How to price kitchen remodeling jobs

A kitchen remodel is priced with the same equation as any job: price = materials + labor + other job costs + overhead + profit. What makes kitchens different is how many hands touch the room. Demolition, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, tile, flooring and paint share one small space, each trade earns a different wage, and the biggest material costs are things the client picks, often after you have priced the job.

This guide walks through each part, shows where your labor hours per unit should come from, then prices a 10 × 12 galley kitchen refresh line by line. It covers the arithmetic, not your local prices: wages and material costs vary by metro and by week, so every dollar figure is yours to fill in.

For the general method, see how to price a construction job. For software built around kitchens, see the kitchen remodeling industry page.

How kitchen remodeling work is measured

A kitchen uses three kinds of units on one sheet.

• Runs, by the linear foot: base and wall cabinets, countertops, crown molding and under-cabinet lighting. Measure along the wall and count a corner once.
• Surfaces, by the square foot: flooring, backsplash, drywall, paint and the protection you lay down before demo.
• Points, by the piece: sink, faucet, disposal, dishwasher hookup, range hood, lights, receptacles and new circuits.

Measure the room as it is, for demolition, and as it will be, for new work. In an existing layout the two match. Once the sink changes sides, the rough-in lines grow.

The formula for a kitchen remodeling price

1. Quantity × labor hours per unit = labor hours for each line.
2. Labor hours × that trade's full hourly labor cost = labor cost. Full cost is the wage plus labor burden: payroll taxes, workers' compensation and benefits.
3. Materials at what you will pay near the job now, with waste, plus allowances for items the client is still choosing.
4. Other job costs: dumpster, permit, subcontractor prices and delivery.
5. Overhead for every labor hour: a year of overhead divided by the hours your crew bills.
6. Profit, as a markup on the total cost.

Work out each trade's labor cost once with the labor rate guide and the labor rate calculator, then reuse it.

Where your labor hours per unit come from

Track hours on every kitchen

The hours per unit belong to your crew, so only your own jobs can supply them.

Job costing is how you get them. On every kitchen, record the hours each line took and the quantity it covered, then divide. Use hours per linear foot for runs, hours per 100 square feet for surfaces and hours each for points.

Keep a separate number for each line, not one rate for "kitchen":

Count labor hours, not crew hours: two installers working a six-hour day is 12 labor hours.

Wall cabinets and backsplash run slow

Two things usually stand out once you track them:

• Wall cabinets take more time per foot than base cabinets, because each box is lifted, leveled and fastened overhead.
• The backsplash is slow for its size: outlets, window returns and the edge under the wall cabinets mean constant cuts. A small backsplash can carry more hours than the whole floor.

Allowances, subcontractors and multiple trades

The arithmetic in a kitchen is easy. The hard part is pricing items the client has not chosen and trades you may not employ.

Allowances for owner-selected items

Cabinets, sinks, faucets and appliances are often chosen after signing. Price them as an allowance: a stated amount included in your price, with a written rule that selections above it are billed as a change and selections below it are credited.

Say whether each allowance includes your markup. Keep installation labor on its own line, so a pricier cabinet changes the allowance, not your hours.

Each trade at its own wage

Group the labor hours by trade and price each group at that trade's full hourly cost:

• Carpenters for cabinets and counters
• Plumbers for the sink
• Electricians for lights and circuits
• Tile setters for the backsplash

One blended rate overprices the demo and underprices the plumbing.

Subcontracted trades and your markup

If a subcontractor does the plumbing or electrical, replace those labor lines with the sub's price plus your markup. The markup pays for scheduling them around the other trades, return trips and the warranty calls that come to you.

Change orders mid-job

Kitchens change after demo: a soft subfloor under the sink, a circuit not to code, an upgraded range. Price each as a signed change order before the work happens, at the estimate's rates.

The change order guide walks through it. For conditions you suspect but cannot see, a stated contingency is more honest than padding every line.

Taking off kitchen materials

Turn each quantity into what you buy, with waste added and rounded up to the purchase unit.

• Cabinets: count boxes from the layout drawing, not by the foot. The widths have to add up to the run, fillers included.
• Countertop: order the lengths each run needs.
• Backsplash: around 10% extra tile is a common starting point.
• Plank flooring: extra for end cuts.
• Rough-in parts for each point: cable, boxes, pipe, valves and fittings.

Cabinet and appliance prices move during long lead times, so state how long your prices hold.

Worked example: a 10 × 12 galley kitchen refresh

Example: A client wants a 10 × 12 foot galley kitchen refreshed in the same layout: new cabinets, laminate counters, a tile backsplash, plank flooring, a new sink and faucet, a disposal, four recessed lights, four countertop GFCI receptacles and a ducted hood.

The client is choosing the cabinets, range, dishwasher and hood. The refrigerator stays.

Measuring the galley

The two 12-foot walls face each other across the 10-foot width:

• Sink wall: 12 feet of counter over 10 feet of base cabinets and a 2-foot dishwasher opening. Wall cabinets: 12 feet less a 4-foot window, 8 feet.
• Range wall: 3 feet of base, a 30-inch range, 3 more feet of base, a 3-foot refrigerator space and a 6-inch filler. Base and counter 6 feet; wall cabinets 3 + 3 = 6 feet.
• Totals: base 10 + 6 = 16 feet, wall 8 + 6 = 14 feet, counters 12 + 6 = 18 feet. The old runs matched, so cabinet demo is 16 + 14 = 30 feet.
• Backsplash: 18 feet × 1.5 feet high = 27 square feet, plus 2.5 × 2 = 5 behind the range: 32 square feet.
• Floor: 10 × 12 = 120, less 16 × 2 = 32 under the base cabinets: 88 square feet.
• Paint: 120 square feet of ceiling, 120 of end walls after the openings, about 40 above the cabinets and around the window: 280.
• Protection: the 120-square-foot kitchen plus a 4 × 20 foot path: 200 square feet.

Labor hours by line

Say your crew's own records show the hours per unit below. They are example inputs to show the arithmetic, not a standard: use your own.

The check: 3 + 3 + 12 + 4.5 + 3.52 + 4 + 1.5 + 4 + 3 + 12.8 + 14 + 9 + 9.6 + 1.6 + 4.4 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 4.2 + 1 + 4 = 105.12 labor hours.

Price each trade's hours separately

By trade, those hours split into protection, demo and cleanup 31.02; carpentry 35.80; plumbing 8.50; electrical, with the hood, 10.00; tile 11.20; flooring 4.40; painting 4.20. Price each group at its own trade's cost.

The four removals are the old range, dishwasher and hood, plus the refrigerator moved out and back. Setting the new range is not on this list; if your crew does it, add a line for it.

Materials for the galley

From the layout, with around 10% waste on tile and flooring and the rest from the coverage printed on each product:

• Cabinets: count boxes from the drawing. The 10 feet of sink-wall base might be a 36-inch sink base, two 30-inch bases and a 24-inch drawer base, and the range wall two 36-inch bases: 6 base boxes. The wall runs might be four 24-inch boxes around the window and two 36-inch boxes beside the hood: 6 wall boxes. Priced as an allowance, with the filler.
• Countertop: 18 feet of laminate top, ordered as a 12-foot and a 6-foot piece, plus end caps.
• Backsplash: 32 × 1.1 = 35.2 square feet of tile, rounded up to full boxes; thinset from the bag's coverage for your trowel notch and grout from the maker's chart, rounded up to full bags.
• Flooring: 88 × 1.1 = 96.8 square feet, rounded up to full cartons.
• Paint: say the can covers 350 square feet per gallon. Two finish coats are 560 ÷ 350 = 1.6, so 2 gallons; one coat of primer is 280 ÷ 350 = 0.8, so 1 gallon.
• Rough-in parts: cable, boxes, pipe, valves and fittings for each point, and contractor bags for cleanup.

Price the materials you supply near the job and add them up. Call the total M.

Building the price

A 25% markup means the total cost × 1.25, a 20% margin. A 20% markup is only about a 16.7% margin. The markup vs margin guide explains why, and the job cost calculator adds the lines up.

Billing it in phases

Cabinets are often ordered weeks before they arrive. Tie payments to phases the client can see:

• A deposit at signing toward the cabinet order
• A payment after demo and rough-in
• Another after cabinets and counters
• The balance after the punch list

The progress billing guide covers the percentages; check whether your state caps deposits.

Common kitchen pricing mistakes

• One labor rate for every trade. Plumbing and electrical hours at a carpenter's rate leave money behind.
• Allowances with no rule. Without an overage and credit rule, every upgrade becomes an argument.
• Sub prices with no markup. You carry the scheduling, the callbacks and the payment risk.
• Missing circuits. A new counter layout can need new small appliance circuits, not just new receptacles.
• No protection or cleanup line. Clients live in the house. Dust walls and floor paper are real hours.
• Skipping lead-safe work. A house built before 1978 may need lead-safe practices when you disturb paint.

How to present a kitchen remodeling estimate

• Group the lines by phase: demo, rough-in, cabinets and counters, surfaces, fixtures and finish.
• List every allowance with its amount and overage rule, and mark items the client supplies.
• List exclusions: structural changes, appliance installation by others, hidden damage beyond what you saw.
• Set the deposit, progress payments and an expiry date.
• State your workmanship warranty alongside the manufacturers' warranties.

The kitchen remodeling estimate template lays these out, and the kitchen remodeling invoice template bills each phase. When scope changes, the free change order generator writes it up.

Pricing kitchens with BuildWell

BuildWell builds a kitchen estimate from a description of the job by voice, text or photos, such as "galley kitchen, same layout, 16 feet of base and 14 of wall cabinets, laminate tops, tile backsplash."

The AI decides what work the job needs and how much; it does not set prices. BuildWell prices materials at stores near the job and labor at the metro's median wage for each trade, plus your overhead and markup. So plumbing and cabinet hours each get their own trade's wage.

You can change any quantity, hour or price, add a custom line for a sub, and bill a deposit and progress payments as percentages of the signed estimate.

A kitchen remodel pricing checklist

• Runs in linear feet; floor, backsplash and paint in square feet
• Fixtures, lights, receptacles and circuits counted
• Labor hours grouped by trade, each at its own rate
• Allowances stated, with overage and credit rules
• Sub prices marked up
• Materials with waste, at current prices near the job
• Dumpster, permit and contingency
• Overhead on every labor hour, then profit
• Payments tied to phases