It starts at the waste line, not the door fronts.
Every kitchen we build starts with one measurement: where the waste line already is. That single fact decides half the budget, and almost nobody takes it before quoting.
$65k-$145kChicago range
€28k-€70kLisboa range
7-11 wkOn site
$2,400Survey, before any of it
Service 02 of 07. Priced from your survey, never from an average.
Why this is one job and not several
Because a kitchen is the densest room in a house. Water, gas, power, ventilation and structure all meet inside four metres, and the sequence they are touched in decides the price.
What is included
- Strip-out, disposal and dust containment
- Electrical and plumbing alterations, tested and certified
- Cabinetry, counters, splashback and sealing
- Ventilation, lighting and switching
- Flooring, decoration and a full appliance install
What is not
- Appliances above the stated allowance
- Structural openings, priced separately when the survey finds a load-bearing wall
- Furniture and stools
- Gas supply upsizing where the utility requires it
The waste line decides the plan
Both of these kitchens kept their stack where it was. That single decision is worth more to the budget than every finish in the room.
Four things move this number more than any finish you will choose.
What decides the price
01
Waste line position
Moving a sink more than 1.8m from the existing stack usually means opening the floor. That is the difference between a seven-week job and an eleven-week job.
02
Ventilation route
A recirculating hood is a compromise most owners regret. A ducted run needs an external wall or a ceiling void, and both are structural questions.
03
Cabinetry standard
Stock, semi-custom and shop-built differ by roughly three times in cost and five weeks in lead time. We price all three against your layout rather than steering you.
04
Appliance decisions
Panel-ready, plumbed, 60cm against 90cm: each changes the joinery drawing. Chosen late they become change orders; chosen in phase three they cost nothing extra.
One we finished, stack untouched.
A recent one, in full
A gut kitchen and bath in a 1911 two-flat. The sink and the dishwasher stayed on the existing stack, which is the single decision that kept this kitchen at $118,400 rather than the $150,000 the other bid carried. The survey also found live knob-and-tube wiring behind the chimney breast on day one, and it was priced that week.
Read the Logan Square Two-Flat file — $118,400 · 9 weeks · four days early · 2025.
Four things, and one of them is a photograph.
What we need from you first
01
A photograph of the room with the sink in it
It tells us roughly where the stack runs before anyone is on site, and it is the first thing we look at.
02
Whether the wall you want to lose is load-bearing
If you do not know, say so — that is normal, and finding out is part of the survey. It is the one item that can move a kitchen budget by $20,000.
03
Your appliance list, even a rough one
Panel-ready against freestanding, 60cm against 90cm: each changes the joinery drawing. Chosen in phase three they cost nothing; chosen in phase six they are change orders.
04
The month you want to be cooking in it
Cabinetry lead times run four to nine weeks depending on the standard. The date decides which standards are still available to you.
Twenty minutes with the floor up settles the budget.
That is how long it takes to find the waste line, and it is the difference between a seven-week kitchen and an eleven-week one. It happens on survey day.