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 Santa Monica
A full kitchen remodel in Santa Monica typically runs between $14,000 and $45,000, with smaller partial remodels starting around $9,000. Most projects take four to ten weeks depending on whether you’re refreshing cabinets and counters or tearing down to the studs. We answer the phone at (877) 610-1318 and we’ll give you a straight answer about what your kitchen will cost before you sign anything.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Santa Monica’s Preferred Kitchen Remodeling Company
Tom Barrett founded this company in 1998 and his sons run the crews today. When a Santa Monica homeowner calls, a live person answers. You won’t get a call center, an answering service, or a national franchise that sends strangers to your door. We coordinate scheduling from our Los Angeles office and our crews work locally in Santa Monica every week.
County permits, Coastal Commission requirements, and design review board submittals are part of how we bid every kitchen job in the 90401, 90402, 90403, and 90411 zip codes. We don’t treat Santa Monica like a generic Los Angeles suburb, because it isn’t one. The building department here runs its own process and the Coastal Zone adds a second layer of review that contractors working in Culver City never deal with. We know which kitchens trigger a Santa Monica design review and which ones sail through as a simple remodel.
Every contract includes Tom Barrett’s name, address, and license number. Look us up before you sign. And every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise: if something isn’t right, one call brings Tom back to fix it.
Our Kitchen Remodeling Services in Santa Monica
Full Kitchen Remodeling
A full gut remodel means new layout, new electrical, new plumbing, new flooring, new cabinets, new counters. In Santa Monica’s older Spanish Colonial and Craftsman homes north of Montana Avenue, that often means opening walls in houses where the original 1920s framing doesn’t match modern cabinet depths or appliance clearances. We pull permits on every eligible job and the inspector signs off before you write the final check. Full remodels in Santa Monica run $14,000 to $45,000 depending on footprint and finishes.
Cabinets & Countertops
We install KraftMaid cabinets and Cambria quartz, names you can look up before you commit. A typical cabinet installation in Santa Monica runs $4,000 to $13,000, and countertop installation adds $2,000 to $6,500 depending on slab size and edge profile. When we quote a countertop, the allowance is in writing. If the slab you choose costs more than the allowance, you get a written change order before we cut anything. No surprises at the end.
Backsplash, Tile & Flooring
Backsplash installation in Santa Monica kitchens runs $800 to $2,500 for most layouts, and we’ll talk you through grout choices that handle coastal moisture without staining. Salt air near Ocean Park and the beachfront streets of 90405 does a number on porous tile and unsealed grout. We use materials and sealers that hold up to the marine layer, because a backsplash that looks great for six months and then stains isn’t much of a backsplash.
Small & Partial Kitchen Remodels
Not every Santa Monica kitchen needs a full gut. Sometimes it’s refacing cabinets, swapping a tile counter for quartz, adding a backsplash, and replacing the sink and faucet. Small kitchen remodels in Santa Monica run $9,000 to $20,000. We handle island installations as well, typically $3,000 to $10,000 depending on the island footprint, electrical runs, and whether you’re adding seating or a prep sink.
Kitchen Design & Layout
Before anything gets torn out, we walk the space with you and talk about how you actually cook. In Santa Monica’s 1950s and 1960s apartments south of Wilshire, kitchens are often tight galley layouts with tuck-under parking below, which means load-bearing posts that can’t simply move. We design around what’s there, not what would be easier. The layout plan is part of your written scope before any demolition starts.
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 Santa Monica
We carry premium brands across every trade because you should be able to look up what you’re paying for. In kitchens, that means KraftMaid and Cambria. On the roofing side, GAF and CertainTeed. For hardscapes, Belgard and Techo-Bloc. If you’re thinking about a larger project that includes the kitchen plus outdoor space or a roof, we also handle Bathroom Remodeling in Santa Monica and Roofing in Santa Monica, so a single crew can coordinate the interior and exterior work without finger-pointing between subcontractors.
Common Kitchen Remodeling Problems We See in Santa Monica Homes
- Soft-story retrofits complicating kitchen remodels. Many of the wood-frame apartment buildings south of Wilshire are on the city’s mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit list. When the kitchen sits above a tuck-under parking level, the retrofit work and the kitchen remodel often need to be coordinated together, not treated as two unrelated jobs.
- Concrete cancer from salt air. The persistent marine layer and ocean salt accelerate corrosion of anchor bolts, rebar, and embedded steel in older structures. We regularly find spalled concrete and rusted fasteners in Santa Monica kitchens in the 90403 and 90405 areas that would surprise an inland contractor. You can’t put a new kitchen on a failing structural floor and expect it to last.
- Coastal Development Permit overlap. If your kitchen remodel adds square footage, changes a roofline, or sits near the beachfront streets of 90405, it may need a Coastal Development Permit on top of city permits. We’ve handled enough of these to know which categorical exclusions apply and when a routine kitchen project turns into a dual-track approval.
- Design review board scrutiny. Santa Monica’s independent planning process means even modest remodels can trigger design review. Homeowners who’ve done work in West LA or Palms are often surprised to learn their Santa Monica kitchen needs an extra layer of city sign-off. We prepare for it in the initial scope so it doesn’t stall the job mid-demo.
Pricing for Kitchen Remodeling in Santa Monica, CA
Here’s what actual numbers look like in Santa Monica. A full kitchen remodel runs $14,000 to $45,000. A small or partial remodel lands between $9,000 and $20,000. Cabinet installation ranges from $4,000 to $13,000. Countertop installation is $2,000 to $6,500. Backsplash runs $800 to $2,500. A kitchen island installation costs $3,000 to $10,000.
What moves the number: whether you’re moving plumbing, whether the house needs earthquake retrofit coordination, whether Coastal Commission review applies, and what finish level you choose. Every allowance is in writing. Every change order arrives before the work happens. If we quote a Cambria slab at $4,200 and you choose a stone at $6,000, you’ll see that $1,800 difference on paper before anyone picks up a saw.
We offer free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, and a permanent 10% Senior & Veteran discount. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk your kitchen and give you a line-item quote.
We Also Serve Cities Near Santa Monica
In addition to Santa Monica itself, our crews handle Kitchen Remodeling projects in Venice, Century City, Culver City, and Beverly Hills. If you’re on the edge of Santa Monica and your street technically sits in one of those cities, call us and we’ll tell you straight whether we serve your address. No runaround.
Serving Santa Monica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Santa Monica 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 Santa Monica
Once permits are issued and materials are ordered, most Santa Monica kitchen remodels are underway within three to five weeks of signing the contract. Custom cabinets can add two to four weeks depending on lead time. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll give you a realistic timeline for your specific scope, not a generic promise we can’t keep.
Yes. We work in 90401, 90402, 90403, and 90411, including north of Montana Avenue, Ocean Park, Sunset Park, and the Wilshire corridor. That covers the Spanish Colonial and Craftsman houses in 90402 and the denser apartment and condo stock south of Wilshire. If we don’t serve your specific street, we’ll tell you on the phone rather than waste your time.
Generally yes, by roughly 10 to 20 percent compared to Culver City or West LA, because of the city’s independent building department, design review requirements, and the Coastal Development Permit layer that applies to many Santa Monica projects. A remodel that runs $25,000 in Palms can run $28,000 to $30,000 in Santa Monica once permits, review fees, and code-required structural coordination are factored in. We quote the full number upfront.
Only if the scope changes and only with a written change order before any work proceeds. That’s our rule. Tom Barrett puts it this way: an allowance that isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. If you add an island or upgrade a cabinet line, you’ll see the new number in writing before a single nail moves. No surprise invoices at the end.
Yes. Every eligible job includes permits pulled and inspections signed. In Santa Monica that sometimes means city permits plus a Coastal Development Permit, and we handle both. The permit inspector works for you, not for us, and that’s exactly why we like the process. If a contractor tells you permits are optional in Santa Monica, get a different contractor.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Santa Monica, CA since 1998.