Which era you own
The single most important question on a North Center block. An original cottage is a structural project with century-old services; a 2000s rebuild is a fit-out. The price bands above are set by that, not by the finishes.
North Center
Kitchen Remodeling in North Center, Chicago
On a North Center block you will find an 1895 cottage and a 2015 rebuild. The kitchen project is the opposite in each, and the first thing we establish is which one you own.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured · Serving North Center and the surrounding area
In Short
A full kitchen remodel in North Center typically runs $36,000 to $60,000 keeping the layout and $70,000 to $115,000 for a gut, and takes six to ten weeks on site. Permits come from the Chicago Department of Buildings. In an original cottage the work is structural and the services are a century old; in a house from the 2000s boom it is a fit-out, and the question is what the builder cut corners on.
Layout kept
$36k – $60k
Full gut
$70k – $115k
Time on site
6 – 10 weeks
Permits issued by
Chicago Dept. of Buildings
Kitchen Remodeling
What a North Center kitchen remodel actually involves
North Center covers the area around Lincoln and Irving Park Road, taking in St. Ben’s and reaching down to Roscoe Village. The original housing is frame workers’ cottages, brick bungalows and two-flats from the early twentieth century — but what makes the neighbourhood different is how much of it has been replaced since the late 1990s.
A single block can hold three eras. An 1895 cottage that was raised over a basement, a 1920s bungalow, and a 2015 single-family house of three times the floor area.
They need opposite work. The cottage needs a beam, a service upgrade and everything traced. The newer house needs a drain fall corrected, extraction that actually ducts outside, and cabinetry that was value-engineered replaced. We open enough to know which before pricing.
Your House
Find your house, and you will find your project
North Center is three eras on one block, and the project differs in kind between them.
| Era and building type | What we find on site | What the project becomes | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890–1915 — frame cottages, often raised | A rear kitchen, services spliced across eras, floor levels that step, and a bearing wall to the dining room. | Gut with the services traced and replaced, the floor levelled, and a sized beam where the wall carries. | $78k – $115k |
| 1915–1930 — brick bungalows and two-flats | The four-door rear kitchen, cast-iron waste, a 1920s panel and a full basement below. | Doors rationalised, a wide opening to the dining room, and a sink that can move because the fall is there. | $70k – $100k |
| 1998–2010 — the rebuild boom | Open plan already in place, a modern panel, and variable build quality: a drain run cut fine, extraction recirculating, cabinetry value-engineered. | Fit-out with the fall and the extraction corrected — often less work than it sounds. | $38k – $62k |
| 2010–present — recent construction | Sound framing and services, generous kitchens, and finishes that have simply dated. | Cabinetry and finish replacement within the existing shell. | $36k – $60k |
On Site
What is specific to remodelling here
These are the conditions that decide the schedule and the contingency on a job in North Center. We price around them rather than discovering them.
Cottages that were raised
Many were jacked up over a new basement decades ago, which left services spliced across eras and floor levels that step between rooms. Both are sorted before anything is tiled.
What the 2000s boom left behind
Quality varies enormously. The usual findings are a drain run cut fine under an island, extraction that recirculates, and cabinetry at the end of its life at fifteen years. Worth opening before pricing.
Tall houses on narrow lots
A newer North Center house is often four floors including a finished basement. Getting cabinetry to the top and protecting three staircases on the way is a real line in the schedule.
An electrical service from either extreme
A cottage has a 1920s panel; a rebuild usually has a modern one with spare capacity. We check on the first visit so an upgrade is priced rather than discovered.
Rear additions and coach houses
Common here and worth checking. Many were added at various dates and to various standards, some without a permit, and the kitchen often sits in one.
Budget
What drives the number in North Center
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
$36,000 – $60,000
New cabinetry, stone, backsplash, appliances, lighting and flooring on the existing services. Usually the right answer in a newer house.
Full gut
$70,000 – $115,000
In a cottage, a sized beam, services traced and replaced and a service upgrade. In a rebuild, back to the shell with the drain fall and extraction corrected.
Kitchen and the floor around it
From $115,000
Kitchen, dining space and a rear hall taken together, with services rerun for the floor. Priced after an engineer has been.
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 $86,000 project, the midpoint of what we actually build here. In an original cottage the structural and plumbing shares carry the budget. In a 2000s rebuild both nearly disappear and cabinetry takes close to forty per cent.
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 North Center?
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 North Center: Common Questions
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in North Center?
Keeping the layout and replacing cabinetry, stone, appliances and finishes generally runs $36,000 to $60,000. A full gut is usually $70,000 to $115,000. The era of the house decides which band you are in more than the finish level does.
Our house was built in 2006. What usually needs doing?
The plan and the services are generally fine, so it is a fit-out. What we most often find is a drain run cut fine under an island, extraction that recirculates rather than ducting outside, and cabinetry that was value-engineered and has reached the end of its life. We open enough to know before pricing.
Our cottage has floors that step between rooms. Why?
It was almost certainly raised over a new basement at some point, which is common here. Lifting the house left the floors out of one plane and the services joined up afterwards across several eras. Both are corrected before anything is tiled.
Can the wall to the dining room come out?
In a cottage or bungalow, often, but it needs checking — it is not obvious from either side whether it 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.
How is North Center different from Roscoe Village?
The original housing is much the same. What differs is the weight of new construction: North Center has far more of it, so a bigger share of our work here is correcting or upgrading a previous build rather than opening up a century-old cottage.
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.
How do you get cabinetry to the top floor?
Planned in advance. A newer North Center house is often four floors including a finished basement, so the route, the protection of three staircases and the delivery window are part of the schedule rather than worked out on the morning.
Which other neighbourhoods do you cover?
North Center sits beside Roscoe Village, Lincoln Square, Irving Park and Lakeview, all regular ground for the same crews.
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