Kitchen remodel pricing is genuinely confusing, and not by accident. Ask three contractors what a kitchen costs in the San Fernando Valley and you will get three numbers that barely overlap — usually because they are quietly describing three different projects.
Here is how the money actually breaks down in 2026, so you can read a bid and understand what you are looking at.
The three tiers
Most kitchen remodels in Los Angeles and the Valley land between $25,000 and $120,000. Where you fall depends less on taste than on how much you move.
Cosmetic refresh — $25,000 to $40,000
Nothing moves. Same layout, same plumbing, same electrical. You are replacing surfaces: cabinet doors or new stock cabinets, countertops, backsplash, sink and fixtures, paint, maybe flooring. It is the best value per dollar in remodeling, and for a kitchen that functions well but looks tired, it is often the right answer.
Mid-range remodel — $45,000 to $80,000
The common Valley project. New semi-custom cabinets, quartz counters, new appliances, updated lighting and electrical, new flooring. Maybe one wall opened up or a peninsula turned into an island. Plumbing might shift a few feet but the kitchen stays where it is.
Full remodel — $90,000 to $150,000 and up
Layout changes in earnest. Walls come down, the sink or range relocates, custom cabinetry, high-end appliances, structural work if you are removing something load-bearing. This tier is where the kitchen stops being a room you updated and becomes a room you redesigned.
Where the money goes
The proportions are more consistent than the totals.
Cabinets and countertops together are 35–45% of a typical budget. That is the single largest line by a wide margin, and it is where the spread between tiers is most dramatic — stock cabinets versus custom can be a $50,000 difference on the same footprint. Custom cabinetry alone commonly runs $25,000–$80,000.
After that, roughly in order: labor, appliances, plumbing and electrical, flooring, then finishes and fixtures. Demolition and disposal are small but real.
What pushes a Valley kitchen over budget
A few things come up repeatedly in homes around here:
Electrical panels
A lot of Valley housing stock is still on 100-amp service. Modern kitchens — induction ranges, double ovens, dedicated circuits for everything — frequently push a panel upgrade to 200 amps. That is several thousand dollars that has nothing to do with how your kitchen looks.
Moving the sink or range
It sounds like a small change on a drawing. It means opening the slab or the subfloor, rerouting drain lines at the correct slope, and reworking gas and venting. This one decision can move a mid-range project into full-remodel pricing.
What is behind the walls
In houses built before the 1970s, opening a wall can reveal galvanized supply pipe, knob-and-tube remnants, or framing that was modified at some point without permits. None of it is catastrophic. All of it costs money you did not plan for. This is why we push clients toward a 10–15% contingency rather than spending every dollar on finishes.
Title 24
California energy compliance applies to remodels, not just new construction. Lighting and ventilation requirements are usually straightforward, but they are not optional and they belong in the bid.
How long you will be without a kitchen
Most full kitchen remodels in Los Angeles run 8 to 14 weeks from demolition to final walkthrough. Cosmetic refreshes are considerably shorter.
The honest caveat: that clock assumes materials arrive on time. Cabinets are the usual bottleneck, and custom orders can carry long lead times. The single most effective thing you can do to keep a kitchen project on schedule is finalize cabinet selections early and order them before demolition.
Do you need a permit?
If the work touches electrical, plumbing or gas, yes. Swapping countertops and cabinet doors in place generally does not require one. Moving a sink, adding circuits or relocating the range does.
It is worth being direct about this: a contractor who suggests skipping permits to save time is not doing you a favor. Unpermitted kitchen work surfaces during resale, and it surfaces at the worst possible moment.
How to compare bids properly
When three numbers look wildly different, check whether they include the same things:
- Are appliances in the bid, or supplied by you?
- Which cabinet grade — stock, semi-custom or custom?
- Are permits and Title 24 documentation included?
- Is there an allowance for counters and tile, and how realistic is it?
- Is electrical panel work included or excluded?
A low bid with thin allowances is not cheaper. It just moves the conversation about money to the middle of your project instead of the beginning.
Where to save, and where not to
Every kitchen budget involves trade-offs. Some are smart and some you will regret in two years.
Worth economizing on: appliances, in most cases — the gap between a good mid-range range and a professional one is largely about how the kitchen looks, not how it cooks. Backsplash tile, where a simple ceramic laid well often reads better than an expensive tile laid adequately. Cabinet interiors, where nobody sees the difference. And light fixtures, which are the easiest thing in the room to upgrade later.
Not worth economizing on: cabinet boxes and hardware, because drawers you use twenty times a day are the part of a kitchen you physically feel. Anything behind the walls — plumbing, wiring, ventilation — because redoing it means undoing the kitchen. And the counter material around the sink and range, which takes the most abuse.
The general principle: spend on what you touch and on what would require demolition to change. Save on what you can swap out on a Saturday.
What the weeks actually look like
Understanding the sequence helps make the timeline feel less like a black box.
- Weeks 1–2: demolition and disposal. Fast, loud, and the point at which anything hidden in the walls reveals itself.
- Weeks 2–4: rough plumbing, electrical and any framing changes, followed by inspection. Nothing looks like progress during this stage, which homeowners find demoralizing. It is the most important part of the job.
- Weeks 4–6: drywall, then paint prep. The room starts to read as a room again.
- Weeks 6–9: flooring and cabinet installation. This is when it suddenly feels like a kitchen.
- Weeks 9–11: countertop templating and installation. Templating happens after cabinets are set, and fabrication typically takes one to two weeks — a built-in wait that surprises people.
- Weeks 11–14: backsplash, appliance hookups, fixtures, final electrical, punch list and final inspection.
Plan to cook elsewhere for the whole stretch. A temporary setup with a microwave, kettle and a fridge in the garage or dining room makes an enormous difference to how the experience feels.
A note on layout
The most valuable thing we do on a kitchen project usually happens before anything is ordered. Homeowners often arrive with a finish palette and no strong view on layout, when layout is what determines whether the room works.
Simple questions worth answering early: does the dishwasher open into the path between sink and fridge? Is there landing space beside the range? Can two people be in the kitchen without negotiating? Is the trash where you prep, not across the room? None of these cost money to get right at the drawing stage. All of them are expensive to fix afterwards.
Getting a real number for your kitchen
Ranges only take you so far. If you want an actual figure for your kitchen remodel, we will come look at it, talk through what you want to change, and give you an honest estimate — including where we think you would be better off spending less.