What drives kitchen renovation cost

Two kitchens the same size can sit a long way apart on price, and almost none of that distance comes from the photograph. It comes from how much of the room is removed, how the boxes behind the doors are built, which slab is chosen and how far the plumbing and power have to travel. This guide sets out the variables in the order they are decided, so a budget can be shaped before a drawing is signed rather than defended after it.

See what a full renovation includes

THE SEVEN VARIABLES

01 How much is stripped out02 Cabinetry construction and hardware03 Door finish and edge detail04 Benchtop material and fabrication05 Appliance and tapware selections06 Plumbing and electrical relocation07 Making good and site access

REFERENCE · A FINISHED KITCHEN LIKE THIS IS A STACK OF SEPARATE DECISIONS — SCOPE, CABINETRY, SURFACES AND SERVICES, EACH PRICED ON ITS OWN LINE

300/450/600 · MODULE BY MODULE

The line items a kitchen quote is actually made of

A quote is not one number. It is a stack of separate decisions, each of which can be moved up or down without touching the others — which is exactly what makes a kitchen budget controllable.

Strip-out and disposal. A cosmetic refresh removes doors and a benchtop. A full rebuild removes cabinetry, flooring, tiling and sometimes a wall — and every extra layer removed is a layer that has to be rebuilt and taken away.Cabinetry construction. Board type, carcass thickness, drawer runners and hinges sit behind closed doors and never appear in a photograph, but they set how the kitchen feels in year eight.Doors and finish. Melamine, vinyl-wrap, two-pack and veneer are four different trades with four different lead times. Handleless detailing adds machining rather than material.Benchtop and fabrication. The slab is only part of it. Waterfall ends, mitred edges, undermount sink cut-outs and a full-height splashback in the same stone all add fabrication hours.Services. Keeping the sink and the cooktop where they are is cheap. Moving them asks for new waste falls, new circuits and often patched ceilings and floors.Making good. Flooring under old cabinets, cornice above a removed bulkhead, plaster behind a demolished tiled wall — the least visible work in a renovation and the most commonly left out of a rough estimate.

SCOPE · THE DECISION MADE BEFORE ANY OTHER

Scope sets the budget; selections only shade it

The widest gap between two kitchen budgets opens at the first question: does the room stay as it is, or change shape? A kitchen that keeps its walls, its window and its service points can spend almost everything on what you see and touch. A kitchen that gains an island, loses a wall or shifts the sink under a window spends a meaningful share on work that will be invisible the day it is finished.

Access matters more than most people expect. A ground-floor Oakleigh brick veneer with a driveway and a wide side gate is straightforward. A first-floor unit with a shared stair, a narrow lift and restricted delivery hours turns a two-hour slab install into a half-day exercise, and long cabinetry runs may need to be built in sections.

Where scope is locked in the thirteen stages

TRADE-OFF 01

Spend on the boxes, save on the slab

Soft-close drawers built on good runners in moisture-resistant board are used every day. A quieter, less dramatic stone still wipes clean and still lasts. If something has to give, giving on the pattern of the slab costs less in daily use than giving on the joinery under it.

Custom Cabinetry

TRADE-OFF 02

Keep the services, move the storage

Most complaints about an old kitchen are about storage, not plumbing. Leaving the sink and cooktop on their existing points while redrawing the cabinetry around them buys a great deal of improvement without the services bill.

Pantry & Storage Solutions

TRADE-OFF 03

Simplify the fabrication

A square edge instead of a mitre, a tiled splashback instead of a matching stone return, one waterfall end instead of two: the look holds, the hours drop.

Kitchen Benchtops

BRIEF

Five things worth settling before you ask anyone for a number.

How to brief a kitchen so the figure means something

01 Say whether the walls and services move. This single answer separates a refresh from a rebuild and changes every other line.02 Name the appliances you already own or intend to buy. Cabinetry is drawn around real dimensions; an integrated fridge and a freestanding one are different kitchens.03 Decide what has to be included and what is optional. Flooring, painting, a butler’s pantry or laundry joinery are often assumed in and quietly left out.04 Describe the access. Level, stairs, lift, parking and delivery restrictions all affect installation hours.05 Give a range rather than a single figure. A range lets a designer put the money where it earns its keep instead of trimming everywhere at once.

Read next: Benchtop Materials Compared, the renovation checklist and how long a kitchen takes.

SCOPE SHEET · DRAWING · SCHEDULE · FIGURE

Put your kitchen against these variables

Tell us the room, the scope and what has to be included, and the figure you receive will be built from the same line items set out above.

Prefer to ask a question first? Contact Kitchen Renovation Oakleigh.