Kitchen Remodeling in the Denver Metro

It depends on which of the three projects you're buying, and they're priced far apart. A refresh that keeps your cabinet boxes costs a fraction of a renovation that moves walls or plumbing. The biggest levers are whether the cabinets stay, whether anything moves, and what the counters are made of. Send photos and I'll put a written number on your actual kitchen, free.

Typical prices, and the Colorado costs most national guides skip, are in my kitchen remodel cost guide.

The written estimate is the price for the work it lists. Older kitchens can hide things nobody can see from the outside, like water damage, old wiring or corroded pipe. If I find one, you hear about it the moment I see it, with what it means for the job, not on the final invoice.

Very often, yes, and it's the best-value move in a kitchen. If the boxes are plywood or sound particleboard, new doors and drawer fronts, soft-close hinges, full-extension slides, new hardware and new counters read as a new kitchen at a fraction of the price. If your boxes are shot, I'll tell you that instead of dressing up something that won't hold a hinge.

A refresh is usually days to two weeks of work. A full remodel takes weeks, and cabinet and counter lead times often set the pace more than the work does, so you get the schedule with the estimate. Most families stay home and keep the fridge, microwave and coffee maker running in another room.

It depends on your city and the job. Moving plumbing, adding circuits or changing a wall needs a permit in every city I work in. Some cities want one for less: Lakewood requires a permit for anything beyond very minor cosmetic work. I'm a licensed contractor, so I pull it, and you'll know before work starts whether your job needs one.

Usually, yes. It's the most requested change in the metro's older houses. The real question is what the wall is doing: if it's load-bearing, it needs a properly sized beam and a permit, which I handle as a licensed general contractor. Don't let anyone open it who hasn't answered that question first.