this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 months ago (6 children)

My question isn't their taste, but their budget. How the hell did that kitchen cost $15,000? Even if they had to replace everything I couldn't see it being more than $5k.

Is the floor also marble?

[–] [email protected] 64 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

15k is a very normal price to flip an entire kitchen. Not even counting the appliances. Just the flooring and cabinets.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah it seems like I can't get anything done for < 6000 anymore. I can't imagine a whole kitchen costing only 15

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you keep all the existing appliances and build your own cabinets while already having all the requisite tools and do absolutely everything yourself, it's doable, but tight. Shits expensive these days.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Building your own cabinets will be monumentally more expensive unless you are an experienced cabinet maker with a bunch of tools already.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lol when was the last time you priced out a kitchen remodel? 5k would maybe get you the cabinets

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It was admittedly a while ago, but pre-built cabinets are like $200 a piece so there's maybe $1500 worth of cabinets there. It's not a huge kitchen.

Unless these idiots bought custom made cabinets, didn't bother doing anything to the left of the stove, and then painted them a horrible color.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Those are definitely custom to fit that space and accommodate the sink/hood. Though why there's such a big stile against the wall left of the range is beyond me. Shit planning and taste.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

With custom cabinets they would be able to fill that gap on the left and also use smaller filler for the bottom cabinet left of the range. For pre-fabricated cabinets they usually only have size increments of 3" so you end up with big fillers. The sink area upper cabinets look like a standard size and the hood cabinet is actually wider than the hood so it definitely wasn't made custom to this hood.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Custom cabinets and they couldn't even get the top doors to match the bottom

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If there was an outlet there, I could see that spot being meant for an appliance like a microwave or something. But I can only see one wall outlet in the entire kitchen.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I don't think following code was part of their design.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (2 children)

2-3k to paint existing cabinets, new hardware 4-5k epoxy floor and countertops 4-5k new appliances 3-4k left for drywall, paint, lighting, trim, framing, hvac, plumbing, electrical.

She could have gotten more for less but not by much when you are hiring it all out. Doesn't even look like she touched the tile backsplash, which would be 1-2k more.

I remodel kitchens in the midwest, and we would charge a lot more than that for this size kitchen. She clearly didn't spend for a designer, though.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Damn, I should get into home improvement. I always did all that myself which is why my estimate was so low.

Plus that doesn't look like a terribly expensive stove or sink.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

2-3K for paint?

You’re getting reamed by your painter if he’s charging you 2-3k for a small room like that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think that's an average professional price for my area, but there's always a cheaper painter. Spraying cabinets the right way is a big nasty job. Thankfully we don't do it much anymore.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I finish my own cabinets, so maybe I’m just out of touch. But materials alone is only like a hundred bucks or so, and a company already owns the compressor and paint sprayer. I don’t think I’d pay more than 1k, it better be fucking Van Gogh painting my cabinets for anything over that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wanna redo my kitchen for $15k? I'll hire you right now, and pay half up front.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I would honestly probably take that, but I highly doubt we live in the same area. I'd also practice on my own kitchen first, just to make sure I don't screw yours up.

Contractors charge a ton these days and it makes no sense to me. I'd hire out the countertops (one drop and I'm out $3k), but the rest would probably take 2 full days of work, plus maybe one or two partial days on either end for planning and cleanup/touchups. With less than half of that being parts (I think $7k is a decent high estimate), that would probably be like $300/hr, a little less if I rent tools instead of buying them.

I think contractors charge so much because work can be hit and miss, but if it's a side hustle, there's no reason to charge so much.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

No, I just do a lot of stuff myself. I could do better than that kitchen for $5,000 with some smart shopping and elbow grease. I redid the floors, bathroom, and kitchen in an 1860s cabin for that much back in 2013

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yes, 2013 is indeed the past. Inflation, shrinkflation, and price gouging has driven prices up and quality down

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I’m not old you’re old.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

2013 was over a decade ago we've went through both a housing crisis and record levels of inflation since then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah that’s why I can only do the kitchen for five grand and not the whole house

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you don’t pay for the labor and have the time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

IMO, if you don't have the time, don't do the reno, unless there's something really dangerous that needs to go, or you have a lot of money. Having a nicer looking kitchen isn't worth adding even more debt, and it's most likely not going to pay for itself when you sell (and why would it? The buyer would factor the reno in to the purchase price).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

The most expensive part here is the countertops, which is pretty hard to do on your own, especially if you're doing stone (super heavy, special tools to cut to size, etc). That alone is probably $3-5k.

The rest is pretty easy to DIY:

  • decent laminate flooring that looks like wood - <$1/sq ft; hard wood is $2-4/sq ft - <$500 including any tools, fixes to subfloor, etc
  • cabinet doors (assuming you don't need to replace the whole thing) - $25/door, plus cost of paint/stain (idk, $50? $100 max?); looks like ~$500 for the above kitchen?
  • sink, faucet, etc - quite variable, but probably <$500 even for fancier options

So you could probably do <$5k if you're in the budget range, <$10k for something a bit nicer, assuming you DIY most of it. This doesn't count appliances and whatnot, which IMO shouldn't be part of a reno unless you're specifically planning to change the size of the appliances (e.g. you want an in-set oven, larger fridge, built-in stove, etc).

If you ask a contractor, they'll probably say $15-30k, and it could go up from there.

This is just some back-of-the-napkin math after some light browsing on Home Depot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

One way I saved a ton of money adding a kitchen was to get cabinets and counters from people who were redoing their kitchen. Got that for the price of hauling it away. I also got 1000 sq ft of solid oak tongue-in-groove flooring for $250 from someone who overbought for their own home improvement project.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Nice!

The more time you take to look, the more deals you can find. If you're planning to DIY, it's usually best to do things one-at-a-time so you don't end up with a half-finished project, but instead have small, attainable goals that can be 100% completed in a short period. For example, don't redo the countertops, cabinets, and floors at the same time, just complete one completely before moving on. That said, if you're going to hire someone, do it all at once, you'll end up paying less overall, though you'll probably blow your initial budget.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

How the hell did that kitchen cost $15,000?

The floor is also marble. And purple marble.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

To be fair it also looks like a photoshop job.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Lol an IKEA kitchen now a bit bigger than that is 10k€ without placement and composite counters and no floor. Prices have over doubled in the past 5 years. + floor and actual stone countertop is easily 15k

We are renovating our entire house and doing everything except pouring concrete slabs and our tile roof ourselves and the kitchen this big + and island is 15k€ at good value places, slightly better places are 25k+ with placement.

5k is an absolute pipe dream. Wholesale materials alone without appliances would be around 9k (assuming decent quality cupboards and real stone)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

That assumes you're starting with new as opposed to reclaimed materials. I saved a bundle by taking someone else's old kitchen cabinets and reusing them.

But, as I said in another comment, I am an old person who used to buy gas for less than 25¢ per liter and do everything myself so my prices are skewed.