Kitchen renovation, from the wall to the trim.
The layout you want usually means a wall that has to come out, a waste line that has to move, and a panel that was never sized for an induction range. We run all of it: the opening and the beam, licensed plumbers and electricians for the services, then the cabinetry, stone and trim that make it look as if it was always there.
It usually starts with one wall.
Most houses in this county were built when the kitchen was a working room with a door on it. The layout people want now — one room, an island, a sightline to the rest of the house — nearly always means removing the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Everything else follows from whether that wall is holding anything up.
It is worth knowing the answer before you fall in love with a drawing, because the two answers are not close to each other in cost or in schedule.
Non-bearing
A partition carrying nothing but itself. The real question is what runs inside it: usually a circuit, sometimes a vent, occasionally a waste line that has to be re-routed.
Bearing
A beam sized by an engineer for the span and the load above it, posts down to footings that can take the point load, and a permit with an inspection. On a center-hall colonial the bearing wall is often the one you want gone. It is normal work at a different order of cost.
Flush or dropped
A beam can sit in the ceiling plane or below it. Flush costs more, because the joists have to be hung off it, and it is the difference between a clean ceiling and a permanent reminder that there used to be a wall.
What the island really costs
An island with a sink or a cooktop is a waste run, a vent and a set of circuits under the floor. Over a finished ceiling or on a slab, that is the most expensive few feet of the kitchen. An island with nothing in it is furniture.
We settle the hard parts first.
By the time anyone is looking at samples, the things that decide whether the kitchen works — where the water goes, what carries the ceiling, whether the panel can take the range — are already settled. We would rather settle them with you than around you.
What older houses hide behind the walls.
None of this is a disaster and all of it is normal for the housing stock here. What should not be normal is a contractor closing it back up without telling you, so you see it in a photograph before the drywall goes on.
Wiring that predates grounding
Knob-and-tube and ungrounded two-wire circuits turn up in pre-war houses. A kitchen needs grounded, GFCI-protected small-appliance circuits and usually two or three dedicated runs on top.
A panel with nothing left in it
An induction range, a wall oven and a heated floor can want more than a full 100-amp panel has to give. Better to learn that at the estimate than the week the range is delivered.
Old galvanized supply lines
Galvanized steel pipe narrows inside as it corrodes. New fixtures on old pipe means good pressure in the showroom and disappointing pressure at home.
A floor that will not take stone
Deflection that was fine under linoleum will crack porcelain or stone. Sometimes the fix is a layer of plywood, sometimes sistered joists; either way it happens before the finishes, not after.
Three kinds of cabinetry, and what separates them.
The difference between the tiers is construction and lead time, more than the door you see in a showroom. Lead times below are typical industry ranges; your supplier confirms the real one when the order is placed.
Stock
Pre-made sizes from a catalog shelf.
- Shortest wait, often a few weeks
- Fixed widths, so filler strips take up the gaps
- Usually a particleboard box
- The right answer for a rental, a second kitchen or a simple run on a tight budget
Semi-custom
Catalog ranges modified to your dimensions.
- Where most kitchens in this county land
- Plywood boxes and dovetailed drawers are common at this tier
- Sizes adjusted so the run fits the wall properly
- A finish range wide enough that a custom color is rarely worth the premium
Full custom
Drawn and built for the room.
- For a room that is not rectangular, or a ceiling you want used to the top
- Any dimension, any finish
- Integrated appliance panels and furniture-grade detail
- Worth it on a period house where nothing is a standard size
Stone is measured after the cabinets are set and leveled, from the actual walls of your room, never from the drawing. That is a real gap in the middle of the schedule, and a kitchen schedule without it has either forgotten it or plans to make the stone fit on site.
How your kitchen runs
Six phases. Two of them are inspections, and an honest schedule shows them.
Design, selections and the cabinetry order
Layout, appliances and the cabinet order. This is the phase people rush and then wait on: the cabinetry lead time is usually longer than the build, so the order goes in first.
Permits
Filed with the municipality, with structural drawings where a beam is involved. Review times vary by town, and the schedule uses the realistic one. Which kitchen work needs a permit, and which needs none, is in our guide to kitchen permits in New Jersey.
Demolition and structure
Dust walls and floor protection, strip-out, then the opening and any beam work. This is when you find out what the house is really made of.
Rough-in and inspection
Plumbing, electrical, ventilation and framing, all inspected before anything is closed. Nothing is covered until it has passed.
Cabinetry, template, stone, trim
Boxes set and leveled, stone templated off the finished run, then backsplash, trim and paint. The order matters if you want even reveals.
Final inspection and punch list
Municipal sign-off, then we walk the room with you and clear the punch list before the balance is invoiced.
Four things move the number.
We do not price a kitchen over the phone, because the honest answer depends on these. We walk the room, tell you which apply to your house, and give you a written price.
Shifting a sink a few feet is simple. Moving it away from the stack, or putting one in an island, means opening the floor for the waste and vent.
A partition is quick work. A bearing wall means an engineered beam, posts and footings.
An induction range, a wall oven and a heated floor may need a service upgrade rather than a couple of new circuits.
Deflection, rot or a build-up that will not carry stone all mean floor work before any finish goes down.
A custom kitchen in a house we are building.
The custom home we are building in Edgewater, on the Hudson, has a large custom island at the center of its first floor, with the living room, the fireplace and the river views around it. In a new house the kitchen gets designed with the structure rather than fitted into it: the waste, the venting and the circuits are planned before the floor is framed. In an existing house, the same thinking is what the first two phases above are for.
See the Edgewater build and our other new construction, or, if the kitchen you want does not fit the footprint you have, read about additions.
Before you start
How long does a kitchen renovation take?
Plan on the cabinetry before the construction. Semi-custom cabinets commonly take two to four months to arrive, and that, not the build, usually sets the start date. On site, a kitchen that keeps its footprint moves faster than one where a wall comes out or the plumbing moves, and the municipal inspections sit inside the schedule. You get a phase-by-phase schedule with the estimate.
Can you take the wall out between the kitchen and the dining room?
Usually, yes, and whether that wall is load-bearing decides the cost. A partition that carries nothing is quick work. A bearing wall needs a beam sized by an engineer, posts carried down to footings that can take the load, a permit and an inspection. It is routine work, but it is not a same-week job.
Will my electrical service handle a new kitchen?
Often not without work. An induction range, a wall oven, a dishwasher and a microwave each want their own circuit, and a house on a full 100-amp panel may need a service upgrade rather than a couple of new runs. A licensed electrician checks the panel before the kitchen is priced.
Do I need permits for a kitchen renovation in New Jersey?
For most real kitchen work, yes. Moving or adding plumbing, adding or changing electrical circuits, and any structural change, such as a wall coming out or a beam going in, need permits and inspections. Where a particular job falls is the town's construction official's call. We file whatever the job needs and book the inspections as part of it.
Do you design the kitchen, or do I need a designer?
For most kitchens we work out the layout and selections with you directly, with cabinet suppliers producing the drawings. Where the room is being reconfigured substantially, or the kitchen is part of an addition, an architect or kitchen designer earns their fee, and we are glad to build from someone else's drawings.
Can we live in the house during the work?
Most people do, with a temporary kitchen set up somewhere else in the house. We put up dust walls and floor protection before demolition and keep the site clean as we go.
Related work
Additions
When the kitchen you want does not fit the footprint you have.
Home additions →Windows & doors
The trim is coming off anyway; it is the right time for the window over the sink or a new slider.
Windows & doors →New construction
Custom homes built from the ground up, kitchen included.
New construction →Let us walk the room with you.
Anywhere in Bergen County. We will tell you what is likely behind the walls, what it means for the budget, and what we would do if it were ours.