Tell us what the job is and we pass it to a few local kitchen contractors whose NJ Home Improvement Contractor registration and liability insurance we have checked. They call you, walk the space and quote it themselves, since Bergen Home Services does not do the work.
Takes about a minute, and it is free. Would rather talk? Call (201) 555-1234.
We pass this to local contractors who cover your town. No cost, no obligation.
Cabinets, counters, flooring, drywall, wiring and plumbing all come out and the room gets rebuilt from the studs. It is the only version of the job where you can fix bad framing, an undersized panel, or a layout that puts the refrigerator door in the walkway.
Stock boxes come in fixed sizes and ship in a week or two, semi-custom lets you change widths and finishes at roughly six to twelve weeks, and full custom is built to your walls at ten to twenty. Refacing keeps sound boxes and swaps doors, drawer fronts and veneer, which is worth pricing when the layout already works and the frames are plywood rather than sagging particleboard.
Quartz is nonporous and never needs sealing, granite takes heat better and no two slabs match, and butcher block is the warm budget option that moves with our humid summers and dry winter heat. Templating happens after the cabinets are set and fabrication runs one to two weeks, so plan on a plywood top and a basement sink for that stretch.
Opening the wall between the kitchen and dining room in a Bergen County colonial normally means a sized beam, temporary shoring, and posts carrying load down to a footing in the basement. An island wants 42 to 48 inches of clear walkway on the working sides, plus a drain, a vent and a dedicated circuit if a sink or cooktop goes in it.
Moving a sink means a new drain with a quarter inch per foot of pitch and a proper vent, which gets complicated in houses still running cast iron or galvanized pipe. Gas changes for a range need a licensed plumber, a permit and a pressure test, and most new kitchens need dedicated 20 amp small appliance circuits, GFCI protection at the counters, and a 240 volt line if you are going induction.
Recessed cans on dimmers, under cabinet strips over the work surfaces and a fixture above the island cover most kitchens, and all of it has to be laid out before drywall closes. A range hood should duct outside rather than recirculate, which in an older colonial usually means a run through the exterior wall or up through a soffit, and every appliance spec sheet gets checked against the real cabinet openings before the order goes in.
Kitchen prices in North Jersey move on three things: the cabinets, whether anything moves, and what the demo uncovers. Cabinets usually run 35 to 50 percent of the budget, and Bergen County labor sits above the national averages quoted online.
| Job | Typical range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet refacing, existing boxes stay | Typical range: $6,000 - $14,000 | What moves the number: Door and drawer count, and whether it is thermofoil or real wood veneer. |
| Full remodel, same footprint | Typical range: $45,000 - $90,000 | What moves the number: Semi-custom cabinets, quartz, new floor and lighting. Appliances usually separate. |
| Gut remodel with a layout change | Typical range: $90,000 - $200,000 | What moves the number: Sink and range relocated, custom cabinets, structural work, engineering and permits. |
| Quartz countertops, fabricated and installed | Typical range: $3,500 - $9,000 | What moves the number: Based on 45 to 60 square feet. Waterfall ends, mitered edges and a slab backsplash push it higher. |
| Opening a load-bearing wall to the dining room | Typical range: $7,000 - $20,000 | What moves the number: Beam span, how far the load travels to a footing, and whether a stack or duct is in the wall. |
Want a real number for your job rather than a range?
Get a free estimateThe things that matter most on this kind of job.
Cabinets are the long pole on nearly every kitchen. Ask for the quoted lead time in writing, and ask what the deposit actually buys, a production slot or a place in line. Nobody should tear out your old kitchen until the new boxes are physically sitting in a warehouse or a garage.
New Jersey requires home improvement work over $500 to be in writing, signed by both parties, with a total price and start and finish dates, and the contractor's HIC registration number has to appear on it. Tie payments to milestones like cabinet delivery, rough inspection and countertop install rather than to the calendar. A deposit that covers the cabinet order is normal. Half the job up front is not.
Plenty of Bergen County kitchens sit in houses built between the 1920s and the 1960s: plaster and lath, knob and tube in a wall or two, galvanized supply lines, cast iron drains, and subfloors nowhere near flat. Keep 10 to 15 percent of the budget in reserve for that. Ask how change orders get priced and approved, in writing, before the extra work happens.
Set it up before demo day: refrigerator in the dining room, microwave and an induction burner on a folding table, a utility sink or a bathroom for washing up. February in New Jersey is not the month to discover your backup plan was the grill. Ask about dust control, plastic on the doorways, floor protection on the path in and out, and where the dumpster sits, since several Bergen towns require a permit to put one in the street.
Always verify before you pay a deposit. In New Jersey, home improvement contractors must be registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs and carry at least $500,000 in commercial general liability insurance. Ask for the HIC registration number and a certificate of insurance, and check the registration at njconsumeraffairs.gov. Any job over $500 must be in a written, signed contract.
Three steps, no cost to you, and no obligation to hire anyone.
Fill in the form or call. We ask what the work is, which town you are in, and roughly when you want it done.
We pass your details to contractors in our network who cover your town and do that specific type of work.
They contact you directly, walk the job and price it themselves. Compare the quotes and hire whoever you want, or nobody at all.
For a remodel that keeps the same layout, plan on five to eight weeks of on site work after demo. Add two to four weeks if plumbing or gas is moving, a wall is coming out, or the schedule has to wait on inspections between stages. The real clock starts when the cabinets arrive, not when you sign, so ask for a schedule anchored to the cabinet delivery date.
Order after the final field measure, which happens once the layout is locked or once demo exposes the actual walls. Stock ships in one to two weeks, semi-custom typically runs six to twelve, and custom shops can be ten to twenty weeks out. A painted inset door or an unusual finish adds time on top of the base lead time, so ask for the number for your finish, not the catalog number.
Usually yes, but in most Bergen County colonials, capes and split levels that wall carries floor joists. That means a beam sized by a New Jersey licensed engineer or architect, a permit, temporary shoring while it goes in, and posts carrying the load down to a footing in the basement. The wall is often full of a plumbing stack, ducts and the wiring for half the first floor. Budget roughly $7,000 to $20,000 for the opening itself, more when the load has to travel a long way to reach a footing.
Yes for anything involving plumbing, gas, electrical or structure, and every Bergen County town issues its own through its construction official. Cosmetic work like paint, flooring or a countertop swap on existing cabinets can fall under ordinary maintenance, but do not assume it. Your contractor pulls the building permit and their licensed subs file the plumbing and electrical, and you should expect rough inspections before the drywall closes and a final before the room is signed off.
Quartz is engineered and nonporous, never needs sealing, and repeats a consistent pattern, but it can discolor in a strong south facing window and it will scorch under a pan straight off the burner. Granite handles heat and no two slabs match, so go to the yard and tag the actual slab instead of choosing from a three inch sample. Butcher block is the cheapest warm surface and it sands and re-oils, but it swells and shrinks between humid North Jersey summers and dry heated winters, and it is a poor choice for the run around a sink.
Yes, and it is one of the bigger cost drivers in the job. A relocated drain needs a quarter inch of fall per foot to reach the stack, plus a vent, so in a house on a slab or over a finished basement someone is opening a ceiling or cutting concrete. Gas needs a licensed plumber, a permit and a pressure test. An induction or electric range needs a 240 volt circuit run back to a panel that, in a 1950s house, is often already full and due for an upgrade.
Tell us about the job and we will put you in front of local contractors who do this work. Free, and there is no obligation to hire.
