Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable Kitchen Remodeling Across Austin
Kitchen remodeling in Austin, TX typically costs $14,000-$45,000 for a full gut-and-rebuild, with most projects wrapping in 6-10 weeks once permits clear. We’re Barrett & Sons Construction, and our crews work across Austin every week, from 78719 up through 78720, 78721, and 78722. If you’re tired of contractors who quote one number and hand you another after demo, call us at (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk your kitchen with you before anyone swings a hammer.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Austin’s Preferred Kitchen Remodeling Company
Tom Barrett started this company in 1998, and his sons run the crews that show up at your door. That matters in a city where half the trucks you see belong to out-of-state franchises that dispatch strangers. We live here. When a homeowner in Travis Heights calls about a cracked countertop, the person who answers the phone knows the house style, the soil under it, and probably the street.
Our reputation in Austin comes from doing what we say on paper. Every scope, every allowance, every price change arrives as a written change order before work happens. No surprise invoices at the end. Our 90-Day Done Right Promise is written on every contract: if it’s not done right, Tom comes back and makes it right, one call. Ask anyone on your street, or look up the license number yourself. Tom publishes his name, his address, and his license number. That’s the whole point.
Calls are answered by a live person, 24/7. Not a voicemail box. Not an out-of-state call center. When you call about your Kitchen Remodeling project in Austin, you get a human who knows the difference between a 1950s bungalow in Bouldin Creek and a 1990s frame house out by Anderson Mill.
Our Kitchen Remodeling Services in Austin
Full Kitchen Remodeling
A full kitchen remodel in Austin means tearing down to studs and rebuilding the room around how you actually cook, not how the 1987 builder guessed someone might cook. We handle the demo, the rough framing, the plumbing and electrical, the drywall, the flooring, and the finish work. In Central Austin ZIP codes like 78721 and 78722, we’re opening walls in bungalows where the existing kitchen was built around a 36-inch stove and a single overhead light. The job is bigger than swapping cabinets. It’s rerouting the whole room.
Cabinets & Countertops
We install KraftMaid cabinetry and Cambria or quartz countertops. Cabinet installation on its own in Austin runs $4,000-$13,000, while countertop installation typically lands between $2,000 and $6,500 depending on slab size and edge profile. We measure, template, and cut on site. No mystery brands off a van. If you want a quartz island with a waterfall edge, we’ll template it for your actual slab, not a showroom guess.
Backsplash, Tile & Flooring
Backsplash installation in Austin homes ranges $800-$2,500 for a standard run of 30-40 square feet. Tile work on an east Austin slab needs a decoupling membrane or you’ll be looking at hairline cracks through the grout lines within a year. We’re seeing a lot of Schluter systems go into the 78720 and 78721 area for exactly that reason. The clay under those slabs moves. The tile shouldn’t.
Kitchen Design & Layout
This is the part most people skip and regret. We sit down with you in your actual kitchen and map where the sink goes, where the island sits, how the drawers open, and where the trash pull goes. In small 1920s and 1930s kitchens across Austin, you’re usually working with 80 to 120 square feet. Moving a sink six feet can mean cutting rock west of I-35 or dealing with a cast-iron drain stack on the east side. We plan around what’s under the floor, not just what looks right in a rendering.
Quartz & Granite Countertops
Quartz and granite countertop installation in Austin runs $2,000-$6,500. We template every slab to your base cabinets, which matters more than people think in Austin’s older homes where walls are rarely square. A slab cut to a crooked wall either leaves a gap at the backsplash or gets shimmed with a quarter-inch of caulk. Neither is acceptable. We measure, we shim the base, we cut, we set. One trip, done right.
Small & Partial Kitchen Remodels
Small kitchen remodels in Austin run $9,000-$20,000. That covers new cabinet fronts or refacing, a new countertop, updated backsplash, a new sink and faucet, and paint. It doesn’t mean tearing out the whole room. But on a small job in an old house, the permit still matters. Open a wall, find knob-and-tube, and the city’s going to have something to say about it. We write the allowance for that before we start.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Austin
We install materials you can look up. In kitchens, that means KraftMaid cabinets, Cambria and quartz surfaces, and Schluter waterproofing and decoupling systems. On the plumbing side we use Grohe faucets and fixtures when the job calls for them. We keep a stock of common Schluter and Grohe parts in our Austin office so a change during rough-in doesn’t idle your job for a week. If something needs to be ordered, you’ll know the lead time before we open a single wall.
Common Kitchen Remodeling Problems We See in Austin Homes
- Knob-and-tube wiring hiding in 1930s-1950s kitchens: We’ve opened walls in Travis Heights, Hyde Park, and Bouldin Creek and found original cloth-wrapped wiring still live. It’s not safe, and it’s not code. A rewire back to the panel adds cost, but it has to happen before drywall closes.
- Expansive clay cracking tile on east-side slabs: The Blackland Prairie clay east of I-35 swells and shrinks with rain cycles. Tile set directly on that slab cracks. We use a decoupling layer like Schluter Ditra on every east Austin tile floor.
- Limestone bedrock turning a sink move into a rock-cutting job: West of I-35, relocating plumbing can mean cutting through solid limestone. A sink that moves eight feet west can add $2,000-$4,000 in rock work. We flag that before you sign, not after the slab is open.
- Cast-iron drain stacks under old slabs: A 1950s kitchen in 78722 might have an original cast-iron drain stack that’s rusted through. When you open the floor to move a sink or add an island, that stack often can’t be reused. Replacing it is a rough-in surprise if there’s no allowance for it. We write the allowance into the contract.
Pricing for Kitchen Remodeling in Austin, TX
Here’s what we’re seeing in Austin right now, based on homes we’ve quoted across 78719, 78720, 78721, and 78722:
| Service | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Full Kitchen Remodeling | $14,000-$45,000 |
| Small Kitchen Remodel | $9,000-$20,000 |
| Kitchen Island Installation | $3,000-$10,000 |
| Countertop Installation | $2,000-$6,500 |
What moves a kitchen remodel quote in Austin is usually what’s behind the walls, not the cabinets you pick. A 1925 bungalow in Travis Heights with original wiring and a sagging pier-and-beam floor will cost more to remodel than a 2010 house in Wells Branch with a modern slab and straight walls. We’ll give you a written estimate with allowances for the unknowns. You’ll know the worst-case price before demo starts. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate. No trip charge inside the county.
We Also Serve Cities Near Austin
Our Austin crews regularly run jobs in Hornsby Bend, Wells Branch, Anderson Mill, and Jollyville. If you’re in one of those communities and you’re planning a kitchen remodel, you get the same Austin pricing, the same written change orders, and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise. We don’t charge to come look.
Serving Austin, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Austin area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Kitchen Remodeling in Austin
We price rock-cutting into the quote before we open the slab. Homes west of I-35 sit on the Balcones Escarpment’s limestone shelf. When you move a sink or a drain line in that area, there’s a real chance the saw hits rock. We bundle a rock-work allowance into any west Austin kitchen contract so you see the number on paper before signing. If we hit rock and don’t use the full allowance, you get a credit. If we hit more than expected, you get a written change order before anything else moves. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll tell you what your specific house needs.
Yes, but the subfloor has to be prepared correctly. East Austin sits on Blackland Prairie clay that expands and contracts with rain. A heavy island framed directly on a slab that’s heaving will transmit that movement into the countertop and flooring. We frame islands with proper anchorage and use a decoupling membrane under any tile set around the island footprint. Small kitchen remodels in east Austin that include an island typically run $9,000-$20,000 depending on size and materials. Call (877) 610-1318 for a quote with the substrate prep broken out line by line.
We stop work, write a change order for a rewire back to the panel, and bring in a third-party inspector before drywall closes. That’s what we do when we find knob-and-tube in a Travis Heights, Hyde Park, or Bouldin Creek kitchen. It happened on a 1940s pier-and-beam bungalow off South Congress: our crew opened a wall to relocate a load-bearing support, found live cloth-wrapped knob-and-tube feeding the original circuits, and we stopped. The homeowners got a written change order for the full rewire, the city got its inspection, and the job stayed legal. No drywall closed over a fire hazard. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk you through what to expect in a house of that age.
Usually not, but the answer depends on what’s behind the drywall. Replacing cabinets on the same wall line generally doesn’t require moving structure. The issue in Travis Heights and similar neighborhoods is that kitchens in 1920s and 1930s cottages were often closet-sized rooms with a load-bearing wall separating them from the living space. If you’re opening that wall to expand the kitchen, that’s a structural job requiring an engineer’s letter and a beam. We’d write the engineering and beam work as a separate line item so you see the cost before you sign. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free assessment of your specific floor plan.
Because in Austin, what’s under the slab or behind the wall determines whether your quote holds. An allowance that isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. We write a rough-in allowance into every kitchen remodel contract to cover the things you can’t see until demo starts: cast-iron drain stacks under old slabs, limestone rock cuts west of I-35, knob-and-tube wiring, asbestos-containing materials in 1950s sheetrock, or an undersized service panel. You’ll see the allowance amount, the unit prices, and the scope. If we don’t use it, you keep it. If we do, you approve a written change order before the extra work begins. That’s how we keep a kitchen remodel in Austin from becoming a $45,000 surprise. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk you through a sample allowance schedule for your ZIP code.
Call Barrett & Sons Construction for Kitchen Remodeling in Austin
If you’re in Austin and you’re planning a kitchen remodel, call us at (877) 610-1318. We’ll set up a free estimate, no trip charge inside the county. You’ll get a written scope, written allowances, and a price that doesn’t change unless you approve it first. Tom Barrett’s name is on the truck and on the contract. We’ve been doing it that way since 1998. We’d like to shake your hand at the hardware store and stand behind the work we did on your kitchen.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Austin since 1998.