In 2021 we moved into our home, with the intention of renovating immediately, living here short term, and turning into a rental down the road.  When we purchased the home, our realtor told us the previous owners had priced out the kitchen renovation for about $25 – $30k.  Now we didn’t put much weight into this, because we knew their style differed from ours.  But with that price in our head, I expected we’d be able to do what we wanted, for around $40k.. That’s a 30% increase after all.  We weren’t even close to this number.  We tried to research renovation costs and everything was very outdated with COVID supply constraints, increases to cost of living, and general location based data.  In total our kitchen cost just over $70k.  

Breakdown of our kitchen renovation in Denver, CO

All work was contracted to licensed professionals.  If you have the ability to take on cabinet installation, drywall install, painting, tile install, or electrical work, you could certainly cut this down significantly.  

• General labor (demo, drywall, paint, other): $9k
• Electrical wiring, outlets, permitting, etc.: $4.5k
• Architectural plan for wall removal: $500
• Appliances: $8.5k
• Cabinets & quartz counters (materials and install): $33k
• Flooring (hardwood materials and install): $14k*
• Tile – install and materials: $1.1k

*Flooring included the dining room and family room as it’s open concept.  On a per sq. foot basis, this would have been about $5k

How long did this take?

The process was LONG! We started a week after moving in with getting walls removed (April) and didn’t have the finalized kitchen until December.  In total we went 6 months without a kitchen sink, dishwasher, oven, and cooktop.  Now the good news was this period spanned Spring to Fall, so we were able to use our grills all the time! I would highly recommend planning accordingly when you’ll be able to cook outside.  

How did we find and vet contractors?

Working with and finding contractors was the hardest part for us.  Forget trying to keep the house clean, or not having a kitchen for 6+ months.  There’s a reason GC’s charge what they do to manage projects for you.  We took on the GC work ourselves, and ultimately saved closed to $15k to do so.  But this meant we had to find contractors, schedule them, manage delays and no shows, and mess ups.  

• Thumbtack
• Posting jobs on Thumbtack and looking at companies in your area and their reviews is a helpful place to start.  We had about 50/50 luck with amazing contractors and sub par contractors through Thumbtack.
• Referral from one good contractor
• Once you find someone you trust and like, ask them for contacts.  The good contractors are typically well connected and can get you in touch with others.
• Friends / network connections
• Contact your local network, use social media, etc. to find referrals.  We have a couple friends who are realtors and they were invaluable in connecting us.  Others had renovated their home and were able to tell us to stay away from X contractors and work with Y contractors.  Sometimes the advice to not work with someone is just as helpful as who to work with!

In hindsight the contractors we had the most issues with were ones with less reviews or those who we interviewed / bid on the job and we didn’t have a great gut feeling.  The communication you get while someone is bidding the job is indicative of how the project will go.  No matter how well reviewed they are, if they can’t show up to bid on time and aren’t responsive, don’t hire them! Seems like a no brainer but when you’re working with 10+ different contractors, it’s tempting to settle.  Don’t do it – think long term not short term here.  It will save you so much pain, I promise.

I would also prioritize my contractors by most impactful / valuable to least.  For instance our cabinet installer was incredible.  He builds custom cabinetry so was able to customize our fabricated cabinets for leveling and adjust the plans slightly.  We had a contractor who installed IKEA shelves in our pantry, and I was much less worried about those as the cost compared to our cabinets was substantially less.  So prioritize on how much you’re spending, what you’ll see / notice most, and what means the most for you.  It will help you spend less time searching for lower priority contractors and give bandwidth for vetting more high priority contractors.

Have you renovated your kitchen?  Comment below on your tips / tricks for others to consider! Considering a renovation and want more detail on cost?  Email me at contact@justjamesfamily.com.  I can provide more detail on our kitchen size and you can leverage this for estimating your project!