Not including appliances, our remodel cost $100K. You can see my [kitchen reveal here[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kitchen-reveal-dsvw-vd~4835814) to get an idea of the style and scope of our remodel.

@chispa YOWZAs. And yes @Cheryl Hewitt that's what I'm looking for. Just estimates so I know what to expect AND so that I don't feel like I'm getting a good deal if I'm not or vice versa. Of course costs here are higher than just about anywhere but I was just looking for a ballpark figure to run with. For example my husband thinks it will only cost about 20K and I think it will be more like 30 just for option A.

Make a list of everything you are going to replace. Then we can give you ballpark prices.

I'd rethink quartz if you stand a chance of pulling this off. Electrical and plumbing are the highest $$ of all contractors....that will be huge. How it's routed in the house, esp since you don't have a basement to access plumbing, can really spike the cost. Moving kit plumbing on a slab ....I wouldn't even want to think what that would cost. They have to channel into the floor I would think to lay the lines.

@jama7 quartz is cheaper than granite and I prefer it as it doesn't require sealing. Supposedly we live near this amazing quartz yard in Anaheim and the prices vary from $ - $$$$$.

@mark_rachel cabinets (roughly 5K as I already did the estimate with Ikea using existing footprint) backsplash, appliances (range, single oven, fridge, and dishwasher) faucet, and hardware. I have a vendor for hardware already that we used for our last kitchen. That's easy and inexpensive. Ideally we'd keep the footprint and not move plumbing and electrical but reconfigure some of the cabinets so we gain more counter space and make the kitchen a bit more...user friendly.

I’m in Michigan, we had ours completely gutted, new wood floors, mid range cabinets, quartz counters, glass panel backsplash, we also changed an existing window to a bay. New sink, faucet, lights, updated the electrical. Didn’t move anything other than to swap fridge and pantry. No walls removed or anything like that. I think we paid 62k, not including appliances which were about another 10k. I didn’t see what the size of your kitchen is but that’s going to affect it also, ours is only about 12x12

@Sue Mcgrath Thank you for the feedback. Our kitchen is relatively small (roughly 11x9) but there's a lot of cabinets. Everything I've been reading tells me cabinets will eat up a lot of the budget in a remodel, which is another reason we are using Ikea.

@jama7 quartz is cheaper than granite - that wasn't our experience.

@futura Quartz is much more expensive than granite or marble in So Cal. I did partial IKEA and partial RTA with a lot of DIY. The labor for the plumbing, electric, flooring and drywall are around $35K for me. That did not include fabrication on counters or cabinet install. Labor is what kills me here in OC.

My kitchen is 11.5' X 17 and I'm already over $100K with Ikea and DIY. Quotes on just cabinets alone ranged from $44K lower end to mostly $65-$70K for mid range including custom which is really just Ikea cabinets with custom fronts.

Moving kitchen over slab is going to be massively expensive to do right. If you have no island then it will be cheaper because you would go up the ceiling. It will also depend on how freaked out your city inspector is over the slab work.

I only did 4' of a 6" trench to Repipe to Pex for my island and it was a huge ordeal. I barely escaped paying an additional $10K in high pressure concrete to refill that small trench. The city only allowed regular concrete after a waiver and certification from a structural engineer that I paid for.

@Cheryl Hewitt Maybe it depends on the area. We redid a kitchen DIY two years ago in Vermont. Quartz was roughly $65-75 per square foot whereas granite was no less than $100-110. We have Corian now and I really dislike it. It stains very easily.

We're in MA and quartz runs $90+ here but you can get granite (there are different price points of course) for as low as $40. Most granite goes for $60 up to $80. I've never seen granite as high as $100...ever, anywhere. We were just out looking at one of the largest yards a month ago. I would check around more on the granite....

I'm in the bay area, and here I'd agree you're left with option 1 including a lot of DIY in order to approach $30-35K budget.

The kitchen portion of my project was about $82K, full gut including removing a non-load bearing wall. My house was built in 1915, so there was a lot of electrical and plumbing work though very accessible due to the basement. Finishes were only $19K (cabinets, counter tops, fixtures), with labor and raw materials making up the rest.

The Cost vs Value Report has been around for over 20 years. It's almost time for the 2018 version, but here's the national average for 2017. If you click on the link, you can go to your region and specific location.

Double your budget or get very very handy for option 1. Materials will cost more than 30K.

You’re gonna faint at option 3. That would easily be 150-200K in a HCOL with all contractor labor.

Sophie is correct. I live in Socal as well and I'm in the middle of a full kitchen remodel, everything gutted and moved down to the foundation. Materials alone are costing me about 80k, and I received labor quotes ranging from 130k to 170k. I opted to do all the labor myself. My kitchen is a bit larger than yours so Sophie is incredibly spot on with her "ballpark." Everything adds up.

One piece of advice I didn't see posted yet: the more complicated your project, the more unplanned work you will end up having to spend time/money on. Old homes are full of surprises, and there's nothing like a complete overhaul of the most technically complicated room in the house to reveal those defects/surprises.

I redid my kitchen in KY last year - came in just under $30,000. BUT...a HUGE "BUT" - I kept all my existing appliances, re-used my countertops, already had hardwood floor, kept my existing sink and faucet, had already done pot lights in the ceiling and put in under cabinet lights which I reused. If I had not been able to reuse so much, my kitchen could easily have cost closer to $50,000 and that's in KY.

@Sophie Wheeler I don't see how materials could possibly be more than 30K unless we do high end appliances. Our kitchen is quite small. I've already used the kitchen planner tool with ikea and using our existing footprint and only changing 1-2 cabinets, it's 5K for cabinets. It took me like 2 hours but I measured our exact kitchen and built it to look almost identical to our existing. Even if you added in an additional 5K for counters for something higher end that still leaves 20K for...hardware and appliances. As I mentioned above, we aren't doing Wolf or Viking.

sophie posted a link that will get you estimates. We are in the process for a 15x11 kitchen about 50 sq ft of countertop in Austin, TX which is become a somewhat expensive area for remodels. I have a few threads going on what we are doing.

Our total should be about 62,000 not including appliances for a full gut of the kitchen, with just a little floor work to repair existing wood floor and then refinish.

Plywood white shaker cabinets (23K installed)

quartz countertops ($80 sq/ft installed) - 4K

We installed a new gas line, took out some plumbing, moved an island and a peninsula and installed ductwork for a new vent hood.

Estimate of remodel completely configuring kitchen taking down a wall, putting in a new wall etc ended up being about 100K

@futura431 If you don't move anything, I agree with you that you don't have to spend $30K for materials. IKEA is reasonable (although the $5K sounds a little low) and you can control the costs of appliances/counters. You might not get your first choice, but you can get it done and probably be more than satisfied. Labor for cab install and plumbing etc. is the great unknown.

@jama7 The 5K for cabinets from Ikea is actually rounded up. It was about 4500-4600 I can't remember exactly because they added in their appliances which I had to subtract from the total. I wish I had taken a screenshot of the price list because my plugin has since frozen and my design wasn't saved (sad trombone) As I said, our kitchen is on the smaller size. I also got a quote from a RTB site that was 9500, which I thought was really high considering from what I read it's no better quality than Ikea. The more in this thread I read the more I'm considering acting as my own GC. If option 3 is definitely out the window then it wouldn't be much harder than the kitchen remodel we basically did DIY at our old house which turned out beautifully. We weren't able to swing new cabinets back then.

Our total kitchen remodel in 2016 cost $38k. We live in SoCal. Price included Brookhaven cabinets, Cambria Quartz counters, Bosch induction range and dishwasher, Sharp microwave drawer, removal of 800 sq/ft of Saltillo tile with new large format porcelain tile installed (combination kitchen/family room, two bathrooms, and hallway), under cab lighting, running new dedicated circuits, new range hood, all demo and install labor, etc. We did not change the footprint and do not have tons of cabinets. All the trades were meticulous and we did not run into any unforeseen issues.

I replaced everything in my very small kitchen except the dishwasher -- new cabinets, countertops, appliances, flooring -- no structural changes. I live in a mid-cost area and all materials and appliances were mid-range (Bosch, Samsung, marmoleum, etc). I worked with a neighborhood contractor with a good reputation rather than a high-end contractor with savvy marketing. The tab came in at over $35k. That was five years ago when the construction sector was still trying to recover from the recession. Today I'm sure the same project would easily cost $50k if I could even find a contractor available to do the work. Good luck with your project.

Hi @futura431,

Lots of great advice here. To give you a few things to think about when budgeting for option 1:

1. Are your existing cabinets standard size? I've seen so many older homes with odd sized cabinets. For example, if your cabinets are not the standard 24 inch depth, you may be looking at a floor replacement so there aren't gaps after the new cabinet install.

2. Does your flooring run under the cabinets or but up against the toe kick? That could complicate the installation, and may make new floor mandatory.

3. Is your floor level enough to use shims for the cabinet install? If for example your existing counter is something like laminate and happens not to be very level, a stone countertop will not be as forgiving. Floors don't need to be perfectly level, but they need to be level enough to reasonably shim without running the cabinets too high at the end of a run.

4. Are you currently wired for under cabinet lights? If you are getting all new cabs and counters, now would be a really good time to add lighting under there. More labor and materials, but easier to do now while things are out of the way.

5. Have you factored in permitting requirements? In my city you would need a permit even for option 1.

6. Are your kitchen circuits ready for the new appliances? Older kitchens don't typically include a dedicated circuit for something like say a microwave.

7. Appliances and hardware add up really fast. Especially when you also consider all the ducting, hoses, cables etc etc you may need for proper installations of modern appliances. Small example out of 20 I could think of: New garbage disposal to go with the new sink? The new ones are oh so quiet, but you'll have to give up another 300 from your budget, not even factoring in the nice counter switches you may like to have. It's so much easier to get that hole drilled now before the counter is installed.

This list could go on, but just some things to think about even for a simple option 1. At the end of the day I think most people end up spending more because they realize they wanted more. Cabinets and new appliances might sound good enough now, but something like new lighting could take the look and feel to a whole new level for maybe 5k more. 5k on top of a 30k budget isn't too crazy, but that list sure adds up quick!

We have done a few kitchen renos that have always come in around $35k-$40k. Ikea/semihandmade cabinets, bosch appliances, caesarstone counters. I use a close family friend as GC, but handle all the design and details myself. I am not a fan of gimmicky things in kitchens like obtrusive pendants, heavy backsplashes, 2" custom spice cabinets, etc, so I find it easy to avoid silly upcharges. In both cases, we sold our home two years later the day it came on the market, always at a gain in the six figures. So these kitchens I'm designing are crowd pleasers.

In my experience, I'd probably add $10-$15k (assuming no surprises) to move a kitchen to another room. But that's on my "no frills" budget. No silly stuff like a new water line for a pot filler. That just basic running new plumbing, all new electric (because it will be adding a bunch of outlets to code, and creating new overhead can lighting to match the kitchen layout), and wall and floor patching/repair in the old kitchen. On your slab, I'd probably expect to add $10k. Again, this is for a minimalist, aesthetically pleasing, no gimmicks kind of kitchen.

Sorry future but there is no way cabinets plus appliances are in the $5000 range. All new appliances will cost you a minimum of $5000. Your budget is doable IF you DIY. Otherwise in SoCal, not a chance.

I'm wondering what cabinets cost $5,000? Did you price drawer banks or just cabinets? Drawers are going increase the cost, but imo they are not an option.

Ikea cabinets easily cost only $5000 for a mid-sized kitchen, especially when you take into account their regular sales. We did a 14x14 kitchen in their most expensive cabs (white gloss) with a lot of units (a 14 foot tall cabinet wall, large island, and about 20 linear feet of lowers), almost all drawers, and it was around $6000.

I priced out Ikea for our kitchen and it was about 5k.

I used Ikea and my cabinets cost $8,700. I have 37 linear feet of base cabinets, 2 - 30" wide x 90" tall pantry cabinets, and 12' of 40" glass door upper cabinets. I used Grimslov fronts. I bought my kitchen during their 20% off kitchen sale.

The price included my range hood, all hardware (pulls, hinges, slides, rails), all drawers on lower cabs, $1,000 in cabinet end pieces (of which I returned $400 worth), and in cabinet and under cabinet/countertop lightening.

I bought all my appliances at Menards when they were 20% off and during their 11% rebate sale. Washer, dryer, range, dishwasher, and refrigerator were like $4,000. No I didn't get any of the fancy stuff but I'm very happy with what I have.

I paid $0 for delivery and installation as I did all of it. Be budget conscious and you can make your dollars stretch. Watch for sales.

My price list from Ikea was about 10K for cabinets, appliances AND all the hardware and lighting which I just subtracted some of that from the quote because we won't be using their appliances. It's astounding really, how truly affordable Ikea is when it comes down to it. Plus they have a 25 year guarantee. We will likely wait for the 20% off kitchen sale, which after some browsing on these forums, I hear may be in Feb or March. We'll have to pay for delivery but that's only $59. @cpartist I never said cabinets AND appliances would be 5K. I stated that I did an exact replica of our existing cabinets (option 1) and my price list was about 5K after rounding up just for the cabinets. The stove alone that my husband wants is 5K. I know appliances will be at least another 10-15K. The Ikea quote was for a combination of cabinets and drawers, a large pantry with pullouts etc. I did this process before posting on here because I wanted to have a good grasp of exactly how much cabinets would be for our exact layout so that when I get contractors telling me that cabinets alone will be 30K I know to run the other way.

@H202 I like where your head is. We will most likely be DIYing a lot of this project. We redid a kitchen in Vermont and did it all ourselves except for countertops and the gas line. I'm not into the gimmicks either. When we did our kitchen in Vermont it was just new, sparkly, and what WE wanted versus what the other people used (cheap, budget looking etc) I'm going to at least get a quote to see what it would cost to move the kitchen but I know moving all the plumbing and electrical would be very expensive. Back in October my husband put in all new canned lights throughout the entire house so overheads lights won't be an issue. The biggest issue that I see anyhow, is the load-bearing beam and wall that will need to be removed.

I've spent the two days calling around to different contractors and kitchen companies. To move the kitchen, as in option 3, they estimate will "only" add an additional 10K to the project. That shocks me but the guy who told me that said they do it all the time in homes like mine and it's not a huge undertaking. Moving plumbing and electrical isn't what's expensive; it's the sewer line that is. He said the difference between option 1 and 2 isn't much, maybe 5K and that it would be about 65-70 total. I find that high just to replace cabinets and counters especially if we're going with Ikea. So @H202 you were right, add 10K to move the kitchen to the other room; I was expecting THAT part alone to be expensive. Regardless, 70 is nearly double our budget so now I feel defeated.

But I have four appointments set up for next week to see if anybody bids less. I know from the reviews on Yelp and Houzz that the guy I spoke to is at the higher end of the remodel category. He told me that everything they use is high end. Don't necessarily know that we will go that route (high end) so maybe it could be less....

Avoid hiring a contractor who is listed on yelp and houzz. These are pay to play sites. Not to say that there aren't good contractors on these sites, but if you're looking to do a kitchen remodel and you're on a budget (not an unreasonable thing), you want to find a GC through word of mouth. I know in my region, the GC's who show up on these sites with top reviews are the top-of-the-top contractors, and generally quote two or three times the price as the really good one-man shops that the vast majority of us actually used with success. The top contractors are houzz definitely have a place in the world, but they may not meet your needs. Word of mouth is the only way to go.

While there are enhanced listings that will always have the label Sponsored, Pros do NOT pay to be listed on Houzz. I do not pay to be listed anywhere. Some sites do get paid by contractors for leads that are sent their way, and are far less consumer advocate oriented than they market themselves to be.

I would caution you about any telephone approach to a project. The numbers that anyone would be willing to give out will not be binding. Nor are they usually anything but on the low side in order to get the contractor's foot in the door. Only once the exact products are known, and the exact design is documented, can you hope to get accurate labor quotes for the work. Otherwise, it's the old trap of $5 allowances for things that the lowest price is $10. All you can get at this point without bid ready documentation are very rough low ballparks. Ballparks that can be off as much as 100% or more when the design is completed.

You could be your own contractor and save 15 to 25K. That's what I got from doing it myself. DH wasn't thrilled, but the cost was only slightly higher do to unexpected pipes found after studs taken out and reconfiguring the cabinets. Overall, a little bump in the road. If you could get an electrician, plumber, gas and carpenter quote...that will save you the most if you go that route. It doesn't hurt to compare.

@The Cook's Kitchen and @H202 One of the guys I spoke to for more than 30 seconds ONLY does phone quotes to start. He's worked enough in this neighborhood to know the prices of kitchens, baths etc and has the reputation/work to back it up. He is one of the top rated contractors in our area and I knew that going in. We live in small area but there's over 3,000 houses in here - all built in the 50s. I asked for recommendations from neighbors and they all pretty much had the same 3-4 and then I scoured the web for further reviews on them basically cross-checking and verifying. I only called 1-2 kitchen specific places and those I found online. I'm trying to get a broad scope of estimates.

This guy - we probably can't afford him, and he makes it so that you know going in the budget for his team, within 10% he said. He won't come out to the house until after the phone convo where he tells you it's 70K. He was thorough and helpful and answered questions that I had which nobody else would. Most of the contractors I have called have been via word of mouth or...word of next door which is local to our 'hood only.