Designing Kitchens: Estimating Costs

To figure out the costs for your entire project, you need to make a list of all the materials you want to purchase, all the tools and supplies you’ll need, and any services you plan to use. It’s easy to remember things like the shiny new refrigerator and to forget little items like finishing nails, wallpaper remover, sandpaper, and so forth. You will need to know, for example:

• how much rough lumber to order to reframe a door, wall, or window, or to strengthen floor joists.
• the amount of finish lumber necessary to build a window seat, edge a counter, or trim out doors and windows.
• the size of ceramic tiles you want to use and the area they will cover. (Add 10 percent for break age—more if you have to do a lot of cutting.)
• the types and numbers of plumbing and wiring supplies you’ll need.
• how many switch boxes or receptacles you need for your new lighting plan.

The best way to determine what you’ll need is to list all the materials, tools, and supplies required to complete each task you intend to do. You can review each one in Sections Four and Five, and then make up your list. Use the sample below as a guide.

When your list is complete, shop around to get the best prices. You may be able to order from a catalog or through your designer or contractor, or you may want to pick up certain items from local retailers. Prices will vary with quality, from dealer to dealer, and from retailer to retailer. Be sure to get prices for possible substitutions in addition to your first-choice items. If you have your heart set on hand-painted French tiles, for example, you may find the total price—including installation—too high for your budget. But you may be able to use the hand- painted tiles as a border or backsplash and substitute less expensive tiles for the rest of the counter. You may also decide to install the tiles yourself to lower the price.

Professional Services

Which professionals you turn to will depend on what aspects of the project you want to do yourself. You can work with an architect, an Interior designer, a kitchen designer associated with a kitchen dealer, a contractor, subcontractors, or any combination of these.

Architect. If you’re planning a major renovation, consult an architect at an early stage. There are several different ways of working with architects:

1. The architect will draw plans for your approval and supervise the ordering of materials and construction by contractors.

2. The architect will draw up a complete set of blue prints. You can use them yourself or hire a contractor to do the building from the complete specifications.

3. You can pay for a feasibility study and a basic drawing, and then take them to a contractor who will insert cabinetry dimensions, specify appliances, and handle the construction.

Interior designer. You can use an interior designer in much the same way you’d use the services of an architect. The designer may charge a flat fee for the designs, an hourly fee for supervision, and mark up costs for ordering materials; or the flat fee may include both drawings and supervision of construction. You will have to clarify this. A designer can be invaluable in helping you locate and select certain materials, fixtures, finishings, and furnishings. The customary cost plus markup is often less than retail price, and designers have access to dealers that you cannot buy from directly.

Kitchen dealers and designers. Dealers who retail kitchen supplies usually have one or more kitchen de signers working with them, either on a full- or part-time basis. While knowledgeable about cabinetry, surfaces, and materials, these professionals may not be quite as experienced in structural or finishing materials, fabrics, and overall design as architects or interior designers. However, many of them can provide good advice and innovative ideas for use of space. Design fees are often credited against the price of cabinets and appliances purchased through the dealer.

Contractor. You can work with a general contractor in several different ways:

1. The contractor can produce drawings from which the kitchen will be built by the contractor’s own workers and subcontractors.

2. The contractor can work from a complete set of blueprints supplied by your architect or designer.

3. The contractor can enhance less detailed plans drawn by an architect, designer, or yourself.

4. The contractor can specify and order materials, set up schedules, and supervise installation by various workers.

5. The contractor can supervise your work, checking it over carefully on a daily basis if necessary, and super vise subcontractors handling jobs that you don’t want to do yourself.

Although contractors do not usually have the design experience of architects or designers, they deal with the realities of space, plumbing, wiring, and structure on a daily basis. This practical background provides many solutions to some of the trickier parts of remodeling.

Subcontractors. Specialists in plumbing, wiring, cabinetry, masonry, tile, and so on are paid by the hour or day for the time they spend building or installing all or parts of a kitchen. They don’t draw up plans, but they may offer advice. Most subcontractors can work without your constant supervision, but if you have specific ideas about how you want certain things done, be on hand when that portion of the work is underway.

Choosing a Professional

Once you have located various firms or individuals with whom you might like to work, do some checking up. Ask to see any photographs of past jobs, other sets of blue prints, or recently finished projects. Get the names of two or three former clients and call them to see how satisfied they are with the work that was done. Go to see the finished kitchens to determine whether you like the workmanship, the ideas, the materials, and the finish details. When you’ve decided which professionals are your most likely candidates, get at least three bids.

Soliciting Bids

First decide what you want to do yourself and what you want a professional to handle so you’ll know what estimates you need. Then spell out the nature of the job as clearly as possible so that all bidders will provide answers to the same questions. Get bids from several different professionals so you can compare estimates. It may not be necessary to get several bids for small tasks, like putting in a single window, because the difference in cost might not be worth the bother. But for big jobs— plumbing, cabinetry—you should definitely get competitive bids. You may have to pay a consultation fee, although some professionals provide free estimates in the hope of securing the job. You can request bids in several different ways:

1. If you intend to purchase your own materials, request estimates on design or labor only.

2. If you want the professional to order and pick up materials, request estimates for design or labor and for materials. If you want to do some of the work yourself, specify which parts you plan to do,

3. If an estimate solely for supervising specific parts of the project.

No matter how you make your request, be sure to ask for a breakdown of the total estimate according to specific jobs. You should also ask for an estimate of how long it will take to do the work. Compare these time estimates as well as those for labor and materials. Look for major discrepancies between bids. A low bid may be missing a crucial item, and a high bid may include something it shouldn’t.

The Final Planning Stage

After you have evaluated your bids, you may have to make some difficult decisions about your project. If the estimates are way beyond your budget, you’ll have to scale down some of your favorite ideas. This isn’t nearly as much fun as drawing up your original plans, but don’t despair. There are always ways of compromising with out destroying your concepts. Ask your designer or con tractor for ideas—they deal with these situations daily. Look over the substitutions on your materials list and re view your priorities list from your survey. Even with com promises, your new kitchen will still be a vast improvement over your current one.

Cost Estimate Worksheet

The best way to estimate your costs is to make a list of each dismantling and installation task you’re planning to do. Then, for each task, list all the new materials and products that will become a visible part of your new kitchen—cabinets, hardware, sink, appliances, surface and finishing materials, and so on. Next, list the unseen supplies you’ll need, such as lumber, insulation, pipe, and electrical wire. And finally, list the tools you’ll have to buy to carry out your tasks. Unseen costs can quickly mount up, so be thorough. Use the partial list that follows as a guide for creating your own.

Task-Items needed-Have-Buy-Rent-Price/unit-No. units-Estimated total cost

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