Two jobs get calleda kitchen remodel.Only one is.
A kitchen rebuilt inside its walls is a finishes project. A kitchen opened into the house is a structural one. We price them as what they are — and we do the structural side ourselves.
Three questions decide your entire kitchen.
Are the walls moving, is the water moving, and are you living here while it happens? Settle those three and the rest of a kitchen project becomes ordinary. Leave any of them unanswered and they arrive later as change orders.
The wall between a kitchen and a living space is very often load-bearing. Removing it means an engineered beam sized for the load above, posts landing on something that can carry them, a continuous load path down to a footing, and temporary shoring while it happens. That is a structural project that ends in a kitchen, and it should be priced as one from the start.
Moving the sink, dishwasher or range is the other reliable surprise. The cost is not the fixture — it is drainage, which needs fall, and fall needs somewhere to go. On a slab that can mean cutting concrete. Adding plumbing to an island is the classic version: a layout preference on a drawing, a plumbing project on site.
The parts that move the price, and the parts that do not.
Same-footprint rebuilds
Everything replaced inside the existing walls. Predictable, and priceable with real confidence.
Wall removal
Engineered beam, posts, load path, shoring, engineer's involvement. A structural job wearing a kitchen's clothes.
Plumbing relocation
Moving sink, dishwasher or range. Drainage and fall drive the cost, not the fixture.
Island reconfiguration
Adding water, waste or gas to an island frequently means opening the floor structure or the slab.
Electrical & ventilation
Circuits for modern appliances and a hood that actually vents outside, which older kitchens often do not have.
Dust containment
A real line item, not a courtesy. Kitchen demolition produces fine dust that reaches every room without sealed barriers.
Cabinet doors, worktops, handles and tile are preferences — the enjoyable part, and far more enjoyable once the three questions above have real answers. A contractor who leads with door samples is selling you the easy conversation first.
Same footprint, rebuilt — with the family still in the house.
The Lakewood kitchen documented on this site was deliberately rebuilt inside its existing footprint. That was the right answer for that house, and knowing it early is what kept the project straightforward rather than structural.
It was also run behind sealed dust barriers so the family kept the rest of the house throughout. Ask any contractor quoting your kitchen how they intend to handle that. The specificity of the answer tells you whether they have thought about it or are hoping you will not ask.
Six steps, and the first one is a phone call.
Discovery call
A short call to understand the project, the property and whether we are the right fit.
Job walk
We look at what is actually standing — structure, services, access.
Design
Drawings worked through with you, so you approve a plan rather than imagine one.
Engineering & permitting
Structural engineering and the permit set, handled by us.
Construction
One project manager, and a job site kept clean because you usually still live here.
Walkthrough
We finish the list you write, not the one we think is left.
Our first experience with AAA Home Improvements was in about 2006 for a “refresh” of our kitchen (light remodel)... In 2019 we came back to AAA for a major kitchen remodel, followed by a complete renovation of our primary bathroom a couple years later. We kept returning to AAA Home Improvements time after time because of the blend of customer service and expertise that they provide.
Tell us whether the walls are moving.
If you are not sure, that is fine — it is the first thing we work out. We will tell you what kind of project your kitchen actually is before anyone quotes a number.
Prefer to talk now? Call (720) 637-2060
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