Kitchen Remodel Cost in Los Angeles (Line by Line)

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Kitchen Remodel Cost in Los Angeles: Real Line Items

Interior Remodeling

Kitchen Remodel Cost in Los Angeles: Real Line Items

What $45,000, $95,000 and $180,000 actually buy in an LA kitchen, priced item by item

Remodel Your Vibe Design Team August 8, 20265 min read

Image: Kitchen Remodel Cost in Los Angeles: Real Line Items

In this article

What each budget tier buys

Line items on a $105,000 mid-range gut

The five things that actually blow the budget

Where money is well spent and where it is not

Timeline and living through it

A kitchen remodel in Los Angeles costs $45,000 to $75,000 at the modest end, $75,000 to $130,000 for a full mid-range gut, and $150,000 to $300,000-plus for high-end work in Brentwood, Hancock Park or the Palisades. Cabinets and labor dominate every one of those budgets. Together they usually account for 55 to 65 percent of the total. The line items that blow budgets are rarely the ones homeowners worry about. It is almost never the countertop. It is the wall you wanted removed, the panel that could not carry an induction range, and the plumbing you found under a 1948 slab.

In this article

What each budget tier buys

Line items on a $105,000 mid-range gut

The five things that actually blow the budget

Where money is well spent and where it is not

Timeline and living through it

What each budget tier buys

$45,000 to $75,000: the working refresh. Same layout, no walls moved. Semi-custom cabinets, quartz counters, mid-tier appliances, new flooring, new lighting, new sink and faucet. Plumbing and gas stay where they are. This is the right tier for a kitchen with a functional layout and tired finishes.

$75,000 to $130,000: the full gut. Everything above plus a reconfigured layout, a relocated sink or range, an island with power and possibly plumbing, upgraded electrical, new windows, and better appliances. This is where most Los Angeles kitchen projects land.

$150,000 to $300,000-plus: high end. Custom cabinetry built to the room, slab stone with waterfall ends and full-height backsplash, professional appliance suite (a 48-inch range alone is $12,000 to $22,000), integrated refrigeration, structural work to open the kitchen to living space, custom millwork and specialty lighting.

Square footage matters less than you would expect. A 180 sq ft galley in Silver Lake and a 320 sq ft kitchen in Sherman Oaks can cost within 15 percent of each other, because the cost sits in the appliance wall, the plumbing wall and the cabinet run.

Pro Tip

Decide your tier before you start selecting finishes. Mixing a $130,000 appliance package into a $60,000 project is the most common way budgets break.

Line items on a $105,000 mid-range gut

For a roughly 220 sq ft Los Angeles kitchen, fully gutted with a modest layout change:

Design, drawings and permit: $4,500 to $9,000

Demolition and disposal: $3,000 to $5,500

Framing and any structural modification: $3,000 to $14,000

Plumbing rough and finish: $6,000 to $12,000

Electrical rough and finish, including new circuits: $7,000 to $14,000

HVAC modification and range hood ducting: $2,000 to $6,000

Drywall and patching: $3,500 to $6,500

Cabinets, semi-custom, 22 to 28 linear feet: $22,000 to $42,000

Countertops, quartz, 55 to 70 sq ft plus island: $6,500 to $14,000

Backsplash tile and installation: $2,500 to $6,500

Flooring across kitchen and adjacent circulation: $6,000 to $14,000

Appliance package, mid-tier: $12,000 to $25,000

Sink, faucet, disposal, pot filler: $1,800 to $5,000

Lighting (recessed, under-cabinet, decorative): $3,500 to $8,000

Paint, trim, hardware, final details: $3,000 to $6,000

Add 12 to 15 percent contingency on top. On a pre-1970 house, use 15.

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The five things that actually blow the budget

Removing a wall. If it carries roof or floor load, you need an engineer, a beam and a load path to the foundation. In a single-story house with a simple truss roof, a beam might be $4,000 to $9,000 installed. In a two-story Hancock Park home where the wall carries the floor above, a steel beam with new posts and footings runs $14,000 to $35,000.

Electrical service. Modern kitchens want two 20-amp small-appliance circuits, a dedicated dishwasher circuit, disposal, microwave, hood, refrigerator, and (if you go induction) a 40 or 50-amp range circuit. Older LA homes on 100-amp service frequently cannot absorb that. Upgrade: $4,500 to $9,000.

Cast iron and galvanized plumbing. Under slabs in Mar Vista, Eagle Rock and Culver City, original drain lines are often cast iron at or past end of life. Replacing a kitchen drain line under slab means saw-cutting concrete: $4,000 to $12,000.

Asbestos and lead. Pre-1980 homes commonly have asbestos in floor tile, mastic or textured ceilings, and lead paint. Testing is a few hundred dollars. Abatement is $2,500 to $12,000 and is not optional once found.

Ventilation. A high-output range needs real ducted extraction, and a large hood can require makeup air. Running new ductwork through a finished ceiling or an exterior wall is $2,000 to $6,000.

Pro Tip

Test for asbestos and check the panel before you sign a contract. Both findings change the price, and it is better to know at the estimate stage.

Where money is well spent and where it is not

Worth the money:

Cabinet construction. Plywood boxes, full-extension soft-close hardware, and drawers instead of lower doors. This is the part you touch daily for twenty years.

Layout and structural work. Moving a wall or relocating plumbing is disruptive and expensive, so it only ever gets done once. If the layout is wrong, fix it now.

Ventilation. An undersized hood makes a beautiful kitchen unpleasant to cook in.

Lighting design. Layered light (recessed, under-cabinet task lighting and decorative fixtures on separate switches) transforms a room for $3,500 to $8,000.

Usually not worth it:

Exotic slab on every surface. Quartz on perimeter runs with one statement stone island gets 90 percent of the effect at 50 percent of the stone cost.

Built-in refrigeration in a $70,000 kitchen. A $14,000 integrated fridge in a project at that budget starves the rest of the room.

Pot fillers. They cost $900 to $2,200 installed and most people use them twice.

Trend-heavy tile. Backsplash is cheap to change later; cabinets are not. Take risks on the tile, not the boxes.

Timeline and living through it

A full mid-range gut runs 8 to 14 weeks of on-site work, plus 4 to 8 weeks before that for design, selections and cabinet lead time. Custom cabinetry alone is often 8 to 12 weeks from approved drawings.

The realistic sequence: demolition (week 1), rough framing and structural (weeks 1 to 2), rough plumbing, electrical and HVAC with inspections (weeks 2 to 4), insulation and drywall (weeks 4 to 5), flooring (week 5 to 6), cabinet installation (weeks 6 to 8), countertop templating and fabrication (a hard two-week wait after cabinets are set) then backsplash, appliances, plumbing trim, electrical trim and paint (weeks 9 to 12).

The countertop gap is unavoidable. Stone cannot be templated until cabinets are installed and level, and fabrication takes 10 to 14 days. Plan for it rather than being surprised by it.

Set up a temporary kitchen before demolition: refrigerator in the garage or dining room, microwave, kettle, a folding table. Families who skip this eat out for three months and add several thousand dollars to the real cost of the project.

Pro Tip

Order cabinets and appliances before demolition day. A kitchen sitting open waiting on a back-ordered range is the most expensive kind of delay.

Final Thoughts

Most Los Angeles kitchen remodels land between $75,000 and $130,000, with cabinets and labor taking the majority of it. Set your tier first, then select finishes to fit. Investigate the panel, the drain lines and the presence of asbestos before you sign anything, because those three findings account for most of the budget overruns we see. Spend on the layout, the cabinet boxes, the ventilation and the lighting. Everything else is negotiable.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Los Angeles?

A modest refresh keeping the existing layout runs $45,000 to $75,000. A full gut with a layout change runs $75,000 to $130,000, which is where most LA projects land. High-end work with custom cabinetry and a professional appliance suite runs $150,000 to $300,000 and above.

What is the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel?

Cabinets and labor, which together typically account for 55 to 65 percent of the budget. Semi-custom cabinets for a 22 to 28 linear foot kitchen run $22,000 to $42,000. Countertops, which homeowners often worry about most, are usually only 6 to 10 percent of the total.

How much does removing a kitchen wall cost?

If the wall is non-bearing, $1,500 to $4,000. If it carries load, you need an engineer, a beam and a continuous load path to the foundation. In a single-story house that might be $4,000 to $9,000. In a two-story home requiring a steel beam and new footings, $14,000 to $35,000.

How long does a kitchen remodel take?

Eight to fourteen weeks of on-site work, plus four to eight weeks beforehand for design, selections and cabinet lead time. Custom cabinets alone often take 8 to 12 weeks. There is also an unavoidable two-week gap after cabinet installation while stone countertops are templated and fabricated.

Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel in LA?

Yes, for anything involving electrical, plumbing, gas relocation or structural change, which covers nearly every gut remodel. A like-for-like cosmetic refresh with no system work may not require one. Permits protect you at resale and are required for the inspections that verify the work was done correctly.

Topics

kitchen

interior remodeling

cost guide

los angeles

About the author

Remodel Your Vibe Design Team

Written by the design team at Remodel Your Vibe, a licensed ( CSLB #1119054 ), bonded and insured, veteran-owned and family-operated design-build company based in Los Angeles. Our own crews design, permit and build pools, backyards, ADUs and interiors across Greater Los Angeles and Orange County.

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