How Do You Estimate a Kitchen Remodel?

By Wyatt Cooper · Published October 15, 2026 · 6 min read

Key takeaways

Estimate a kitchen from the bottom up: walk it, write the scope line by line, and price each line by trade from your own labor rates and your subs' quotes.
Carry the items the client hasn't chosen yet as allowances, and write down exactly what each allowance covers.
Add a contingency for what you can't see behind the walls, then your markup; 25% markup on cost is a 20% gross margin, not 25%.
Write the scope as specifically as the price: brand, model, color and quantity, because the estimate becomes the contract.

To estimate a kitchen remodel, walk the room and measure it, write the scope line by line, and price each line from your labor hours and rates, material takeoffs and subcontractor quotes. Carry undecided items such as appliances as allowances. Add permits and your own supervision, then a contingency for hidden conditions, then markup for overhead and profit. Check the result against your past kitchens, and write the scope as specifically as the price.

Walk it and write the scope first

Most of what goes wrong on a kitchen estimate is scope nobody wrote down. Before pricing anything, walk the room with the client and record: dimensions and ceiling height; what stays and what goes; the age of the house; the panel's capacity and the plumbing's route; the floor under the floor; and every appliance, fixture and finish the client already has in mind.

The age of the house matters for price. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rules, firms doing work that disturbs lead-based paint in homes built before 1978 "must be EPA- or state-certified", and lead-safe work practices take labor and materials. Price them in, or price the testing that shows they aren't needed.

Then write the scope the way it will read in the contract. California's Contractors State License Board puts it well in its guide to home improvement contracts: name the brand, model, style and color ("Install upper and lower maple kitchen cabinets, manufactured by Company XYZ, model 01381A…") "rather than 'install kitchen cabinets.'"

Price each line by trade

Price your own crew's work as hours times a loaded labor rate (wage plus taxes, insurance and benefits), and material from a takeoff with waste. Price trades you sub out from written quotes, and read each quote's exclusions: a countertop quote that leaves out the sink cutout or the template visit is not the countertop price. Price items the client hasn't chosen as allowances (see how to manage client selections).

The fictional Okafor kitchen: cost by line, before contingency and markup
Line	How it was priced	Cost
Demolition and haul-off	16 hours × $55 loaded rate = $880, plus a $450 dumpster	$1,330
Framing and drywall repair	Crew hours and material from the takeoff	$1,200
Plumbing, rough and finish	Plumber's written quote	$3,800
Electrical, circuits and lighting	Electrician's written quote	$4,200
Cabinets, supply	Supplier's quote for the specified line and finish	$14,500
Cabinets, install	32 hours × $55	$1,760
Countertops	Fabricator's quote, template to install	$5,600
Tile backsplash	Tile and setting materials plus the setter's quote	$1,800
Flooring	Installer's quote	$3,400
Paint	Painter's quote	$1,100
Appliances	Allowance: client hasn't chosen	$6,000
Permit and fees	The building department's fee schedule	$650
Supervision, protection and cleanup	Your own time on the job, floor protection, final clean	$2,660
Total cost		$48,000

Contingency, markup and the price

Okafor kitchen — estimate summary

Total cost (the table above): $48,000
Contingency, 5% of cost: $48,000 × 5% = $2,400
Cost with contingency: $48,000 + $2,400 = $50,400
Markup, 25% of $50,400: $12,600
Price to the client: $50,400 + $12,600 = $63,000
Gross margin: $12,600 ÷ $63,000 = 20%
Check: The 13 cost lines add to $48,000; $63,000 − $50,400 = $12,600

From cost to price on the fictional Okafor kitchen.

Markup is a percentage of cost; margin is a percentage of price. A 25% markup gives a 20% margin, so if your overhead and profit target is 25% of revenue, a 25% markup falls short. Set the contingency by what you can't see: an older house with original plumbing earns more than a newer one.

Then sanity-check: compare the total and the cost per line with your last few kitchens of similar size and finish level. If one line is far off its usual share, find out why before you send the number.

Turn the estimate into a proposal

List every allowance with what it covers. Under the AIA's general conditions (§3.8 of A201–2017, written for commercial work), allowances cover the material delivered and taxes, while labor, installation, overhead and profit sit in the contract sum; many residential contracts work the same way. Say which way yours works.
List exclusions plainly: moving the wall, replacing the subfloor, patching rooms outside the kitchen.
Set a payment schedule tied to work done. Some states cap deposits on home improvement work; California's limit is $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less, so the Okafor job could ask for $1,000 up front, not $6,300. Check your state's rules.
Say how changes will be priced. Every change after signing should be a written change order.

The bottom line

A kitchen estimate is a written scope priced line by line, with allowances for open choices, a contingency for hidden conditions and a markup you have converted to margin. Write the scope as carefully as the numbers: it becomes the contract.

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Sources

Terms of Agreement: A Consumer Guide to Home Improvement Contracts — California Contractors State License Board. Read October 16, 2026.
Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Rules — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read October 16, 2026.
Summary: A201–2017, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction — AIA Contract Documents. Read October 17, 2026.

Questions

How do contractors estimate a kitchen remodel?

They walk and measure the room, write the scope line by line, price their own work as labor hours times a loaded rate plus materials, price subbed work from written quotes, carry undecided items as allowances, then add permits, supervision, a contingency and markup.

What markup should a remodeler use on a kitchen?

There is no single right number; it has to cover your overhead and the profit you need. Work it out from margin: a 25% markup on cost is a 20% margin on price, and a 20% margin needs a 25% markup.

How much contingency goes in a kitchen estimate?

Enough for what you can't see before demolition, such as rot, old wiring or a floor out of level. Older houses usually need more. Say in the contract whether unused contingency comes back to the client.

Should appliances be an allowance?

If the client hasn't chosen them, yes. Write the allowance amount and what it covers, such as purchase, delivery and tax, and say how the price changes if the client picks something above or below it.

How much deposit can a remodeler take?

It depends on the state. California caps the down payment on home improvement contracts at $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less, and requires a payment schedule tied to work done. Check your state's rules before you write the schedule.