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Kitchen remodel pricing is the question we get asked first and the hardest one to answer honestly in a sentence. Two kitchens the same square footage can land thousands apart depending on choices that aren't obvious until you're standing in the space. Here's what actually moves the number, so you can walk into a quote knowing what you're looking at.
This one decision usually splits a project into two very different budgets. Replacing cabinetry means new boxes, new doors, new hardware, tear-out of the old, and the labor to set it all level in a house that may not be. Keeping your existing cabinets and replacing only the countertops, sometimes with a new backsplash to finish it, is a dramatically smaller project, and for a lot of kitchens it's the right call. If your cabinet boxes are solid and the layout works, new countertops alone can change the whole room.
We'll tell you honestly which situation you're in. If your cabinets have another fifteen years in them, we'd rather say so than sell you boxes you don't need.
Keeping the same footprint, with the sink, range, and refrigerator staying where they are, keeps a project predictable. Moving them means plumbing and electrical work, and sometimes drywall and flooring repair where the old locations were. Taking out a wall adds structural questions on top of that.
Layout changes can absolutely be worth it. But they're the difference between a project with a handful of variables and one with many, and that shows up in both the price and the timeline.
Stock cabinetry comes in fixed sizes and finishes and ships fast, with little room to adapt to an unusual wall. Full-custom cabinetry can be built to virtually any dimension and finish, but it typically costs more and takes longer. Semi-custom is what we install, primarily the Kemper line. It sits in between: a wide range of sizes, door styles, finishes, and storage features, built to order for your room, without full-custom pricing or lead time.
Within semi-custom there's still a range. Door style, finish, and interior features like pull-out trash drawers, soft-close hardware, and drawer organizers all move the number. Our semi-custom cabinetry guide covers those choices in more detail.
People expect granite and quartz to be priced far apart. In practice they land in a similar overall range, and the specific slab you choose, not the material category, usually makes the bigger difference. An entry-level granite and a high-end designer quartz are not close in price, and neither are two granites from the same yard.
Beyond the slab itself, a few things add fabrication work: waterfall edges, where the material runs down the side of an island to the floor; mitered edges that make a countertop look thicker than it is; and vein-matching, where Mark plans the slab layout before fabrication so a pattern flows continuously from the counter up through a full-height backsplash. Those are the details that make a kitchen look built rather than assembled, and they take time during fabrication. Our granite vs. quartz guide compares the materials themselves.
A straight-set subway tile behind a standard run of counter is the least expensive way to finish a kitchen. Costs climb with height, since full-height backsplashes that run to the underside of the cabinets or all the way up a range wall cover far more square footage. They climb again with pattern complexity, since herringbone, picket, and arabesque layouts require more cuts and more layout time than a straight set. Slab backsplashes, where the countertop material continues up the wall, are their own category. Our tile backsplash cost guide breaks this down further.
This is where two quotes for “the same” kitchen stop being comparable. Ask every contractor what's actually included:
We handle tear-out, protection, and cleanup as part of the project, and we break the quote out by section, so countertops, cabinetry and tile are priced separately rather than rolled into one number. If you want more detail inside a section, just ask.
There's no way around it: a real number requires seeing the space. Cabinet layout, wall condition, how level the floor is, and what's behind the drywall all matter, and none of them can be assessed over the phone.
Our consultation is complimentary and we come to you, with door samples, color chips, and material options in hand, so you're comparing real finishes in your own kitchen's lighting. You'll get a written quote broken out by section, with no obligation and no pressure. See our full process for how a project runs from that first visit through the final walkthrough.
Tell us about your kitchen and we'll come out and put real numbers to it. Expect a follow-up within one business day.