What a renovation actually costs, line by line

Most people arrive with a number in their head and no idea how it breaks down. That is not their fault — the industry is vague on purpose. Here is the actual shape of a mid-range kitchen budget, in the order the money leaves your account.

Labour is the half you cannot compress

Roughly forty to fifty per cent of a kitchen goes on labour, and it is the least negotiable part of the quote. A cheaper labour line almost always means fewer hours on site, less supervision, or a crew being paid badly enough that they will leave mid-job for better work.

Cabinetry is where the range lives

Between stock, semi-custom and fully bespoke there is a four-fold difference in price for cabinets that occupy the same volume of room. This is the single line where a decision made in week one changes the total by tens of thousands, which is why we price it before anything is ordered.

The contingency is not padding

We build in ten to fifteen per cent for what the walls hide. On a house built before 1980 that money is usually spent, on wiring, on plumbing, or on something structural that no survey can see through plaster. If it is not spent, it comes back to you.