A kitchen remodel is roughly forty distinct activities performed by eight trades in a fixed order, most of which depend on a material that has to be ordered weeks earlier. Understanding that ordering is most of what separates a smooth project from the one your neighbour still complains about.
Where the money actually goes
Owners tend to budget by picking the finishes they like and adding a labour allowance. The real distribution looks different, and knowing it makes trade-offs much easier.
| Category | Kitchen | Bathroom |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinetry / vanity millwork | 28–35 % | 10–15 % |
| Countertops & surfaces | 10–14 % | 6–9 % |
| Appliances / fixtures | 12–18 % | 12–18 % |
| Tile, waterproofing & flooring | 8–12 % | 22–28 % |
| Plumbing, mechanical, electrical | 12–18 % | 18–24 % |
| Demolition, framing, drywall, paint | 10–14 % | 10–14 % |
| Permits, supervision, contingency | 8–12 % | 8–12 % |
Two patterns emerge. In a kitchen, cabinetry dominates — which is why a layout change that adds three cabinets costs more than upgrading every faucet in the house. In a bathroom, the wet-area package dominates: tile, waterproofing and the plumbing behind it. A bathroom is a small room with an enormous concentration of skilled labour per square foot, and that is why the price per square foot looks alarming compared with the rest of the house.
Realistic Miami ranges
- Bathroom refresh (same layout, new finishes): $18,000 – $35,000
- Full bathroom remodel (new layout, moved plumbing): $32,000 – $75,000
- Kitchen refresh (same layout, semi-custom cabinetry): $45,000 – $85,000
- Full kitchen remodel (new layout, custom millwork): $85,000 – $220,000
Set aside a contingency of 10 % on a house built after 2000 and 15–20 % on anything older. Not because the estimate is wrong, but because a 1962 house will reliably contain something nobody could see: a cast iron drain that has to go, a beam where the drawing showed a partition, or aluminium branch wiring.
Lead times are the schedule
The labour on a kitchen is perhaps five weeks. The project takes ten to fourteen. The difference is almost entirely material lead time, and the fix is to order early rather than to work faster.
| Item | Typical lead time |
|---|---|
| Custom cabinetry | 6–10 weeks from approved shop drawings |
| Semi-custom cabinetry | 4–6 weeks |
| Stone / quartz countertops | 2–3 weeks after template — template needs cabinets installed |
| Imported tile | 3–8 weeks |
| Panel-ready and built-in appliances | 4–16 weeks |
| Specialty plumbing fixtures | 3–12 weeks |
| Windows and doors | 8–14 weeks |
The correct sequence
Here is the order a well-run remodel follows. Steps that can overlap are noted; the rest are strictly dependent.
- Design and measured drawings. Existing conditions verified, not assumed.
- Selections locked. Cabinetry, tile, fixtures, appliances, hardware, paint.
- Permit submitted. Long-lead items ordered in parallel while review runs.
- Protection and demolition. Dust barriers, floor protection, negative air where needed.
- Discovery walk. Concealed conditions photographed and priced before the next step — this is the moment change orders should happen, not week six.
- Framing and blocking. Including backing for grab bars, floating vanities and heavy wall cabinets.
- Rough plumbing, mechanical, electrical. Coordinated in one week where possible.
- Rough inspections. Nothing gets covered before they pass.
- Insulation and drywall. Cement board or approved backer in wet areas.
- Waterproofing. Pans, membranes, flood test on showers.
- Tile. Layout drawn from the primary sight-line before the first cut.
- Cabinetry installation. Levelled and scribed; countertop template after.
- Countertops. Two to three weeks from template — plan around it.
- Plumbing and electrical trim-out. Fixtures, devices, lighting.
- Paint, hardware, appliances.
- Final inspections, punch list, clean, hand-over.
Notice where the countertop sits. Templating requires installed cabinets, so there is an unavoidable two-to-three-week gap between cabinet installation and a working kitchen. Contractors who promise to compress it are either using a stock slab or are about to disappoint you.
Waterproofing: the part you never see again
Almost every bathroom that has to be rebuilt early was lost at the waterproofing stage. In a humid climate with year-round warmth, water that gets behind tile does not dry out; it feeds mould and rots the substrate quietly for years.
What correct looks like
- A continuous membrane, not a sequence of patches. Sheet or liquid-applied, taken up the walls to the required height and lapped correctly at every change of plane.
- Pre-sloped pan at the correct fall to the drain, with the membrane sloped too — not a flat membrane under sloped mortar.
- Bonding flange drain or a proper clamping ring, connected to the membrane as the manufacturer specifies.
- Corners and penetrations treated with the system's own preformed corners and pipe seals.
- Flood test — plug the drain, fill the pan, leave it 24 hours, check the ceiling below. Insist on it. Photograph it.
- Movement joints at changes of plane and at the perimeter, sealant not grout.
Waterproofing is perhaps 2 % of a bathroom budget and it determines whether the other 98 % survives ten years. It is the last place on a project to accept a substitution or a shortcut.
Change orders, and how to have fewer of them
Change orders come from three sources, and only one of them is unavoidable.
1. Concealed conditions (unavoidable)
What was behind the wall. Manage this with a proper contingency and a documented discovery walk right after demolition, so surprises are priced once, early, with photographs.
2. Owner changes (avoidable)
Every change costs more than it would have during design, because it now includes undoing something. Moving a shower valve after rough-in is not a $200 decision; it is demolition, re-rough, re-inspection and re-tile. If you are unsure about a layout, spend another week in design — that week is free.
3. Incomplete scope (avoidable, and the contractor's fault)
The estimate that omits the electrical panel work, the disposal of the old cast-iron tub, or the paint of the adjacent hallway. Read the exclusions list in any proposal as carefully as the inclusions. A short exclusions list on a low price is a warning sign, not a bargain.
Living through it
Practical measures that make a remodel survivable when you stay in the house:
- Temporary kitchen. Microwave, kettle, toaster oven, and the refrigerator relocated to the garage or dining room. Set it up the day before demolition.
- Dust control. Zippered barriers, taped floor protection and a negative-air machine during demolition. Fine dust otherwise reaches every room in the house through the return air.
- HVAC protection. Return grilles filtered or sealed. A remodel is the fastest way to foul an air handler coil.
- Working hours agreed in writing, particularly in condominiums with association rules.
- One communication channel. A single project manager and a weekly written update beats a dozen text threads with individual trades.
- A staging room for delivered materials — dry, secure and out of the work path.
What actually holds value
If part of the motivation is resale, the evidence in South Florida is fairly consistent about what returns and what does not.
- Holds value: a sound, well-lit layout; durable surfaces; impact windows; updated electrical service; a bathroom that is properly waterproofed; good storage.
- Neutral: premium appliance brands, high-end plumbing fixtures, feature lighting — appreciated, rarely paid for separately.
- Rarely returns: highly personal finishes, over-improvement relative to the street, and anything that removes a bedroom.
The most reliable value in a remodel is not a finish at all. It is a permitted, inspected, documented project — because at sale, the buyer's inspector and the title company will ask, and an answer with permit numbers attached is worth more than any backsplash.
