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March 13, 2008
Small kitchen Renovation
Does anybody have an idea what a small kitchen renovation costs?
It is a galley kitchen which is small and nothing is being relocated.
Everything is staying in the same place.
A few kitchen cabinets installed sink, stove, refrigerator and the kitchen painted.
Every time I get an estimate from a contractor I feel like I am be ripped off.
In addition to them being obnoxious and not forthright.
Do contractors treat all potential women clients badly?
In my mind this strikes them out right away because it is a sign of unreliability and some weird power trip i don't understand.
Any suggestions or comments will be helpful.
Comments
the price can vary on what your cabinets and finishes are and what kind of appliances you get.
It can ranch from $150 sq. ft to $1000 sq ft.
You've given no information besides the kitchen is small. You can do a small kitchen for 10,000 or 100,000.
Are you using home depot cabinets or smallbone?
Kohler fixtures or waterworks?
Dal tile or Artistic tile?
GE appliances or Viking?
There's a low, mid and high end to everything.
you can gold gild the walls in a small kitchen!!
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 1:38 PM
I totally understand what you mean. I'm a woman (my husband was not involved) and I dealt with an entire gut renovation. Thankfully, I had a great contractor, who never spoke down to me and made sure I understood everything before proceeding. I have nothing, but good things to share about him and he will always be my go-to-guy whenever I have any questions about anything. His name is Thahal Beer (everyone calls him Beer) of Beer Home Improvement and his # is (646) 358-6118.
Posted by: faithful at March 13, 2008 1:45 PM
Of course, if you do have $100k, you would not be wanting advice, would you? Search site for many estimates, and (my) rants about those who have money to burn.
My IKEA kitchen, including some plumbing from floor below & electrical, was < 15k, but I assembled cabs myself, maybe 3k more. Plus painting, $600. 12' of cabs with island.
Sq ft estimates have absolutely no meaning. Just make your decisions first regarding appliances, counters, sink etc., then you'll have a good idea of the budget. Handymen can do installation, you don't need a major contractor.
Posted by: cmu at March 13, 2008 2:00 PM
Do you know how to draw up an EXACT floorplan of the room to scale? Include any windows, doors, openings. Put in where the plumbing fixtures are, the electrical and gas outlets. Bring it to Home Depot and they will work with you on the whole design and you will know what the cost will be for all the cabinets/appliances/countertops/sink.
If, as you say you are replacing existing cabinets with new ones and "everything stays the same" then just bring them a drawing of the existing layout, cabinet types and sizes.
Then you need to find someone to remove the old/gut and install the new. What are you going to do for a floor???
Removal and installation should be $5-10,000.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 13, 2008 2:03 PM
I renovated a small (probably 8x10) galley/U-shaped kitchen a few years ago, I'd say mid-level (kitchenaid SS appliances, not Viking, custom but not super high-end cabinets, stone countertops), including new wood floors, new lights/switches, no real change in location of appliances, no backsplash (just painted). It still all-in came to almost $40K I think (in the $35-38 range). I am sure you could do it for less (or a lot more), but there it is in case that is helpful. Keep in mind that even a relatively small space can have as many cabinets and running countertops as a larger space, and even without moving the location of appliances, my contractor took everything down to the studs and put in new supports for the cabinets, etc., which I think is the right thing to do. It adds up pretty quickly even when it seems straightforward and "small".
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 2:24 PM
When renovating a kitchen or bathroom it's always a good idea to remove all the gyp. bd and do new. You also, might want to replace the piping while you have the walls exposed. Put in new blocking for the cabinets. If you're doing a new floor. Remove the existing sub-floor and provide a new water proofing layer.
It's the right way to do things.
It's not just about buying cabinets and appliances and putting them in.
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 3:45 PM
well, yes to the women thing.
But I just did mine, so I know my prices (nyc galley kitchen):
12k for custom cabinets delivered (gorgeous, included design)
8,500k for appliances including a sub-zero
3k for marble counters and backsplash (all the way up to base of cabinets)
1k lets says for misc like paint, sink, faucet, light, etc -- altho that's too high
6500k for labor including upgrading electricity and sanding and staining floor.
$31k. A lot, but I got mostly high-end stuff. If you got cheaper appliances and ikea cabinets, you'd be at half that.
I will suggest if you don't get really good, real wood cabinets, then go Ikea. I think there is value at both ends. I don't get the mid-range arguement. 8k for Home Depot veneer stuff? Why bother. Also, labor costs more for cheaper stuff (custom is made to measurements, so contractor basically just hangs it). makes sense for Ikea, less so for the Big Box brands. IMO.
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 3:57 PM
We renovated our galley kitchen (7x9) 2 years ago. Ikea cabinets, mid-range appliances (bosch & GE Profile), Silestone countertop on sink side, butcher block on the opposite (prep) side, cork tile floor (over existing hardwood), glass subway tile backsplash on sink/stove side (cork tiles on the butcher block side, leftover from the floor and looks great along with being really convenient for recipes, etc), fresh paint, under-cabinet lighting, new undermount sink and expensive grohe faucet fixture. Great contractor who understood and respected that I called all the shots in regard to the kitchen and that my husband would have preferred to be living in a hotel and be ignorant about it all for 3 months while the reno was going on.
The entire project was done for under $20k. Total labor was about $8k. Cabinets around $5k, appliances and other materials around $5k. Still loving my kitchen 2 years later... priceless :)
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 5:15 PM
the super in our building did these kinds of installations for people in our building. i wonder if yours does... if we were to reno a small job in that bldg i would have definitely used the super b/c i trusted him and i liked his work and i knew where i could find him!
Posted by: 5onsackett at March 13, 2008 5:16 PM
I think we're wasting our time with faithful,
who ever she happens to be , she is not looking for an advice. She is simply looking to make a recommendation for someone that no
one asked her for.
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 5:58 PM
I don't know how everyone got such cheap labor. I couldn't get a quote for under $13,000 to save me when we did ours a year ago and it didn't even require moving plumbing. Ours was a galley kitchen not tiny but not huge.
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 6:36 PM
Labor for my kitchen was $5000. Cabs and appliances were about the same and ours was IKEA and all stainless steel appliances and counter.
$10,000 total for a 12' long galley. Plus a ltitle extra to refinish the floor ($500?)
Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 1:39 PM
You people have alot of money. Go into Crown Heights and find a local anglo-caribbean contractor. Ask around. You could do it for abt 2-3,000. We did.
Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 4:51 PM
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