What does a kitchen remodel cost in San Antonio by scope?
The cleanest way to think about cost is by how much of the room you plan to change. Paint and new hardware sit at one end. Taking out a wall and moving the sink to a new island sits at the other. Most of the kitchens we work on fall into one of four bands.
Each band assumes a typical kitchen of roughly 150 to 220 square feet. Large open kitchens in The Dominion or Shavano Park can run past the top of a band simply because there’s more cabinet run, more stone and more lighting to plan.
- Refresh, $14,850 to $31,700: painted or refaced cabinets, new counters, backsplash, sink and faucet, and lighting swaps. The layout stays exactly where it is.
- Full replacement in the same layout, $38,600 to $72,400: new cabinets, counters, flooring, lighting, appliance installation and drywall repair. Plumbing and gas stay put.
- Layout change, $76,900 to $138,500: walls opened, sink or range relocated, an island with plumbing or power, new circuits and often a soffit removal.
- Custom and high end, $142,300 and up: inset or fully custom cabinetry, large slab stone, panel-ready appliances, structural beams and layered lighting design.
Where the money in a kitchen budget actually goes
Cabinets are usually the biggest single line in a full remodel, followed by countertops, then the labor for demolition, rough-in and finish carpentry. Appliances are the wild card, because some homeowners keep theirs and others buy a full professional suite at the same time.
It helps to see the categories before you start shopping, since a choice in one bucket often forces a choice in another. A heavy stone with a deep overhang, for example, can call for sturdier cabinet boxes or hidden steel supports under the island.
- Cabinets, hardware and interior organizers
- Countertops, fabrication, edge profile and sink cutouts
- Demolition, haul-off and dust protection for the rest of the house
- Plumbing, electrical and gas rough-in
- Drywall, texture, paint and trim repair
- Flooring and the transitions into adjoining rooms
- Ceiling lights, pendants and under-cabinet lighting
- Backsplash tile and setting materials
- Appliance installation and any change to range venting
Five decisions that swing the total more than anything else
Some choices barely move the number. Others change it by tens of thousands of dollars. These are the ones worth settling early, ideally before anyone draws a final plan or orders a single box.
- Moving plumbing. Relocating a sink across the room on a slab foundation means cutting and trenching concrete, which we explain in our guide to moving drains in a slab.
- Cabinet construction. Plywood boxes with dovetail drawers cost more than particleboard stock lines, and custom sizing costs more again.
- Countertop material and slab count. Needing one slab instead of two can save a few thousand dollars on quartz or granite.
- Opening walls. A partition wall is a modest line item. A load-bearing wall needs a beam, an engineer’s input and a permit.
- Range ventilation. Running a new duct through the roof or an outside wall costs far more than reusing an existing path.
What older San Antonio houses tend to add to the bill
A 1940s kitchen in Monte Vista or Alamo Heights rarely opens up clean. We often find plaster over wood lath, ungrounded wiring, galvanized supply lines or cast iron drains that are close to the end of their life. None of that is a reason to skip the remodel, but it does belong in the budget from day one.
Ranch homes from the 1960s and 1970s in Castle Hills, Oak Hills and Shearer Hills bring different surprises: soffits hiding ductwork, eight-foot ceilings that limit tall uppers, and electrical panels with no room for another circuit. Newer tract homes in Stone Oak or Alamo Ranch are usually more predictable, though thin subfloors and builder-grade shutoff valves still show up.
For older houses we suggest holding 10 to 15 percent of the build budget as a contingency. On a newer home, a smaller cushion is usually enough.
Kitchen costs homeowners often forget to plan for
The line items above are the obvious ones. These are the ones that tend to show up as a surprise halfway through the job, usually because nobody mentioned them at the start.
- Eating out or running a temporary kitchen for several weeks
- Permits when plumbing, electrical, gas or walls change
- Matching flooring that continues into the living room or hallway
- Painting the adjoining rooms once the kitchen looks new
- A water softener or new water heater while the plumbing is already open
- An electrical panel upgrade for induction cooking or extra circuits
How to set a kitchen budget you can actually hold
A budget holds best when the big decisions come first and the small ones come last. Working in this order keeps you from falling for a $90 cabinet pull before you know what the cabinets themselves will cost.
- Decide whether the layout stays or changes. This one choice picks your band.
- Choose cabinet construction and door style next, since cabinets carry the most dollars.
- Pick a countertop material and get a slab count from the drawn layout.
- Settle appliances, including fuel type and venting, before cabinets are ordered.
- Add the finish layer last: backsplash, hardware, light fixtures and paint.
- Set a contingency line and leave it alone unless something hidden turns up.
Why these kitchen numbers are ranges and not a price
Every kitchen we price starts with a walkthrough, measurements and a conversation about how you cook. Two kitchens of the same size can end up tens of thousands of dollars apart because one keeps the sink under the window and the other moves it to a new island with a prep sink and a pot filler.
If you’d like to see where a full kitchen remodel would land in your house, give us a ring and one of our designers can walk the space with you. We’ll also go over the usual schedule so you can plan the weeks around it.
More questions on this topic
Is a kitchen remodel cheaper in a San Antonio suburb than inside Loop 410?
Labor pricing is broadly similar across the metro. What changes is the house. Older inner-loop homes are more likely to have outdated wiring, cast iron drains or plaster walls that add work, while newer suburban kitchens are often bigger, which means more cabinets and more stone. Size and condition matter far more than the ZIP code.
How much does a kitchen island add to a San Antonio kitchen remodel cost?
A simple island with no plumbing or power is mostly cabinet and countertop cost. Adding outlets, a prep sink or a dishwasher means trenching the slab and running new lines, which pushes the job into a different range. We price island work once we know what the island needs to hold and where it sits.
Can I keep my appliances to lower my kitchen remodel cost?
Usually, yes, as long as they fit the new cabinet openings and still run well. The catch is that new cabinets are built around exact appliance dimensions. If you expect to replace the fridge or range within a couple of years, buy it now so the openings fit and you don’t end up with an awkward gap later.
Does a kitchen remodel cost estimate usually include permits?
Ours lists permit work as its own line whenever walls, plumbing, electrical or gas change. A cosmetic refresh usually doesn’t need one. Ask anyone you talk to whether permits are included, because leaving them out is one of the easiest ways to make a number look lower than it really is.
Services this guide covers
Kitchen Remodeling
A good kitchen remodel starts with the house, not a catalog photo. We design and build full kitchen remodels across San Antonio, sorting out layout, plumbing, power and permits before anyone picks a cabinet color.
Custom Kitchen Cabinets
Stock cabinets come in three-inch steps, and real kitchens rarely do. We design custom cabinets around your walls, appliances and the way you cook, so the filler strips disappear and every inch does a job.
Cabinet Refacing
If your cabinet boxes are sturdy and the layout works, there’s no reason to haul them to the landfill. Refacing puts new doors, drawer fronts and veneer on what you already have, usually without touching the countertops.
Keep reading
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