I wish I could give you a simple number. People want to hear "$200 per square foot" and do some quick math. But that's not how premium renovation works, and anyone who prices it that way is either guessing or cutting corners.
Here's the truth: the cost of a renovation is driven by your decisions — the materials you select, the complexity of the design, and the condition of what's behind your walls. Two kitchens in the same neighborhood with the same square footage can cost $200,000 apart depending on those variables. So instead of a misleading formula, here are the honest ranges I see on our projects.
Realistic Cost Ranges
Kitchen renovation: $150,000 to $400,000+. A kitchen with stock or semi-custom cabinetry, quartz countertops, standard appliances, and no structural changes lands in the $150,000 to $225,000 range. Move to custom inset cabinetry, marble or quartzite countertops, a professional-grade range, and some wall relocation, and you're looking at $250,000 to $400,000. Add structural changes, a butler's pantry, custom millwork, or imported finishes, and the number goes higher.
Bathroom renovation: $50,000 to $150,000. A straightforward primary bathroom renovation with no layout changes runs $50,000 to $75,000. A full gut with relocated plumbing, custom tile work, a freestanding tub, and heated floors pushes $100,000 to $150,000. Powder rooms are less — typically $25,000 to $40,000 — but still require the same coordination and quality.
Whole-house renovation: $400,000 to $1,000,000+. When you're renovating an entire home — kitchen, bathrooms, living spaces, possibly adding square footage — the investment starts around $400,000 and scales from there. Most of our whole-house clients invest between $400,000 and $600,000. Homes requiring significant structural work, historic restoration, or ground-up additions can exceed $1 million.
What Drives the Cost
Selections. The single biggest variable in any renovation budget is what you choose. The difference between a $3,000 range and a $15,000 range doesn't affect the installation cost much — but it changes the project total dramatically. The same is true for tile, cabinetry, countertops, plumbing fixtures, lighting, and hardware. Our structured selection process helps you make these decisions with full awareness of their budget impact.
Structural complexity. Moving walls, widening openings, adding windows, or modifying the roofline involves engineering, permits, and significantly more construction time. A kitchen that stays within its existing footprint costs substantially less than one that expands into an adjacent room.
Existing conditions. Opening walls in older homes sometimes reveals work that needs to be addressed — outdated wiring, galvanized plumbing, inadequate insulation, or previous modifications that weren't done to code. These aren't luxuries; they're necessities that affect both cost and timeline.
Historic district requirements. Homes in CHAP-designated districts require period-appropriate materials and methods that can be more expensive than standard alternatives. Wood windows instead of vinyl. True divided-lite patterns instead of applied grilles. The results are beautiful, but the materials cost more.
What the 21% Covers
Every SA&Co project includes a 21% overhead and profit margin — 13% overhead plus 8% profit. On a $400,000 project, that's approximately $84,000. I know that sounds like a big number, so let me explain exactly what it pays for.
That margin covers full-time project management on your job every single day. It covers our general liability insurance, workers compensation, vehicles, office operations, accounting, and legal. It covers the technology and documentation systems that keep your project organized. And critically, it funds our 20-year warranty obligation — the reserves for future inspections, the record-keeping, and the commitment to stand behind our work for two decades.
Contractors who charge 10% or 12% aren't offering the same thing. They're either underinsured, undermanaging the project, offering a one-year warranty, or not making enough margin to stay in business long enough to honor their promises.
The cheapest bid is almost never the cheapest project. The most accurate estimate is.
How to Budget Realistically
Start with your goals, not a number. Tell us what you want to accomplish — the rooms, the scope, the quality level — and we'll tell you what that costs. Starting with an arbitrary budget and trying to fit a project into it usually leads to disappointment or compromises you didn't want to make.
Build in contingency. We recommend a 10% to 15% contingency on top of the estimated cost. Not because we expect to spend it, but because renovations — especially in older homes — occasionally reveal conditions that require additional work. Having contingency means you can address those issues without panic.
Invest in preconstruction. Our Building the Blueprint process costs $10,000 to $20,000 depending on project complexity. That investment produces a detailed estimate based on real numbers, finalized selections, and competitive subcontractor bids. It's the most accurate number you'll get — and it's credited 100% toward your construction contract if you proceed.
Don't compare bids at face value. A $350,000 bid and a $420,000 bid are not comparable unless they include the same scope, the same materials, the same level of management, and the same warranty. Most of the time, the lower bid is missing something — and you'll pay for whatever it's missing later, through change orders. Read why a blueprint beats a bid.
