What we handle on a kitchen remodel
A Kansas City kitchen is the most coordination-dense room in a house. Plumbing, gas, electrical, HVAC, framing, drywall, paint, tile, cabinetry, countertops, appliances, lighting, flooring, hardware, and finish carpentry all converge in one space, often inside a tight footprint, with you and your family still living in the rest of the home. Most remodel pain comes from coordination failure between trades, not from the trades themselves. The right KC kitchen remodeler treats coordination as the core job, not the trade work.
Our scope on a typical kitchen project includes:
- Demolition & disposal — protected access paths, dust containment, dumpster on site, debris hauled and recycled where possible.
- Layout changes — moving walls, opening to adjacent rooms, relocating sinks, stoves, dishwashers, refrigerators, and venting.
- Plumbing — supply and drain relocations, gas lines for ranges, dishwasher and ice-maker tie-ins, pot fillers, garbage disposals, instant-hot units. Licensed plumbers only; we do not stretch a GC license to cover trade work.
- Electrical — circuit additions, GFCI compliance, dedicated appliance circuits, under-cabinet and pendant lighting, switching, smart-home integration where requested. Licensed electricians only.
- Cabinetry — semi-custom and custom cabinetry, install only, refacing, and full replacements. We help you choose at the price-and-quality intersection that matches your home.
- Countertops — quartz, granite, butcher block, solid surface, soapstone. Templating, fabrication, install, edge details, sink cutouts.
- Tile & backsplash — subway, mosaic, large-format porcelain, natural stone. Substrate prep, waterproofing where required, grout sealing.
- Flooring — hardwood install, refinish, lvp, tile. Subfloor leveling and prep done correctly so the finish flooring lasts.
- Drywall, paint & trim — smooth-finish drywall, ceiling repair, base, casing, and crown details to match the rest of the house.
- Appliances — installation and tie-in. We coordinate with your appliance source on timing.
- Permits & inspections — pulled where required by your municipality, scheduled, and walked through.
What to expect — timeline and draws
Most full kitchen remodels in Kansas City run 6 to 12 weeks. The high end accounts for layout changes, structural work, custom cabinetry lead times, or stacking with adjacent rooms (a typical pairing: kitchen + adjacent dining or living open-up). Cosmetic refresh-grade work runs shorter — often 2 to 4 weeks.
Before any demo happens, you receive a written week-by-week plan with the major milestones. Draws against the contract are tied to those milestones rather than the calendar — you only pay as the work progresses. A standard structure looks like:
- 30% at signing — secures the schedule slot, orders cabinetry and long-lead items.
- 30% at major-trade milestones — rough plumbing, rough electrical, framing, drywall.
- 30% at substantial completion — cabinetry installed, countertops set, appliances live.
- 10% retained until the punch list is fully signed off.
Smaller projects (sub-$20k) typically carry a higher deposit and a shorter draw schedule. Insurance-claim work follows different mechanics — we walk through that with you separately.
Pricing factors
Kansas City kitchen remodels generally fall into three bands:
- Refresh — same footprint, paint, hardware, light fixtures, sometimes new countertops or a backsplash. Roughly $15,000 to $35,000.
- Mid-range full remodel — new cabinetry, new counters, new appliances, possibly minor layout changes. Roughly $35,000 to $60,000.
- High-end / structural — layout changes, walls removed, custom cabinetry, premium finishes, premium appliances. $100,000 and up — often well into six figures.
Where your project lands inside those bands depends on:
- Cabinetry choice — cabinetry typically drives 20–40% of a kitchen budget. Stock vs. semi-custom vs. custom is the largest single lever.
- Layout changes — moving plumbing, gas, or load-bearing walls adds engineering, permit, and trade time. Often the right call. Always has a price.
- Counter material — quartz vs. premium granite vs. soapstone vs. butcher block can swing $3,000 to $10,000+ on a typical kitchen.
- Appliance package — you control this. We install whatever you choose.
- Floor footprint — bigger kitchens cost more in linear feet of cabinetry, flooring square footage, and trade labor.
- Existing conditions — older homes can hide aluminum wiring, undersized panels, lead paint, and plumbing surprises. We scope and budget contingencies for these honestly.
We will give you a real, line-item written quote within 24 hours of the on-site walkthrough. If we cannot price something accurately without a deeper investigation (for example, opening a wall to verify framing), we say so — and we tell you what the variance could look like, not just a single number.
Why customers pick Tessera for kitchens
- You hear back fast. Quote within 24 hours, not three weeks.
- The estimate is detailed enough to actually decide on. Not a single page that says "kitchen $58,000."
- The trades are coordinated. Plumbing rough does not arrive after drywall.
- The schedule is written down. If we slip, you hear about it the same day.
- You retain 10% until the punch list is fully signed off — we earn the last payment.
