Cost guide
Kitchen remodel cost in Houston.
A Houston kitchen price is the room you have, the materials you choose, and whether the layout has to move. We price that after a visit, not from a citywide average.
What changes the price
The factors, not a flat rate.
01
Size
A galley and a room that opens to the rest of the house are different amounts of cabinet, counter, and floor. The square footage is the start. The number of runs, the island, and the appliances change it from there.
02
Materials
Painted cabinets and a quartz counter are a different scope from a custom box and a stone that needs more care. Hardware, the backsplash, and the lighting travel with that choice.
03
Layout changes
Keeping the sink and the range where they are is a smaller job than moving a wall, a drain, or the path through the room. Older Houston houses are often out of square, so the layout is measured before anyone promises a wall can move.
04
Permits
A finish refresh often stays inside the existing kitchen. Moving plumbing, electrical, or structure is when a permit usually enters the job. We say which one it is after we see the plan, not before.
Ranges
Typical planning ranges.
- Same layout, new finishes$25,000 to $55,000
- Layout change$40,000 to $80,000
- Full gut$70,000 to $135,000
These are typical planning ranges, not quotes. The final price comes from an on-site estimate.
How to read this
Three scopes, not one Houston price.
A kitchen number that ignores the room is fiction. The bands on this page are planning ranges for three different scopes. Same layout, new finishes is typically about $25,000 to $55,000. A layout change is typically about $40,000 to $80,000. A full gut is typically about $70,000 to $135,000. They overlap on purpose. A small layout change in a simple room can land near a generous finish update. A gut of a large room with custom boxes can sit at the top of its band or past it. The estimate after a visit is the price. These ranges are how you plan before that visit.
The low end of each band assumes a straightforward house, standard finishes, and no surprise in the walls. The high end is still not a ceiling for a very large or highly custom kitchen. River Oaks and a modest bungalow are not priced by the neighborhood name. They are priced by cabinet length, stone, and whether the plumbing and the structure move. Bring the ranges to the conversation. Do not treat the low number as a bid.
The house
What a Houston kitchen does to the budget.
Older kitchens inside the Loop, especially in the Heights, Bellaire, and West University, are often small, out of square, and sitting on pier and beam. A new layout may mean a bearing wall, tired wiring, and a drain that can be rerouted in a crawl space. That crawl space is an advantage only if it is accessible and dry. If it is not, access and repair become part of the kitchen. Newer open plans in Katy, Cinco Ranch, and The Woodlands are usually slab. Moving the sink means cutting concrete. Leaving the sink where it is keeps you in a lower band even when the island, the stone, and the lights are new.
Humidity shows up in the cabinet spec. Plywood boxes and a finish that can live through a Houston summer cost more than the cheapest particle box, and they are the ones that still close in August. Stone is templated after the cabinets are set because the walls are rarely square. That sequence is time, and time is money, and skipping it is how a counter is recut. None of this is a surcharge for “old house.” It is the work the house asks for.
01
Keep the drain
The cheapest layout is the one the plumbing already has. A new island with power but no sink stays simpler than an island with a prep sink cut into a slab.
02
Cabinet length
A galley with two runs is less box and less stone than a kitchen open to a family room with a long island. Square footage of the room is a weak predictor. Linear feet of cabinet is a better one.
03
What is soft
A swollen sink base or a wet subfloor is repair before the new kitchen. Finding it on the visit is cheaper than finding it on demo day, and it still changes the number.
Finishes
Where the material bill actually moves.
Painted shaker cabinets and a straightforward quartz top are the middle of the finish range for a lot of Houston kitchens. Custom boxes, a furniture-style island, a thick stone edge, or marble you are willing to maintain move the same layout up. Appliances you keep are not in the construction number. Panels and a built-in refrigerator are. The backsplash can be a few thousand dollars or most of a separate budget if it is full-height stone. Lighting is easy to forget and visible every night. Under-cabinet light, a general layer, and pendants are three lines, not one fixture.
Flooring that stops at the kitchen door costs less than flooring that runs through the hall and the living room so the levels match. That run is often the right scope and it is not “the kitchen” in a casual conversation. We split it out so you can see it. Hardware, the hood duct to the exterior, and a small change to a window are the same kind of line. They are real. They are not where a $70,000 gut becomes a $40,000 refresh. The layout and the boxes do that.
Permits and schedule
The costs that are not on a material list.
A finish update that leaves plumbing, electrical, and structure in place often does not need a building permit. Moving any of those usually does. The counter is not always the City of Houston. Bellaire and West University Place have their own departments. A Katy address may be the city, Harris County, or Fort Bend County. The Woodlands is not a city. Permits there are usually Montgomery County or Harris County. The fee itself is rarely the thing that blows a budget. The time, and the work the permit requires you to show, are.
You will be without a sink for part of the job. Special-order stone and custom cabinets take longer than stock quartz and in-stock boxes. We will not invent a week count on this page, because lead times move. We will put the sequence, including that sink window, in the estimate. A planned kitchen is not an insurance project. If the room is open because of a leak, drying and photos come before cabinets, and the claim payment is not this price list. Call (713) 909-0034 or request an estimate. The visit is how a band becomes a number.
Use the three bands to decide which conversation you are actually in before you collect samples. A finish update, a moved sink, and a gut are different crews and different months of your house. Samples are useful after that, not before. The estimate is still the only number that belongs on a contract.
Questions
Good to know.
Why is there no single kitchen price for Houston?
The room, the cabinets and counters, and whether the layout moves are different jobs. The ranges on this page are typical planning ranges, not a quote. The final price comes from an on-site estimate.
Does moving a wall change the cost?
It can. Structure, plumbing, and electrical are extra work, and they are also when a permit is more likely. We inspect before we say a wall can move.
When do you need a permit for a kitchen?
Often when plumbing, electrical, or structure changes. A finish update that leaves those in place may not. We tell you which case the plan is after we see it.
How do I get a number for my kitchen?
Call (713) 909-0034 or request an estimate. The visit is how the scope, and then the price, gets decided.
Why do the ranges overlap?
Because a small layout change and a large finish update can cost similar money. The labels describe the kind of work, not a guaranteed bracket. Your kitchen lands where the scope lands.
Does an island always mean the layout-change range?
No. An island in the footprint you already have, with power and no new plumbing, can sit in a finish update. An island that moves the sink, a wall, or the path through the room is a layout change.
Are these ranges for cabinets only?
No. They are planning ranges for the construction scope described: finishes on the same layout, a layout change, or a gut. Appliances you buy yourself, and a floor that runs through the rest of the house, may be outside the way you are reading the band. The estimate lists them.
Do older Houston houses cost more by default?
Not by the year they were built. They cost more when the walls are out of square, the wiring is tired, or a drain has to move. A simple finish update in a bungalow can cost less than a large open-plan gut in a newer suburb.
Planning kitchen remodeling?
Call (713) 909-0034 for a free estimate. We price the scope after we see the house.