Money Matters
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how much to spend on kitchen remodel?
We got the estimate last night for our remodel--$40,000. We think this is ridicuolous. We are gutting it, but our kitchen is very small (10x10) and we're not picking anything super unique or custom. Moving stove to other side of kitchen, but not moving plumbing and no structural changes.
We were wondering, is there some guidline or percent of how much of your home's value you should sink into a kitchen remodel? Our house is probably worth about $330-$350,000.
Obviously, this question is aside from what we want to/can afford to spend (which is in the mid-$20s), I just think we won't see that $40,000 back when we sell.
Re: how much to spend on kitchen remodel?
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My parents' house, and their kitchen re-model (currently in progress) are pretty much in line with your estimate and home value. The were stunned at how quickly & easily it could've run up to $60k, and they decided against doing certain things because it didn't make sense to put a $60k kitchen into their neighborhood.
Can you look at RE listings for other comparable homes in your neighborhood/area? That's my best guide for what upgrades are probably worth it, and which ones are probably not.
Jeez louise. Not that much.
Granted it didn't include the demo, but my 12x20 kitchen with granite, stainless, custom cabinets, etc came to under 20k.
If it fits with your neighborhood, I'd go the IKEA route before I paid anything close to that.
Well, what kind of cabinets are you planning to install?
Does the estimate include demo?
What kind other materials are you using?
Will there need to be repairs made to the drywall/plaster or will you just need to pain?
Are you using an independent contractor or a big box store?
For a kitchen that size, I would think that you could do the demo yourselves or with friends (yes even a pregnant woman can do some of it). Consider being your own general contractor and bring in the different people you need (flooring, drywall/plaster, etc).
I did a major kitchen reno including moving walls, redoing all the plumbing and electrical, with higher end cabinets, for a little less than you were quoted, but I did as much work as I could myself and found my own subcontractors.
ALso, don't just go with a single quote. Get several and then try to negotiate.
We remodeled a small kitchen for a lot less than that. Our advantage was that we had contractors already in the house doing bathrooms, so it was part of a bigger job.
I want to say we spent only 5K on our cabinets (maple, very simple stock cabinets). Our countertop is laminate. We kept the old fridge and bought a secondhand but new stove from friends. We bought our Maytag dishwasher and microwave at home depot, so nothing super fancy. We had the floor tiled - that might have been something like 3 or 4K, including redoing the subfloor and I think they replaced some of the actual floor boards. We bought the tile at EXPO at a reasonable price.
Here are some pictures.
one side and the other is
I forgot to say that my kitchen is I believe 11x12ft and when I said 5K for cabinets that included the countertop.
I don't recall what the labor added up to but I'd say the entire kitchen was maybe 15K and that included moving a stack of pipes from next to the refrigerator to the corner of the kitchen (the pipes lead to the upstairs bathroom).
All of this. That isn't necessarily crazy, but it depends what you're putting in, if you're doing anything yourself, and if you're going w/a store vs. independent contractor.
That sounds like an awful lot to me. My house is probably worth about 200k ( :-( this economy hit my area pretty hard). We are currently remodeling the kitchen. With the new baby, I plan to stay here at least a few years, and want a kitchen I really love. I am keeping all my appliances since they are only a couple years old, so keep that in mind if your replacing yours. But this is about what we have spent/ will be spending:
$100- paint
$100- crown molding/ supplies (DH installed)
$3,000 - cabinets from Ikea, they are nice medium brown ones. I have a friend that had a kitchen co. do hers, mine are comparable, and 25% of the price, if not less. They even have some glass doors, and those "soft close" type hinges.
$2,000 Countertops- granite, we shopped around and found a local place 1/2 the cost of HD
$2,000- hardwood floors from lumber liquidaters
$500- Tile Backsplash - Estimate as I really haven't gotten into detailed pricing of this yet.
Total $7,700 and a very busy DH!
That was a really nice kitchen indeed.
I don't think that's bad at all, especially since you are gutting it. Also, it sounds like you aren't DIY so that is why it's so high.
I will spend more than than on my kitchen when I remodel it for my forever house. Will I recoup the cost when I sale it? No, but it will make me happy and since it's my house, that is all that matters to me.
We just spent 46K on a new kitchen (including a new window), new bathroom, new wiring throughout the house, new toe molding throughout the house, and a wall added in the garage to create a mudroom. Some plumbing work was done to bring things up to code, but the footprint was not changed. We gutted the kitchen and bath ourselves.
Our kitchen, which is close to 10x10 cost this:
--cabinets: $7500 (after promotion)
--Quartz counters with free sink: $2700
--Appliances (fridge, stove, micro, d/w): $3500
--Red oak floor: $550 for new floor in kitchen, $900 for finishing it plus --sanding and refinishing dining floor next to it
It's hard to separate the labor out, since they were working on the other projects, too, but just for the kitchen, I would say it was $2500-$3500 (two guys working for about a week). The electrical work for the kitchen took about two to three days of labor (but that included a complete rewire), and plumbing took a day. So, $1000 of subcontractor work?
I would say we spent about $22,000 on the kitchen, when you add in miscellaneous material costs (insulation, drywall, mud, molding, paint, lights, faucet etc.)
Here's a before and after:
The only part we're hiring out is for someone to come drywall/spackle/sand after all the electrical/plumbing is roughed-in and inspection has cleared.
Our kitchen is about 20x10 and we have budgeted $20k but that's including a $5k buffer. Our house is worth around $315-320k.
The big-ticket items:
Cabinets: $4600
Quartz Countertop: $2500
Appliances (range, microhood & dishwasher - saved almost $1k with discount through work): $1900
Drywall/spackle/sand (hire out): $2200
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