Kitchen Renovation in Richmond
The room the whole house runs through, and the one that takes the longest to live without.
Full kitchen renovations, including the plumbing and electrical moves a new layout needs.
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What to check, and what to ask
General guidance for homeowners, not specific to your house — worth knowing before you sign with anyone, including us.
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Moving the sink or the range is a different project from replacing them
Cabinets and counters in the same footprint is finish work. Relocating plumbing or a gas range means opening floors or walls, and it is usually the single largest fork in the price. Decide it before you ask anyone for a number.
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Ask what the electrical plan is, not just where the outlets go
Kitchens carry dedicated circuits, and an older panel may not have room for what a new layout wants. Whether the panel gets touched is a question worth answering during the quote rather than during demolition.
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Cabinets set the schedule, not the trades
Custom and semi-custom cabinets are ordered long before they arrive, and the site usually waits on them rather than the other way round. Ask when the cabinet order is placed and what is being done while it is in production.
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Plan how you will eat
There is a stretch with no sink and no range. A temporary setup — a fridge somewhere else, a kettle, a plan for dishes — is worth arranging in advance, and worth asking about so you know roughly which phase it falls in.
Before you take any quote
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1. Write the scope down before you collect a single price
Same layout or moved sink and range. Cabinets refaced or replaced. Who supplies the appliances. Who paints. Three quotes against three different scopes are not three quotes — they are three unrelated numbers, and the lowest one is usually the smallest job.
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2. Ask what the cabinet, counter and tile allowances are
An allowance is a placeholder the estimate carries for something you have not chosen yet. A cheaper kitchen quote is very often a smaller allowance rather than a better price, and the difference lands on you at selection time. Compare the allowances, not the totals.
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3. Require change orders in writing, priced, before the work proceeds
Kitchens generate changes — a different sink, a rotten section of floor, a cabinet that will not clear a window. That is normal. What should not be normal is finding out what it cost at the end. Agree now that nothing extra starts until it is written down and priced.
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4. Make the payments follow completed work, not the calendar
A deposit is reasonable. A schedule where money tracks stages that have actually finished — demolition, rough-in inspected, cabinets set — protects you. A schedule that pays out on dates regardless of progress protects nobody but the person holding it.
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5. Verify the business licence, the liability insurance and the WorkSafeBC coverage
Ask for the business licence in the city the work is in, a certificate of liability insurance, and a WorkSafeBC clearance letter — you can confirm coverage with WorkSafeBC directly. A homeowner who hires an uncovered contractor can be held responsible for premiums, and for an injury on the property. British Columbia does not licence general renovation contractors, so these three are the checks that actually exist.