Terry's Kitchen Remodel: Budget?

Kitchen remodels are like cars. The price can vary from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. So don't ask the cabinet maker how much will my kitchen remodel cost. The answer is: "How much do you want to spend"? Here are some examples of how the cost can vary.

Wood Specie: Pine-$1.25, Oak-$2.85, Cherry-$4.95 and some of the exotic approach $20.00 a board foot.

Drawer slides: euro-$3.25, full extension-$6.50, full extension soft-close-$18.00 and full extension under mount soft-close-$44.00

Kitchen accessories, like recycling centers, pull out pantries, wire and wicker baskets and appliance garages can add thousands to the project. A tall wire pull out pantry with five shelves cost close to $1000 more than plain shelves.

Terry's kitchen has finished ends on all cabinets without any plywood cases showing so an example of what the cost can vary is shocking. If we built his kitchen in pine the cost of lumber (excluding the plywood for the cases) would be about $500. The cost could be as high as $8000 if an exotic wood was used.

In conclusion: You should have a budget when you visit the cabinet designer. Most cabinet shops can give you a rough estimate my adding up the lineal feet of cabinets and multiplying it by a cost per foot. The cost per foot will vary with the different specie of wood, finish and door type. The base price will grow when you start adding upgrades. If your cabinet maker knows your budget then he can get to the bottom line much faster. When it comes to getting bids on a kitchen remodel it is much better to start by revealing the budget first and then you can compare apples to apples instead of apples to oranges. Pay attention to the details, make lists of needs and have photos of the styles and elements that you like. If you know what you want and your budget the process will be fun. If your clueless, buy some aspirins, especially for the designer.