The discussion on what people 'ought' to be able to afford as 'middle class' interests me. In my market I just checked out the current MLS listings nd the average one bedroom condo over 650 sqft is $491,866 The average 2 bed condo over 800 sqft is approx $660,000 and the average 3 + bed condo is around $1M When it comes to houses, the average one family home available now is around $1.3M and the average 2 Family house is also around $1.3M. This is close to NYC, but not actually in NYC, and is where many people move from Manhattan for more affordable housing. I would consider most people to be middle class here. How do they do it? Well paying jobs, equity from other homes sold and help from parents in some cases. A starter studio condo here STARTS at $247,000 for 465 sqft. Most people start with something like this and then move up the property ladder from there. It's not easy. We started (with no parental help at all) five years ago when $250,000 would buy a niceish 650 sqft one bedroom condo and worked our way up from there. A lot of people spend a lot of their income on housing around here. I'm not sure that it's fair to state that someone who is 'middle class' should not be spending $800,000 on a home. It all depends on where you live and what your money will buy you in that specific area. BTW the average income in my town is around $65,000 I think and so far (touch wood), I have only ever heard of one foreclosure and it was actually when the market was hotter.

I should have mentioned that the $5,000 budget is ONLY for the kitchen and NOT for electrical. We have a separate budget for that. We've pretty much already planned and priced the unfinished cabinets...$1200. We've allowed $200 in the budget for a double sink that I saw somewhere and would like. We've allowed $130 for the faucet that we like. The $5,000 budget is very doable. The "holes" in the flooring are not termites...we had an inspection before buying the house and from the basement and crawl space we can see that there are no bugs. The holes are most likely just gaps in the flooring....we'll see. The subflooring in both rooms of the kitchen is older rough cut lumber (kind of like what you'd see on the floor of an older barn) and the joists were large...more like beams. So we are not concerned about the flooring. As for the wall removal... In plank construction, there are only 4 components: 2 posts, a beam held up by those posts, a beam below those posts, and planks that were nailed from the top beam to the lower beam on either side of those beams...I hope that all made sense. So, finding anything in the wall is extremely unlikely. In the town we live in, most homes were constructed in this manner and we know quite a few people who have removed walls to enlarge rooms. There is a trip to the borough hall planned so we can find out what needs to be done for that. Electric... DH and FIL are updating the electric. FIL built his house and an addition onto his house and is knowledgeable in this area. No concerns here....wiring already priced. We are planning on doing surface mount for the electric because there is no way whatsoever that I am opening up a plaster and lath wall!!! There is a bathroom above the kitchen and we will be looking at the plumbing when we take down the tiled wall of the kitchen. There are newer fixtures in that bathroom, so we will see what is there. We were told by the previous owner that the piping is cast iron, not lead....and we can see some of it for the vent. I will try to post pictures later. For now we are taking a break from the remodeling (just got finished building most of a fence in the backyard) and taking the kids to Knoebels for the first time. Ought to be a nice day. :) Thanks for the advice so far. Also, I will try to play around with Excel or something to draw the layout for the current kitchen and for our plans.

Here is one of the issues - there are many more issues that would raise eyebrows at the California Contractors State License Board. Before starting the job, I told the GC that it was important to me to have licensed contractors working on the job and to have permits from the city. He is licensed as a GC "B". He brought in subs to perform some of the specialty work, such as electrical, plumbing, drywall, and painting, and he performed some of the specialty work himself, for example, he received a bid from a framing contractor, but did the framing himself, with his assistants. When I recently asked him to provide me with a list of the subs and their contractor licenses, he replied, "They don't need licenses. They are independent contractors working under my license." The California State License Board states that: "In California, anyone who contracts to perform work on a project that is valued at $500 or more for combined labor and materials costs must hold a current, valid license from CSLB... General engineering and building contractors usually oversee projects and coordinate the specific licensed subcontractors for a job ... A general building contractor also may contract for specialty work, but must hold a specialty license for that work or actually have a specialty contractor do the work."

While I empathize with @Terry I agree with @Tim Cleary. We're spending more time educating our clients and ourselves, refining our process, rewriting our contracts to allow for some flexibility while maintaining control. It's more difficult with the growing resources of online shopping which is showing some great advantages along with a huge dark side. I'm seeing new brands created almost daily, some of which seem to have no trail and no way to track warranty. New online resources for products who are merely drop shippers cutting out support of product. Garage doors, fireplaces, stairways, interior doors, etc have typically been more expensive than local vendors once installed. Some of the vendors you've cited are unreliable, unfortunately. Piles of trade contractors & retailers will stalk you once a permit is pulled, promising the "best deals" for roofs, solar, cabinets, etc. A rep in the cabinet station of a big box retailer has instant credibility along with "specials this month" to set the lure. Tile & flooring should be purchased from a reliable local vendor that purchases directly from a manufacturer. Be careful of retailers who carry closeouts and returns as color lots get mixed and warranties voided. Just stopped a client from ordering a bunch of ceiling fans without extensions. ("No these are not universal items we pick up at the hardware store") Stopped another from hiring a cabinet builder for a six figure project who works from their home garage. Do your vetting when choosing a builder and/or your own venders.