Anonymous wrote:I used Cabinet Discounters in Gaithersburg for a condo kitchen remodel. They did a pretty good job.

What made the job 'pretty good' rather than great? They have been recommended to me by a friend, and I'm curious.

I used Cabinet Discounters in Gaithersburg for a condo kitchen remodel. They did a pretty good job.

OP, it can be done!

We remodeled our 350 sq ft kitchen/breakfast area for $28K in 2005. It included $8k for Kraftmaid cabinets, GE refrigerator, GE dishwasher, GE trash compactor, a new wine cooler, Jenn Air cook-top, ripping out the existing tile flooring and replacing it with unfinished hardwood that was stained and had two coats of poly, mid-grade granite counter tops, sink with Moen faucet, new waste-disposal. We also created a center island where the cook-top is located which involved moving the gas line. Also installed backsplash and eight additional recessed lights to what was there. The only appliance we did not change was the double oven but it did have to be removed and reinstalled into the new cabinet.

How did we do it for this price? First, I functioned as the general contractor and got people to do the work. It did take a lot of time and coordination but it was all completed in about three weeks from start to finish though the kitchen was functional in about two weeks. The remaining time involved things like the recessed lights and back-splash.

Our other saving was that our old cabinets were excellent custom oak which was dated but otherwise in great condition. I sold all of these items on eBay - the cabinets, corian countertops, a sub-zero fridge that was 15 years old at the time, the old cook-top, trash-compactor and dishwasher in a package deal for just over $5K - the buyer left me feedback that he had gotten "the deal of the century"!! He was building a house in PA and used all of these items in his house apparently. I will tell you that the old cabinets alone were probably worth $5K easily because they were high quality custom cabinets in excellent condition even though they were 15 years old.

FYI, I received a quote from a mid-range contractor that it would cost $80K to remodel this kitchen with more or less the same specs -- he would likely have used better quality cabinets though our Kraftmaid cabinets are just fine. He included an amount - I don't recall the amount - for disposing off the old cabinets and appliances!!

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of money that our neighbors among others spend on remodeling, painting, etc. Frankly, they get ripped off by contractors and they think that just because they are paying top dollar it must mean that they are getting a correspondingly better product. We have a neighbor who in 2005 when we did our remodel spent $250K on their kitchen remodel - admittedly it was way more upgraded than what we did but absolutely no way to justify that sort of amount. Sheer insanity but it is their money .......

Every word that I have written above is the honest truth.

agree that it can be done for 30k.

Here is what we did in 2010:

15x15 kitchen

cabinets, 6k (include demo of old ones and installation of new ones)
granite, 3k
- we used Stone and Cabinet International, http://www.stonencabinet.com , in Beltsville for cabinets and granite -

tile floor 3k installed (ripped up old linoleum - tile also includes a 10x15 breakfast area and backsplash)

new fridge: 2k
new dishwasher 800
wine fridge 800

kept the old stove and microwave

didn't move any walls

misc: faucets, lights, etc, 1k

total ~17k

all work done either by the place we bought the cabinets from or a licensed contractor.

Anonymous wrote:17:10 - was this all DIY or did you use professionals for any of it?

contractors. (they were licensed.)