What is the Average Cost for a Kitchen Remodel in the Sacramento Area?

What is the Average Cost for a Kitchen Remodel in the Sacramento Area?-and Why the Big Difference in Price Between Contractors?

The Honest Answer

That is a loaded question, but because you are looking for an honest, straightforward answer, I will tell you my average cost is for a Sacramento Area kitchen remodel is anywhere from $35,000.00 to $60,000.00. Of course it will depend on the size of the space, the quality of the finishes and whether or not we are moving electrical and plumbing, but that is the average and to tell you the truth- IT CAN NOT BE DONE PROPERLY FOR LESS.

The cost of raw materials like appliances, cabinetry, tile, sinks, flooring, granite and hardware is the same for every contractor, give or take a percentage or 2 in volume discounts. The cost for labor is going to be the same unless the contractor is employing their kids or something. So why are there such huge fluctuations in bids from different contractors for the same project? I’ll fill you in on the biggest trade secret of the unscrupulous contractor:  it’s called the change order.

The Secret Scam of the Unscrupulous Contractor 

Change orders can add tens of thousands to your project. Here is an example:

A few months ago I provided a bid for a kitchen remodel to a friend of a friend who had heard I did exceptional work.  Their plan for the kitchen was going to require extensive reconfiguring and replacing old plumbing and adding plumbing in areas where it had not previously existed. It was a complex job and I brought in my plumber to bid the project to ensure the price I would be quoting was fair. The plumbing alone was going to be around $7,000.00. The remainder of the job including the custom cabinets, granite, tile, labor and everything else was $42,000.00. I submitted the detailed bid, including the exact products and grade of materials I would be using, to the client.

Another contractor came in $8,000.00 less than I did. The client hired that contractor. Within the first 2 days of the job, after the kitchen had been demolished, the contractor hit the client with the first change order. They had only allotted $2500.00 for the plumbing but after “discovering” that the old plumbing would need to be replaced and reconfigured in order to do the kitchen the way the client wanted, they gave the client a change order for …. You guessed it…. $5,000.00, or the difference between my plumbing bid and theirs. As the project progressed, so did the change orders. $1000.00 here for “upgrading” the granite (to the same granite that was listed in my bid), $750.00 there for “adding” the trim to the cabinetry (which was itemized in my bid) and so on.

To date, the cheap contractor is $3,700.00 over my original bid and the kitchen is still not done and completion date is 2 ½ months longer than he had anticipated.  That contractor knew EXACTLY what he was doing and my friend’s friend is lamenting their decision to go the “cheaper” route.

The Long List of Clichés

• You get what you pay for
• If it seems too good to be true, it probably is
• If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right
• My contractor screwed me

Ok, maybe the last one isn’t a cliché, but it might as well be. Contractors are gaining the same reputation as used car salesmen; people go in to a remodel expecting to get taken advantage of and then they choose a bid $20k under everyone else’s and wonder why the wheels fell off. There are countless TV shows about botched jobs and shady builders and contractors going tens of thousands over budget and months over time frames.

4 Things to Ensure You Get the “Best” Price

1. Get at least 2 bids, every single time for every single project.

•  If there is a big discrepancy between the 2, get a third. If one is substantially lower than the others, eliminate it. That is a shady guy who will get you in the Pinto and the breaks will fail before you’re off the lot.

2. Read the bid and the contract very carefully.

• You will be bound by what is in the contracted bid, so if you sign off for a “faucet” on the cheap bid, you are going to get the same $45.00 dollar one from the box stores that is in your local gas station bathroom, or you are going to get a $400.00 change order.

3. Call the contractor’s references.

• If he doesn’t provide any, don’t use him. Ask his past clients about time frame, change orders and overall satisfaction with the work.

4. Remember the best price is rarely the cheapest.

• The best price is the one you can plan for and depend on. It is the honest and fair price. Most homeowners save for years to remodel or they take out a loan to improve their home. A kitchen remodel in Sacramento with custom cabinetry and mid-grade finishes is going to cost you between $35,000 and $60,000, it cannot be done for $20k, regardless of what that contractor said.