The question comes up on every first call: how much does it cost? The honest answer is that it depends on what you mean by renovating. There are three levels, and the prices do not look alike.
The refresh. You keep the layout, the walls, the plumbing where it is. You replace or repaint the cabinet doors, replace the countertop, the backsplash, the faucet, the lighting. It starts around $10,000. This is the level where the visual result is the biggest per dollar spent.
The full renovation. New cabinets, new countertop, new floor, new appliances, but the sink and the stove stay roughly where they are. It starts around $30,000. This is the most common case.
The structural redesign. You move a wall, open onto the dining room, relocate plumbing and wiring, add an island with a sink. It starts around $60,000.
These are floors, not ceilings. The total climbs with the configuration of the room, the materials chosen and everything that has to move. An 8-foot straight kitchen and a 14-foot U-shaped kitchen with an island do not cost the same, even at the same level of finish.
Cabinets, first. They often represent a third of the bill. Custom solid wood costs two to three times the price of quality melamine, for a result most people cannot tell apart once the doors are closed.
The countertop, next. Quartz and granite are sold by the square foot, with extras for cutouts, edges and seams.
Then everything that moves. Moving the sink means redoing the plumbing under the floor. Moving the stove means a new electrical circuit and often a new hood with its vent. Each relocation adds a trade and an inspection.
The backsplash: entry-level ceramic, well laid, does the same job as imported mosaic. The handles: you can change them later in ten minutes. The appliances: mid-range from the major brands lasts as long as high-end. The cabinet doors: if the boxes are sound, replacing or repainting the doors costs a fraction of new.
The floor: thin vinyl under a kitchen shows marks within two years. Hinges and drawer slides: they are the first thing to break on cheap cabinets. Plumbing: an $80 faucet leaks, and a leak under a cabinet box shows up when the bottom of the cabinet has swollen. Ventilation: a hood that recirculates instead of venting leaves grease everywhere.
A good kitchen quote reads like a grocery list. Every item has a quantity, a unit price and a total: cabinets by the box or by the linear foot, countertop by the square foot, tile by the square foot, plumbing and electrical by the point. What is excluded must be written too: appliances, paint, light fixtures. If the document fits on three lines with a lump sum, you do not know what you are buying. And you will not be able to compare.
Decide the level before asking for prices. Put the money into what wears: floor, hardware, plumbing. Save on what is easy to replace. And insist on a line-by-line quote.
September 16, 2026
