DIY Kitchen Remodel Cost – A complete cost breakdown

Performing your own DIY Kitchen Remodel can be a rewarding project that saves you a TON of money. However, there are still some significant material costs associated with a DIY Kitchen Remodel.

As someone who recently remodeled a kitchen 100% on my own, I will breakdown every cost incurred during the DIY kitchen remodel process. In this article, I will give you a complete breakdown of what it will cost to transform the kitchen you see below:

Into something similar to the fully renovated kitchen you see now:

Generally speaking, kitchen remodel costs can be broken down into the following categories:

• Permitting
• Demolition
• Rough in work (plumbing, framing, etc.)
• Cabinets
• Counters and Backsplash
• Flooring
• Appliances
• Finishing Touches (Fixtures, lighting, sink, faucet, etc.)

The costs incurred for each of the categories above are broken down in the following Sections. Additionally, I have linked my DIY kitchen remodel cost breakdown Youtube video below in case you want to check it out!

Permitting

Because permitting costs can vary significantly based on local requirements, I recommend that you consult with your local permitting office so they can let you know exactly what permits you will need. They can also give you the cost for each permit.

At a minimum, your DIY kitchen remodel will likely require the following permits:

• Building Permit
• Plumbing Permit
• Electrical Permit

You may need to apply for more permits than those listed above, so be sure to consult with your local permitting office. Additionally, many municipalities require that only licensed tradesman perform work. Some contractors may allow you to perform the work and then they will simply come in and inspect everything before signing off on it. Talk with your permitting office and a few local contractors to develop a plan.

I recommend that you budget around $500 for your permitting costs. However, this is only a ballpark.

Once you have coordinated with you city, complied with requirements, and have you permits in hand, you can get started with demolition!

Demolition

If you are performing your kitchen remodel 100% on your own, there will hopefully be no costs associated with demolition – other than your time. Depending on the scope of your kitchen remodel, demolition will likely include the following:

• Removal of existing Cabinets
• Removal of existing countertops and backsplash
• Removal of existing appliances
• Removal of existing flooring
• Removal of existing fixtures (lighting, sink, etc.)

For your remodel, your demolition scope may not include everything listed above. For example, you may be reusing your existing cabinets or keeping your existing backsplash – and that’s ok! This is just a list of the typical kitchen components that need to come out before you can put your new stuff in place.

For my kitchen, I removed Everything! Here are a few photos of my kitchen during the demolition process:

And finally, we removed the Cabinets and Counter…

With a “clean slate” to work with (and hopefully no money spent), it’s time to think about the Rough in costs.

Rough In work (plumbing, electrical, framing, etc.)

Although rough in work is anything but glamorous, it is incredibly important for any DIY kitchen remodel. When I refer to “rough-in” work, I am referring to things like:

• Re-routing or adding plumbing lines
• Wall removal
• Subfloor Replacement
• Relocation of light fixtures
• Adding an electrical circuit for a garbage disposal

These are all examples of projects that would fall into the “rough in” cost category. These costs can be close to zero dollars (if you plan on replacing everything in kind), or can be significant if you are rearranging your entire kitchen. Because these costs are so variable, I will list all of the “rough-in” costs associated with my remodel:

Replacement of OSB subfloor with ¾” plywood.

After removing the linoleum flooring, I found that the OSB subfloor beneath was rotting in a few places.

With my house being nearly 50 years old, this was not too surprising. I needed to purchase three sheets of ¾” x 4′ x 8′ plywood to replace the rotted portions of subfloor. The cost for each sheet of plywood was approximately $50, for a grand total of $150.

Removal of Partition Wall and installation of a load bearing beam.

My existing kitchen had a partition wall that 100% needed to be removed as part of the remodel. See photo below:

After determining that the partition wall separating the kitchen from the living room was load bearing, I contacted a structural engineer to perform a load analysis. Once the engineer calculated what size beams I would need to support the weight above, I purchased the lumber (structural laminated veneer lumber) and installed the beam.

Since we performed the labor (in accordance with the engineer’s recommendation) in house (literally), the only cost associated with this work was the cost of the laminated veneer lumber – which came out to $95.

Rough in electrical work (new light, new switch, new circuit for garbage disposal)

In terms of electrical rough in costs for my kitchen remodel, I chose to add a new light/switch and a garbage disposal. For the light and light switch, I simply purchased a 50 ft roll 12/2 Romex cable for $70 and ran it from my circuit breaker to the approximate location of the garbage disposal. I also added the wire and receptacle boxes (~$5) for the new light and light switch. I had a licensed electrician come out once all of the electrical work was done to check that everything was done correctly and up to code. This cost $150. The total for my electrical rough in work came out to $225.

Complete replacement of 1.5” sink drain line with 2” drain line

During the demolition process, I found that the 1.5” PVC drain line connecting my kitchen sink to the sewer drain stack was mostly clogged – leading to backups in the sink. As a result, I removed that entire run of 1.5” PVC from the kitchen sink to the drain stack and replaced it with 2” PVC. For this project, I simply needed to purchase approximately 30 LF of 2” PVC, various fittings, and PVC primer/cement. The total for these materials came out to be approximately $50.

Therefore, the Total for ALL of my rough in work came out to be $520.

Cabinets

Cabinets can often times be the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel – but they do not have to be!

Cabinets come in countless different styles, materials, etc. and there can be a a huge cost delta between low end cabinets and high end cabinets. The Table below gives you an idea of cabinet costs for the various grades:

The difference between stock cabinets and high end cabinets comes down to the following:

• Materials of construction
• Quality of the labor assembling the cabinets and methods of construction
• Hardware (soft-close, etc.)

I did a ton of research and went to a bunch of different cabinet suppliers before purchasing my cabinets. My “non- negotiables” were that I wanted solid plywood construction, soft close features, and white Shaker style cabinets. That was it.

After getting a bunch of different quotes, ranging from $3,000 to $8,000, I decided to go with Procraft Liberty Shaker White Cabinets that I purchased through the Home Depot Pro Desk.

Procraft cabinets feature furniture grade birch plywood, soft close door hinges, AND they came in the white Shaker Style.

When planning my cabinet layout, I sat down with a Home Depot Prodesk employee and went through my plan for the kitchen remodel. After providing the Pro Desk with my kitchen dimensions, they put together a layout drawing of my cabinets as see below:

It turned out that I needed approximately 27 linear feet of cabinets and the final price tag came out to be $2,849.99. This equates to approximately $106 per Linear foot – Not bad for solid plywood. Keep in mind that I received a small discount by purchasing these cabinets through the Home Depot Pro Desk. Check out where we stand with costs so far in the table below.

Countertop

At the same time I purchased my cabinets from Home Depot, I also purchased my countertops. The Home Depot Pro desk was offering a discounted quartz countertop, and I went for it!

I went with an “Iced White Quartz” counter (manufactured by MSI surfaces) and paid $1,939 for the both the material and installation. I had 35 square feet of counter and 22 linear feet of backsplash edging (6″) included as part of the $1,939 – which translates to roughly $42 per square foot. I highly recommend that you go through the Pro Desk at Home Depot or Lowes and see what kind of discounts they can give you. I can confidently say that I saved around 1.5k by ordering my cabinets and counter through the Home Depot Pro Desk.

Now, there are also less expensive counter options like laminate which will run you around $20 per square foot. Conversely, there are some really high end countertops like marble which can be around $250 per Square foot. To determine your SPECIFIC countertop cost, determine the square footage of counter space you want for your kitchen. Next, select the counter material you want and determine the cost per square foot. Finally, multiply the cost per square foot for your selected counter material by your calculated square footage to determine the total cost.

Although my counter purchase included installation, this may not be included for your counter. Make sure that you consider installation costs. Especially because quartz/stone/marble counters are pretty much the only part of a kitchen remodel that you can’t really do yourself.

For my counters, an associate from Home Depot came to my house once the cabinets were installed and took laser measurements of everything. The counters were then cut in the manufacturer’s factory, delivered to my kitchen, and installed by the same men who delivered the counter. Super Simple.

APPROXIMATE BACKSPLASH COST

Since I purchased a 6” “built in backsplash” with my counters, my backsplash cost was included as part of the $42/SF I listed earlier. However, if you want to install a more traditional tile backsplash, here is a quick way to breakdown what the materials would cost for a 40 SF backsplash area.

• Tile selection
  • For subway tile (a common backsplash material and style) you can expect to pay around $7 dollars per SF. Therefore for a 40 SF backsplash area, tile would cost approximately $280.
• Thinset mortar cost
  • Assuming a ¼” square notch trowel and application directly to drywall, plan for around two, 50 pound bags of mortar/adhesive – For a total of $100.
• Assume $50 dollars for grout.
• We will use an allowance of $100 for tile profiles, sponges, spacers, etc.

This takes your material cost for a 40 SF subway tile backsplash to ROUGHLY $530. However, adjust this estimate based on your unique backsplash tile choice and square footage.

Since this an optional part of a kitchen remodel, it is NOT included in the grand total.

Flooring:

Kitchen flooring costs depend highly on the type of flooring you select. For my kitchen, I went with Lifeproof Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring with integral underlayment that cost roughly $4 per SF. Because I have a small kitchen (roughly 130 SF of kitchen floor area) my flooring only cost $520 dollars. However, if you plan on doing tile or hardwood, expect to pay anywhere from $8-$20 per SF. To get the cost for your specific flooring material, determine the total square footage of your kitchen floor and multiply that by the cost per SF for your chosen material.

Appliances

Appliances can also be an expensive part of your kitchen remodel. However, there are a few strategies to reduce cost.

1. Consider buying an appliance bundle that has every appliance you will need for your kitchen (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and microwave)
2. Try and buy your appliances during a Holiday sale. There are always special deals on appliances (labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, Groundhog day (JK).

With this in mind, I purchased my Stainless Steel LG appliances in a bundle during a Holiday Sale for $3,100. You can spend less that this if you go with lower end appliances and you can spend way more than this if you go top of the line. However, I would budget around 3-4k for appliances.

Finishing Touches (Fixtures, lighting, sink, faucet, etc.)

The final items in your kitchen remodel will be light fixtures, lighting, etc.

For my Kitchen, I purchased two new light fixtures, a touch faucet for my sink, and various pluming hoses/fittings (for dishwasher, faucet, gas range, etc.) I would plan to budget around $600 dollars for “finishing touches” and materials needed to hook everything up. However, this could cost more or less depending on you specific kitchen needs. Here is a look at all the costs so far:

Now, let’s add everything up and take a look at the FINAL DIY KITCHEN REMODEL COST!

Conclusion

The table below will give you the Final Cost of Permitting, Demolition, Rough in work, Cabinets, Countertops, Flooring, Appliances, and Fixtures!

Even though I performed all of the labor myself, it still cost me over $10,000 dollars to remodel my kitchen. Is that a lot of money? YES! but I estimate that I saved roughly 6K by doing the installation on my own. However, remember that your time has a cost ????.

I hope that this DIY Kitchen cost breakdown gave you some insights into what you can expect to pay for a similar project. For a more detailed cost breakdown, consider checking out my DIY Kitchen Remodel Cost Youtube Video below:

If you liked this article, you might also be interested in learned how much it cost to remodel a bathroom:

You might also enjoy learning how to build a DIY live edge desk: DIY Live Edge Desk – Beginner Friendly Guide – (atimprovements.com)

Thanks again for reading! Check me out on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewThronImprovements

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