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 Highlands
Kitchen remodeling in Highlands, TX typically runs $14,000-$45,000 for a full project, and the two biggest price drivers here aren’t the cabinets or counters. They’re the Harris County floodplain rules and what’s underneath your slab. If you’re in Highlands and your kitchen was built before Harvey, you need a contractor who pulls the county floodplain determination before quoting a single cabinet. Call Barrett & Sons Construction at (877) 610-1318. Tom Barrett and his sons have worked Highlands kitchens for years, and we know exactly what Harris County Engineering asks for on every permit.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Highlands’s Preferred Kitchen Remodeling Company
Highlands is unincorporated Harris County. That sounds like a technicality until your kitchen remodel stalls at inspection because nobody filed the elevation certificate. We pull permits through Harris County Engineering on every eligible job, and we don’t treat a Highlands remodel like a Houston city permit. The inspectors here check freeboard, flood vents, and elevation paperwork before they sign anything. Tom Barrett publishes his name, address, and license number. Look it up before you sign with anyone.
Our crews are background-checked and uniformed, and Tom’s sons are on-site most days. That matters in Highlands because this is a small community. You’ll see us at the hardware store, you’ll see the truck on Decker Drive, and if something isn’t right, you call one number and Tom picks up. A live person answers (877) 610-1318 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not a voicemail box, not an out-of-state call center.
Every price change arrives as a written change order before work happens. That’s not a slogan, it’s on every contract. An allowance that isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. And every completed job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not done right, Tom comes back and makes it right, one call.
Our Kitchen Remodeling Services in Highlands
We’re a full-service Kitchen Remodeling contractor serving Highlands, TX and the surrounding communities. Here’s how we handle the most common projects in this area.
Full Kitchen Remodeling
A full kitchen remodel in Highlands almost always starts with the floor. If your home is a 1950s-1970s slab-on-grade rancher that was never elevated, Harris County’s post-Harvey floodplain ordinance may require finished floors at least 2 feet above Base Flood Elevation before we can legally do structural work. That changes the scope, the sequence, and the price. We coordinate the elevation certificate, the floor assembly, and the county inspections before we order the first cabinet, just as we do on every Roofing - Highlands job that requires the same careful permitting. Then we build the kitchen you actually want: layout, cabinets, counters, tile, lighting, plumbing, electrical, the works.
Cabinets & Countertops
We install and reface cabinets throughout Highlands, and we carry brands you can look up, not mystery stock off a van. KraftMaid and Cambria are standard on our Highlands jobs, and we’ll quote Silestone, quartz, or granite depending on your budget. In this climate, cheap particleboard cabinets swell and bind within a few humid summers. We spec materials that hold up to Gulf Coast humidity and the occasional wet season. Highlands homeowners regularly ask us to reface rather than replace, and we’ll give you an honest read on whether your existing boxes are worth saving.
Backsplash, Tile & Flooring
Tile work in Highlands has to contend with two things: expansive Beaumont and League City clay soils, and the annual humidity swings that make grout and thin-set fail early if they’re not done right. We see cracked backsplash tile and tented floor tile on plenty of older Highlands homes because someone laid tile without accounting for slab movement. We prep the substrate properly and use materials rated for high-moisture, high-movement environments. If your kitchen floor shows hairline cracks running in straight lines from the island to the wall, that’s likely slab movement, not bad tile work.
Kitchen Design & Layout
Design in Highlands means working around existing constraints: modest working-class homes from the 1950s-1970s, post-Harvey rebuilds with new flood vents, and pier-and-beam foundations that may have shifted. We design kitchens that work with the structure you have, not against it. We’ll talk through island placement, plumbing tie-ins, whether that load-bearing wall can actually come down under Harris County’s current code, and if your project includes exterior work, how our Fence Installation - Highlands crew handles similar structural reviews. No pretty drawing that collapses at the first permit review.
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 Highlands
We work with premium brands across every trade, and we don’t hide what we’re installing. On Highlands kitchen remodels, you’ll typically see KraftMaid cabinets, Simonton windows from our Highlands Windows & Doors selection, Cambria or Silestone counters, and plumbing fixtures from names you can verify online. Because we run jobs throughout this part of Harris County, we keep local stock access tight for Highlands projects, which means fewer delays when you’re waiting on a single cabinet door or a missing drawer pull. You should know exactly what you’re paying for before it goes in. We write it all in the scope, in writing, before work starts.
Common Kitchen Remodeling Problems We See in Highlands Homes
- Post-Harvey rebuilds that missed the freeboard mark. We’ve seen kitchens rebuilt after 2017 that still sit below BFE+2, which means the next remodel has to correct what the last contractor skipped. That’s a costly fix, but it’s required now that Harris County is auditing elevation certificates on inspection sign-off.
- Cracked tile and binding cabinet doors on slab-on-grade homes. Beaumont clay expands and contracts with wet-dry cycles. Without proper substrate prep, tile cracks and cabinet face frames twist. This isn’t a cosmetic nuisance. It’s a subfloor and rough-in issue that ignores soil heave and fails within a few years.
- Unpermitted islands and load-bearing wall changes. Harris County Engineering treats these seriously. If we find an island with plumbing that was added without a permit after a Harvey rebuild, the whole punch list can stall until the paperwork catches up. Don’t inherit someone else’s shortcut.
- Plumbing routes through slabs that were never meant for them. On older Highlands homes, running supply lines and drains through a slab that’s already moving is a recipe for slow drains and hidden leaks. We scope this before quoting so you’re not surprised by a jackhammer line item later.
Pricing for Kitchen Remodeling in Highlands, TX
Kitchen remodeling in Highlands runs $14,000-$45,000 for a full project. Here’s how typical line items break down in this market:
| Service | Typical Range in Highlands |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000-$45,000 |
| Small Kitchen Remodel | $9,000-$20,000 |
| Cabinet Installation | $4,000-$13,000 |
| Countertop Installation | $2,000-$6,500 |
| Backsplash Installation | $800-$2,500 |
| Kitchen Island Installation | $3,000-$10,000 |
What moves the price in Highlands more than anything else is whether the existing floor assembly already meets Harris County’s 2-foot freeboard rule. If it doesn’t, the scope grows to include floor elevation, flood vents, and elevation certificate coordination before a single cabinet goes in. We pull the floodplain determination early and put every allowance in writing. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate. Our quotes are line-item, our change orders are written, and the price you sign is the price you pay unless you change the scope.
Key Takeaways:
- Full kitchen remodels in Highlands run $14,000-$45,000, with small remodels from $9,000.
- Harris County floodplain rules and elevation certificates can change your scope before work starts.
- Every price change is a written change order before it happens. Every time.
- Free estimates, written line-item quotes, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise on every job.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highlands
Barrett & Sons Construction serves Highlands and the surrounding communities of Channelview, Baytown, Mont Belvieu, and Cloverleaf. If you’re in one of those areas and you’re planning a kitchen remodel, we’re glad to pull the same Harris County permits, file the same elevation paperwork, and give you the same written scope before you sign. Learn more about our Kitchen Remodeling in Highlands coverage and give us a call at (877) 610-1318.
Serving Highlands, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highlands 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 Highlands
Yes, in most cases. Harris County’s post-Harvey floodplain ordinance requires finished floors at least 2 feet above Base Flood Elevation on properties in the regulated floodplain, and the county is actively enforcing this on every pulled permit. If your slab sits below that mark, the scope of your kitchen remodel will likely include floor elevation, flood vents, and an elevation certificate before structural work passes inspection. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll pull the floodplain determination for your exact address before you spend a dollar on cabinets.
Most likely it’s both, and the foundation part is what matters first. Highlands sits on expansive Beaumont and League City clay that moves with the dramatic wet-dry cycles we get every year. Pier-and-beam foundations can shift enough to rack cabinet face frames and crack tile. Before we quote a cabinet install, we assess the foundation movement and tell you whether you need leveling first. Otherwise you’re putting new cabinets on a moving frame. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll give you a straight answer.
No, not for a straightforward cabinet and counter replacement that doesn’t touch structural elements. But the moment your remodel includes changing the floor assembly, moving load-bearing walls, adding an island with plumbing, or any structural change, Harris County can require an elevation certificate and freeboard compliance before sign-off. We flag this early so the permit review doesn’t blindside you. If you’re unsure whether your project triggers it, call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll tell you before you sign anything.
Yes, unfortunately. Post-Harvey rebuilds throughout Highlands were done quickly, and we regularly find island plumbing that was routed poorly through the new floor assembly or tied into undersized drain lines. The flat coastal prairie topography means drainage has to work against very little natural fall, so slow island drains are a common complaint. We scope the drain routing before we quote any repair or remodel. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll trace it and give you a written fix.
You can hire them separately, but in Highlands you’re taking on three risks. First, Harris County permits and inspections run through one point of contact, and if the cabinet installer isn’t the one pulling the permit, nobody is coordinating the elevation paperwork. Second, separate trades on slab-on-grade foundations with clay movement means finger-pointing when tile cracks or cabinets bind. Third, unpermitted plumbing on a kitchen island becomes your liability when you sell. A general contractor who coordinates the permit, the trades, and the written change orders is worth it in this county. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate and we’ll show you exactly how we scope a Highlands kitchen remodel from first measurement to final inspection.
If you’re planning a kitchen remodel in Highlands, TX, start with the floodplain determination. It’s the piece that most contractors skip. We don’t. Call Barrett & Sons Construction at (877) 610-1318 today for a free, written, line-item estimate. Tom Barrett and his sons will walk you through the permit requirements, the price, and the plan before you sign. No surprise invoices, no unwritten allowances, no inspector standoffs. Just a kitchen that’s done right, permitted, and backed by our 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Highlands and Harris County since 1998.