If you have renovated your kitchen, please come in!

[love1999]

If you don't mind sharing, how much did it cost you, what all did you change and did you DIY or hire someone?  We are thinking of redoing ours and had a consultation last night with Home Depot's cabinet refacing group to see if that would be less expensive that all new cabinets.  Just for cabinets and countertops, the quote came in way above what we were expecting to pay for everything (we need to replace cabinets with taller ones (or reface with an addition added to them), new counters, backsplash, flooring and stove).  So I'm trying to decide if they were just ridiculously high or if we were very nieve about what it would cost us.  I plan to get some more quotes locally but would love to know of your experiences.  We will have to hire someone to do it as we are not versed in how to do any of it nor do we really have time to undertake it with our work responsbilities.  Thanks for any help you can provide!

[melodramatic26]

It took us a little over 6 months and costs around 10k. We gutted the kitchen completely and started from bare studs (actually moved part of the kitchen wall out a few feet).

It was a lot of learning as we go. Neither of us had done this big of a remodel before, but books and DIY Network (not kidding) were incredibly helpful.

We did it all ourselves except for installing the new counters- for warranty purposes the manufacturer had to do that.

For materials, we went pretty middle of the road. Not inexpensive, but not top of the line.

It was hard. So hard to go that long without a functioning kitchen, but I loved the finished product.
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[peach]

My parents just hired out their kitchen cabinets - they did the rest themselves. They gutted the kitchen and also put in a skylight. It was almost 20k by the time it was all said and done - floors, appliances, countertop, cabinets, hardware, lighting, backsplash, paint, sink and faucet, etc.

They have a moderate sized kitchen - not tiny but not huge. I am sure they could have done it for less but they also didn't go crazy.

[SusanBAnthony]

I have heard refacing is almost as expensive as all new.

[love1999]

Oct 8, 2013 16:31:16 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

I have heard refacing is almost as expensive as all new.

Yeah, they quoted us maybe $5-$6k less than their estimate of all new.  And I feel like they were exaggerating the all new to make it seem like more.  They wanted over $20k for refacing and countertop.  We don't have a huge kitchen--he said 32 linear feet of cabinets and 55 sq ft. of quartz.  I feel like I need to do my own measurements though.

[SusanBAnthony]

We have gotten estimates from multiple HD services. One was way cheaper than the other bids we got (chain link fence ) and all the rest, HD was way more expensive.

So definitely don't take these people as the final word.

[kaylie]

Refacing is almost as expensive as buying new and I agree with the others that HD tends to be high-priced. If you happen to be in central jersey or the bucks county area, let me know and I can refer you to some better options.

We DIYed most of ours, only hiring out the electrical rewiring. I posted the details in this thread: pandce.proboards.com/thread/190509/kitchen-finished-added-before-pictures

We spent ~$13K:
$4,500 - new upper cabinets (painted the lowers to match them) and a new island where there had not been one before
$200 - Benjamin Moore Advance paint for the cabinets
$300 - two pendant lights
$2,600 - New induction slide in range, microwave and dishwasher
$300 - faucet
$250 - sink
$3,200 - 43 square feet of granite plus installation and edge upgrade on the island
$210 - Ikea PAX cabinet to use as a pantry plus slide out shelves
$225 - cabinet hardware
$180 - backsplash materials
$300 - two HPLV paint sprayers...I broke the first one by dropping it
$150 - new drum pendant for over the table area
$1,000 - labor for the electrical (rewiring all outlets, adding wiring for pendant lights, moving the light switch, moving the over-the-table fixture, upgrading the outlet for the stove connection)

[bunnies]

My budget was $10k. This is a condo-sized kitchen. At this point, everything is done except for the backsplash tile, and I have just enough budget left to DIY that myself. I went with Ikea during the 20% off this summer for cabinets and quartz countertops (Caesarstone). I purchased the appliances at Lowe's during a 4th of July sale. My contractor is a neighbor and gave me a really good labor price.

The kitchen is not finished in these pics.

[ktzmoh]

Oct 8, 2013 18:51:24 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Refacing is almost as expensive as buying new and I agree with the others that HD tends to be high-priced. If you happen to be in central jersey or the bucks county area, let me know and I can refer you to some better options.

We DIYed most of ours, only hiring out the electrical rewiring. I posted the details in this thread: pandce.proboards.com/thread/190509/kitchen-finished-added-before-pictures

We spent ~$13K:
$4,500 - new upper cabinets (painted the lowers to match them) and a new island where there had not been one before
$200 - Benjamin Moore Advance paint for the cabinets
$300 - two pendant lights
$2,600 - New induction slide in range, microwave and dishwasher
$300 - faucet
$250 - sink
$3,200 - 43 square feet of granite plus installation and edge upgrade on the island
$210 - Ikea PAX cabinet to use as a pantry plus slide out shelves
$225 - cabinet hardware
$180 - backsplash materials
$300 - two HPLV paint sprayers...I broke the first one by dropping it
$150 - new drum pendant for over the table area
$1,000 - labor for the electrical (rewiring all outlets, adding wiring for pendant lights, moving the light switch, moving the over-the-table fixture, upgrading the outlet for the stove connection)

Kaylie, what did you do about your drawers? We are thinking of taking a page from your book and doing new uppers, painted lowers to match, but the old drawers on wood sliders are killing me. I really want the nicer drawer sliders with the soft close bells and whistles.

[simpsongal]

When it comes to a redo, the answer is "it depends." My folks are in a LCOL area. They have a pretty big kitchen. They did middle/high finishes - all new cabinets, granite, floors, appliances, etc. They did some of the work themselves too (dad re-routed plumbing, electrical, heating, etc.).

I think they spent about $35-40K. My in-laws did their much smaller kitchen in a HCOL area. Higher-end finishes - they spent more like $55K. They did no work themselves.

[downtoearth]

My parents are hiring out for their kitchen right now and with lots of discounts are at around $16k for new white,custom cabinets, white appliances, wood floor, and quartz counters. That includes labor and back splash tile, but not the labor to gut or ready the walls (new Sheetrock) - oh and they painted wall and ceiling themselves.

I don't have a picture, unluckily.

[TBM]

Oct 9, 2013 11:35:32 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

When it comes to a redo, the answer is "it depends."

This.

We are in the middle of a total gut, and our county is killing us with permit costs and requirements, electricians aren't cheap (and practically lived at my house for a couple of days), nor are plumbers/other trades, and finishes and appliances choices make a huge difference in the total cost. 

ETA: I forgot to mention the costs of things that came up like leveling the crazily sloped floors and whatever code violations/general safety issues from previous owner that we have uncovered in the walls and are now legally responsible for.  You can't put a price on the mess and inconvenience or your sanity either. lol

We are getting our cabinets made by a local fabricator, and we happened to order when they were running a special, and were pretty reasonable.  We upped the cost by choosing pricey doors. lol



Regarding refacing...I found it to be more expensive than new cabinets when we priced it, except for DIY.  At our last house, we ordered new doors online and did the refacing and painting on our cabinets ourselves.  We spent around $1000 to redo our small kitchen and some cabinet doors in the dining room.  It turned out great, and saved us so much that we could get a nice counter put in without breaking the bank.
Our neighbors paid $8000 to have their similar sized kitchen refaced.    I could understand them refacing the lowers, since they liked the layout and had a pricey granite counter that they loved, but the upper cabinets were short and not entirely functional for the space, so they could have really improved that.

My parents had their cabinets refaced many years ago, and it was crazy expensive.  I thought they were nuts.lol

[treedimensional]

Ours was in the $12k range, not counting flooring, and the only new appliance was a microwave. It was almost entirely DIY. The biggest expense was semi-custom cabinetry from Home Depot (Kraftmaid, cherry).
We enlarged the kitchen substantially by relocating it into the (former) dining room.
The construction was a complete gut-job, we built new walls and even replaced whole floor in one place (and I mean the WHOLE floor, to the joists). We had to run all new plumbing and electric, and insulated exterior walls that had previously been uninsulated.
Obviously, refacing would not have been an option, I couldn't live with the size or the layout. It was a complete relocate and redesign. I drew the plans myself.

[DirtySouth]

Another answer of "it depends."  You can do a kitchen reno on the cheap, but it's obviously not going to have a high end look. 

This is what my kitchen looked like when we moved into our house.  Everything was original to the house, which was built in 1961.


Lovely, right?  I priced refacing the cabinets and found the same thing that you did - we might as well buy new cabinets.  After pricing things and realizing that a thorough reno would end up costing us at least $20k (and more likely $30k), we decided to really do it on the cheap.

We spent $6k including appliances, did all the work ourselves, and while it's obviously not a high end kitchen, I like it and it is also more functional.


What we changed:  ripped out the breakfast bar and the old stove, painted the cabinets and walls, new countertops (cheap butcher block from Lumber Liquidators), replaced sink and faucet, installed a dishwasher, stove and microwave (and had to do some creative things to get them to fit since the old stove was a monstrosity), installed backsplash (beadboard), moved the fridge (a new one) to a different wall and built a cabinet to fill the space, built a big pantry on the empty wall, and laid down hardwood and installed new baseboards.

It was an insane amount of work.  That said, I'm really glad we did it, because I now have a kitchen I can stand and didn't have to spend much money to get it.  Eventually we'll replace the cabinets and countertops with nicer quality materials, but I like what I have now in the meantime.

[kaylie]

Oct 9, 2013 11:05:06 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

Oct 8, 2013 18:51:24 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Refacing is almost as expensive as buying new and I agree with the others that HD tends to be high-priced. If you happen to be in central jersey or the bucks county area, let me know and I can refer you to some better options.

We DIYed most of ours, only hiring out the electrical rewiring. I posted the details in this thread: pandce.proboards.com/thread/190509/kitchen-finished-added-before-pictures

We spent ~$13K:
$4,500 - new upper cabinets (painted the lowers to match them) and a new island where there had not been one before
$200 - Benjamin Moore Advance paint for the cabinets
$300 - two pendant lights
$2,600 - New induction slide in range, microwave and dishwasher
$300 - faucet
$250 - sink
$3,200 - 43 square feet of granite plus installation and edge upgrade on the island
$210 - Ikea PAX cabinet to use as a pantry plus slide out shelves
$225 - cabinet hardware
$180 - backsplash materials
$300 - two HPLV paint sprayers...I broke the first one by dropping it
$150 - new drum pendant for over the table area
$1,000 - labor for the electrical (rewiring all outlets, adding wiring for pendant lights, moving the light switch, moving the over-the-table fixture, upgrading the outlet for the stove connection)

Kaylie, what did you do about your drawers? We are thinking of taking a page from your book and doing new uppers, painted lowers to match, but the old drawers on wood sliders are killing me. I really want the nicer drawer sliders with the soft close bells and whistles.

Unfortunately I probably can't be much help here. Our existing cabinets weren't old, just ugly, so all the drawer hardware is the same. I wonder if they sell a retrofit drawer slide kit that would work?

[simpsongal]

oh man, I really want to redo our kitchen, but I'm guessing it would be over $70K. I want to completely changed the floor plan and expand it, which would require moving a bathroom. It's a dream project.

I've got about $20K coming to me, we might use that to redo the master bath (if we can afford it). Again, the footprint needs to change, so it will be costly.

In a way, I like when a reno changes the footprint (even though it's costlier). You're not only making it pretty and clean, you're enhancing the functionality of the space and changing the way you use it.

[love1999]

Oct 11, 2013 13:55:40 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

love1999, I'm a little late answering, I did a mostly DIY reno of a dated 80's kitchen in my last house. I added trim, faced the laminate end caps with beadboard paneling, and used the Rustoleum Cabinet system in linen white. I got the counters, backsplash and floors (that was a whole house job) all installed by Lowes. The counters (LG Hausys solid surface w/ integrated sink) were the splurge, I think about $3k, the backsplash was about $600 and the floors for the whole house were $6k (I got a smoking deal because of some issues they had with product availability, sympathy for my status as a new widow, and my dad's military discount). I spent less than $500 on materials for the cabinet project, and the new faucet and knobs/pulls came from Overstock for a total of about $250. I had already bought a new Bosch DW ($700ish?), a stove on CL ($250), and new fridge and microwave from Best Buy for about $1200 for both. So, I spent a total of less than $13,000 which includes flooring for the whole house. 
I loved how it turned out, I was kind of sad to sell it.
The first picture is from the original listing, the second is from the listing when I sold it. It is the only one of the completed room I found in my flickr kitchen album. Click the link if you want to see some of the detail shots.

ETA: I found the tour from the listing! So here is a great look at the completed kitchen.
T

It looks great!  Thanks for sharing.  I'm going to have to investigate the Rustoleum stuff as some others have mentioned it as well.  I'm just not sure if it would work because our existing cabinets are covered in some kind of laminate stuff that peels.  I'm going to check it out though.  Thanks!

[love1999]

Oct 11, 2013 14:24:46 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

Oct 11, 2013 14:07:13 GMT -5 love1999 said:

It looks great!  Thanks for sharing.  I'm going to have to investigate the Rustoleum stuff as some others have mentioned it as well.  I'm just not sure if it would work because our existing cabinets are covered in some kind of laminate stuff that peels.  I'm going to check it out though.  Thanks!

Do you have a picture of your cabinets? Rustoleum claims it works on laminate. Or there are several other cabinet paints that should work. Google painting laminate cabinets, there are tons of blog posts about it. And the paint and kitchen forums on GardenWeb are terrific resources. 

Thanks for the tips!  I'll check out those forums as well.  I don't have a picture of the cabinets with me at the moment.  I'm glad to hear it works on laminate though.  That could help us cut costs.  We might still need new doors and drawer fronts though, because the laminate is peeling on those.   I have to use scotch tape to keep it from look terrible and peeling further 

[love1999]

Oct 11, 2013 14:55:24 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

Oct 11, 2013 14:50:33 GMT -5 love1999 said:

Thanks for the tips!  I'll check out those forums as well.  I don't have a picture of the cabinets with me at the moment.  I'm glad to hear it works on laminate though.  That could help us cut costs.  We might still need new doors and drawer fronts though, because the laminate is peeling on those.   I have to use scotch tape to keep it from look terrible and peeling further 

Check this site out. I'm not sure if this is where TBM got her supplies, but you can get the stuff to reface on your own. There are a few sites I've found. I hate my doors, I have arches on the top and bottom doors (so odd), so I keep thinking about replacing at least the bottom ones. My cabinets are pretty new, and good quality, they just have a door style I would NEVER have chosen myself. Too frou-frou.

Thanks for the link!  Yeah, I agree, not a fan of the doors with the arches.  I don't mind the style of our doors so refacing is an option or I'd probably just replace them with a similar style.

[TBM]

We used kitchenreface.com.. I think their prices have gone up in the past six months, but it is still less than getting it done by someone else.