What follows is a breakdown of where the money actually goes on a full kitchen job, so you can see which parts of a quote are fixed costs everyone pays and which parts are where the range opens up depending on the finish you choose.
Strip-out and first-fix work
Every full kitchen renovation starts the same way: stripping out the old units, worktops, flooring and often the plaster, then doing first-fix plumbing and electrics before anything new goes in. This stage is where hidden problems show up — old lead pipework, undersized electrical circuits, or a floor that isn't level.
In older Kent properties, particularly farmhouses and cottages with solid walls, we often find the existing kitchen was bolted onto services that were never designed for a modern kitchen's electrical load — an induction hob, a double oven and a dishwasher all on one circuit that was fine for a single-oven kitchen in 1985 but isn't now.
Cabinetry: the single biggest cost variable
Cabinetry is where the price range is widest. Off-the-shelf flat-pack units with standard doors sit at one end. Bespoke, hand-built in-frame shaker cabinetry made in a workshop — which is what we build most of ours as — sits at the other, because every carcass and door is made to the exact dimensions of your room rather than fitted around standard widths with filler panels.
The middle ground, and where most of our kitchen jobs land, is semi-bespoke: a mix of standard carcass construction with bespoke doors, panelling and end pieces so awkward chimney breasts, sloped ceilings or narrow returns are used properly rather than filled with a blank panel.
- Standard flat-pack units — cheapest, limited to standard room dimensions
- Semi-bespoke — standard carcasses with made-to-measure doors and panelling
- Fully bespoke in-frame or hand-built cabinetry — highest cost, made to fit exactly
Worktops, splashbacks and appliances
Laminate worktops are the budget option and have improved a lot in appearance. Solid timber sits in the middle and needs oiling maintenance. Quartz and granite are the premium choice and the price difference between a laminate run and a stone run on an average kitchen can be several thousand pounds on its own, largely because stone needs templating, fabrication and a specialist installation team.
Appliances are usually supplied by the homeowner or specified as a budget within the quote — we're happy to source and fit whichever route works, but it's worth deciding early because appliance sizes affect the cabinetry design, not the other way round.
Plumbing, electrics and heating changes
Moving a sink or hob to a different wall means running new water, waste and gas or electrical supply, which is more work than it sounds, especially through a solid floor or an external wall. Keeping services roughly where they were keeps costs down; a full relayout with an island housing the hob and sink is one of the more expensive changes you can make.
If the kitchen is getting underfloor heating, that's a separate cost on top of the floor covering itself, and it needs to be planned before the floor build-up goes in, not decided halfway through.
Structural work: knocking through or opening up
Many Kent kitchen renovations happen alongside removing a wall to a dining room, which needs a structural engineer's calculation, a steel beam, and building control sign-off through Ashford, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells or your local authority. This is priced separately from the kitchen fit-out itself and depends on the span and whether the wall is load-bearing.
On period properties with solid brick or ragstone walls, opening up can also mean dealing with uneven floor levels between the two rooms, which adds a floor-levelling stage most homeowners don't budget for initially.
Decoration, flooring and finishing
The last stage — plastering, tiling, flooring and decoration — is often underestimated because it feels like the small stuff after the units go in. In practice a full tile splashback, new flooring throughout the kitchen and dining area, and a proper plaster finish on walls that had units concealing damage for thirty years adds up to a meaningful chunk of the total budget.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to reface existing kitchen units than replace them?
Yes, if the carcasses are sound and the layout isn't changing. New doors, worktop and handles can transform a kitchen for a fraction of a full renovation, though it won't address old wiring, plumbing or damp behind the units.
How long does a full kitchen renovation take?
A full strip-out and refit, including any structural opening-up, typically runs three to six weeks depending on whether cabinetry is bespoke (which needs workshop lead time) or off-the-shelf, and whether services need rerouting.
Do I need building control for a kitchen renovation?
Not for a like-for-like refit. You do if you're removing a load-bearing wall, changing drainage significantly, or altering the electrical installation beyond simple like-for-like replacement — all of which are common in a full renovation.
What's the most cost-effective way to get a bespoke look without the full bespoke price?
Semi-bespoke cabinetry — standard carcasses with made-to-measure doors, end panels and fillers — gets most of the fitted, tailored appearance at a lower cost than fully hand-built units, particularly in rooms with a few awkward corners rather than wall-to-wall bespoke requirements.
Should I move the sink and hob or keep them where they are?
Keeping them in roughly the same position avoids new first-fix plumbing and electrical runs, which is one of the more expensive elements of a renovation. If the existing layout genuinely doesn't work for the room, moving them is worth the cost, but it's a decision to make early, not once the units are ordered.