A cottage that was raised
The defining Avondale condition. Services were spliced when the house went up in the air, so one kitchen can be fed by galvanised, copper and plastic in three places. We trace it before quoting rather than after.
Avondale
Kitchen Remodeling in Avondale, Chicago
Avondale cottages were built small and built well. The kitchen project here is about finding capacity the original plan never gave you — and the basement is usually where it comes from.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured · Serving Avondale and the surrounding area
In Short
A full kitchen remodel in Avondale typically runs $30,000 to $50,000 keeping the layout and $58,000 to $95,000 for a gut that opens the plan, and takes six to nine weeks on site. Permits come from the Chicago Department of Buildings. Most of this is single family or a two-flat owned outright, so there is no board — and a great many of these cottages were raised over a basement, which is both the opportunity and the thing to survey first.
Layout kept
$30k – $50k
Gut with the plan opened
$58k – $95k
Time on site
6 – 9 weeks
Permits issued by
Chicago Dept. of Buildings
Kitchen Remodeling
What an Avondale kitchen remodel actually involves
Avondale runs along the North Branch between Logan Square and Irving Park, built for the workers of the factories that lined the river. Frame workers’ cottages, brick bungalows and two-flats from roughly 1890 to 1930, on standard twenty-five-foot lots, with the Polish Village stretch along Milwaukee at its heart.
The kitchen sits at the back next to the porch and the basement stair, and it is small. What matters more is that a great many of these cottages were jacked up over a new basement decades ago.
That single fact explains most of what we find. Services joined up afterwards across three eras, floor levels that step between rooms — and, on the other side of the ledger, a basement with headroom that makes a real drain run possible.
Your House
Find your building, and you will find your project
Avondale repeats one building type with one history, and the survey is looking for that history.
| Era and building type | What we find on site | What the project becomes | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890–1915 — frame cottages raised over a basement | Services spliced across three eras, floor levels that step, a rear kitchen by the porch and a basement with headroom. | Gut with the services traced and replaced, the floor levelled, and an island because the fall is available. | $62k – $95k |
| 1900–1925 — brick workers’ cottages | A tight plan on a 25-foot lot, a small rear kitchen and a dining room doorway that may or may not be carrying. | Doors rationalised into a continuous run and a wide cased opening where the wall allows. | $58k – $88k |
| 1900–1930 — two-flats | A kitchen at the rear off a back porch, a stack shared with one other unit, and a basement below. | Gut with the services replaced and the brief settled first on whether the building stays two homes. | $54k – $84k |
| 2000s–present — infill and rear additions | Open plan already in place, a modern panel, and a drain run that may have been cut fine. | Fit-out with the fall and the extraction corrected where a previous build was optimistic. | $32k – $54k |
On Site
What is specific to remodelling here
These are the conditions that decide the schedule and the contingency on a job in Avondale. We price around them rather than discovering them.
Floor levels that step
Raising a cottage rarely left the floors in one plane. The kitchen floor is built back level before cabinetry is set, and that build-up has to be allowed for at the doorways.
The wall to the dining room
Carrying in some of these houses and not in others, and not obvious from either side. Where it carries, a sized beam, posts to a bearing point and an engineer’s letter go in with the permit.
A basement with real headroom
The upside of the raising. A drain runs at proper fall to an island, which is why layouts are possible here that are not possible in a flat.
An electrical service built for 1925
A kitchen wired for a light and an icebox will not carry an induction hob and a dishwasher. In a house never upgraded the panel is the constraint, checked on the first visit.
Narrow lots and access
Twenty-five feet, a shared gangway and permit parking. Cabinetry routes and delivery windows are planned into the schedule.
Budget
What drives the number in Avondale
Ranges, not a single number. Where a project lands depends on the scope, and we say which band we think you are in before you commit to anything.
Cabinetry and finishes, layout kept
$30,000 – $50,000
New cabinetry, stone, backsplash, appliances, lighting and flooring on the existing services.
Gut with the plan opened
$58,000 – $95,000
Services traced and replaced, the floor levelled, an opening to the dining room where the wall allows, and a service upgrade.
Kitchen and the rear of the house
From $95,000
Kitchen, rear hall and a back porch or mudroom as one project, with services rerun for the whole rear.
Where It Goes
Where the money actually goes
Cabinetry is the largest single line in almost every kitchen we build. This is how a full project divides up.
- Cabinetry 28%
- Labour and project management 26%
- Countertops and backsplash 11%
- Structural work and openings 9%
- Appliances 9%
- Plumbing and electrical rough-in 8%
- Flooring and finishes 6%
- Permits, engineering and protection 3%
Based on an $70,000 project, the midpoint of what we actually build here. The plumbing share runs above the figure shown wherever the house was raised, because the first job is replacing whatever was spliced together when it went up in the air.
Process
How the job runs
Consultation on site
We look at the wall, at the ceiling below it where we can, and at the electrical panel. You get an honest read on what can move and what cannot.
Scope, drawings and a fixed price
Including a structural engineer where a wall is coming out, so the beam is sized before the price is set rather than after.
Permit filed for you
Submitted to the Chicago Department of Buildings. We prepare and lodge it, and we tell you which route your project is on before you commit.
Demolition, structure and rough-in
Any beam goes in, services are rerun, and everything is inspected before it is closed. A change to the price happens here, with the wall open, not at the end.
Cabinetry, stone and finish
Cabinets set and scribed to walls that are rarely square, stone templated on site after the boxes are in, then appliances, backsplash and lighting.
Snag list and final inspection
We walk the room with you, write the list, and close it out before the final invoice.
Planning a kitchen remodeling project in Avondale?
Tell us about the property and what you want to change. We will walk the space, look at what is behind the walls, and come back with a written scope, a schedule and a price.
FAQ
Kitchen Remodeling in Avondale: Common Questions
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Avondale?
Keeping the layout and replacing cabinetry, stone, appliances and finishes generally runs $30,000 to $50,000. A gut that opens the plan is usually $58,000 to $95,000. What moves the number most is what the services turn out to be once the floor is up.
Our house was raised over a basement. What does that mean?
Mostly that the services were joined up afterwards, often across three eras and materials, and that the floors are rarely in one plane. Both are sorted before cabinetry is set, and both are far better found on the first visit than in week two.
Can we have an island with a sink?
In most of these cottages, yes — the raising gave them a basement with real headroom, so a drain runs at proper fall. We verify it from below before it goes into a drawing.
Can the wall to the dining room come out?
Often, but it needs checking. In a cottage it is not obvious from either side whether that wall carries the floor above. If it does, the opening needs a sized beam, posts to a bearing point and an engineer’s letter with the permit.
Will our electrical service cope?
In a house never upgraded, usually not. Modern appliances each need a dedicated circuit and there has to be capacity to add them, so we check the panel at the consultation rather than at rough-in.
Do I need a permit?
Yes. The Chicago Department of Buildings issues it. Like-for-like finishes can often use the Easy Permit Process; anything structural or anything that moves services needs a full permit with drawings. We handle the filing.
Do we need association approval?
Only if the building has been converted. In a cottage or a two-flat you own outright there is no board, which typically takes weeks off the start date compared with a condo project.
Which other neighbourhoods do you cover?
Avondale sits between Logan Square and Irving Park, and those two along with North Center and Albany Park are regular ground for the same crews.
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