The shared waste riser
Your stack serves the flats above and below and does not move. The sink travels only as far as the branch and the floor depth allow, so we check the ceiling below before a layout depends on it.
Rogers Park
Kitchen Remodeling in Rogers Park, Chicago
Almost every Rogers Park kitchen is inside a condominium, so the board and the shared riser decide what is possible before the cabinets do. We plan both from the first visit.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured · Serving Rogers Park and the surrounding area
In Short
A full kitchen remodel in Rogers Park typically runs $30,000 to $50,000 keeping the layout and $58,000 to $95,000 for a gut, and takes six to nine weeks on site. Permits come from the Chicago Department of Buildings, but the association approval is usually the slower half. The waste riser is shared with the units above and below, so the sink moves within what the branch and the floor depth allow — which is why the room is normally won back with cabinetry rather than by relocating services.
Layout kept
$30k – $50k
Full gut
$58k – $95k
Time on site
6 – 9 weeks
Permits issued by
Chicago Dept. of Buildings
Kitchen Remodeling
What a Rogers Park kitchen remodel actually involves
Rogers Park was built out between about 1915 and 1930 and the dominant building is the courtyard apartment block — three storeys of brick around an open court, built as rental and converted to condominium decades later. Add the vintage walk-ups, the two-flats west of Clark and the 1970s towers on Sheridan Road and almost the entire neighbourhood is owned unit by unit.
The kitchen in one of these is a galley off a rear hall, bounded by a stack it shares with its neighbours and a floor too shallow to run a new drain far. That is the real constraint, and it is fixed before anyone opens a catalogue.
Within it there is much more room than people expect. Full-height cabinetry, a proper pantry wall, a rationalised back door and lighting that works will change the room more than moving the sink four feet would — and none of it needs the riser to move.
Your House
Find your building, and you will find your project
Rogers Park is almost entirely flats, and the building sets the rules.
| Era and building type | What we find on site | What the project becomes | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915–1930 — courtyard apartment buildings | A galley kitchen off a rear hall, a stack shared by several units, plaster throughout and a board that approves the work. | Gut in place. The sink stays near the riser and the room is won back with full-height cabinetry and better light. | $58k – $88k |
| 1915–1930 — vintage walk-ups | Larger rooms, higher ceilings, original joinery worth keeping, and services spliced by earlier conversions. | Gut with the services traced and replaced, and the joinery retained rather than stripped. | $62k – $95k |
| 1900–1925 — two-flats west of Clark | A rear kitchen by the back porch, a stack shared with one other unit, and a basement below with some room to work. | More freedom than a courtyard building: a wide opening to the dining room where the wall allows. | $54k – $84k |
| 1960s–1975 — Sheridan Road towers | A concrete slab that cannot be chased, a fixed riser, freight-lift scheduling and restricted working hours. | Finish and cabinetry replacement within the existing services, with the logistics planned in from the start. | $30k – $52k |
On Site
What is specific to remodelling here
These are the conditions that decide the schedule and the contingency on a job in Rogers Park. We price around them rather than discovering them.
Association approval and insurance
The board wants a written scope, your working hours and a certificate of insurance naming the association. We supply all three, but the approval sits with them and it is usually slower than the city permit.
An electrical service from the 1920s
A kitchen wired for one light and an icebox will not carry an induction hob, a dishwasher and a microwave. In a building that has never had a service upgrade the panel is the constraint, and we check it at the first visit.
Getting materials up the back stairs
Rear-stair-only access, a shared court and permit parking are normal. Cabinetry routes and delivery windows go into the schedule rather than being solved on the morning.
Extraction that recirculates
Most of these kitchens have a hood that filters and returns the air to the room. A duct to outside air through masonry has to be designed in, and in a courtyard building the termination position matters.
Plaster, and walls that are not square
Plaster on lath throughout, and a room that has been decorated a dozen times. Cabinetry is scribed to walls that are nowhere near true, which is slower than it looks and is where a fitted kitchen earns its money.
Budget
What drives the number in Rogers Park
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. The right project in most of this housing.
Full gut within the same footprint
$58,000 – $95,000
Back to the shell, services reworked within what the riser allows, a service upgrade where needed, and full-height cabinetry.
Kitchen and the rooms beside it
From $95,000
Kitchen, rear hall and a dining space taken together, with a non-structural wall removed where the building allows.
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 $68,000 project, the midpoint of what we actually build here. The structural line is close to nothing in most of this housing, and the labour share rises instead, because every delivery and every load of waste goes up and down a shared back stair.
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 Rogers Park?
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 Rogers Park: Common Questions
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Rogers Park?
Keeping the layout and replacing cabinetry, stone, appliances and finishes generally runs $30,000 to $50,000. A full gut within the same footprint is usually $58,000 to $95,000. Rogers Park sits below Lakeview and Lincoln Park mainly because the rooms are smaller and less of the work is structural.
What will my association need before we start?
A written scope, the hours we intend to work, and a certificate of insurance naming the association as additional insured. We prepare all three. Boards vary in how fast they turn it round, so submit as soon as the scope is settled — here it is almost always slower than the city permit.
Can the sink move to an island?
Rarely more than a few feet, and usually not to an island. The waste riser is shared and fixed, and a hundred-year-old floor has little depth for a horizontal run at proper fall. We check the ceiling below before drawing anything that depends on it, rather than after the cabinets are ordered.
Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel in Chicago?
Yes. The Chicago Department of Buildings issues it. Like-for-like cabinetry and finishes can often go through the Easy Permit Process; anything that moves services or removes a wall needs a full permit with drawings. We identify the route at the consultation and file it.
Will the building’s electrical service cope?
In a building that has never been upgraded, usually not. An induction hob, a double oven and a dishwasher each need a dedicated circuit and there has to be capacity to add them. We look at the panel on the first visit so an upgrade is priced rather than discovered at rough-in.
How do you get cabinetry into a courtyard building?
Up the back stairs, through the court, with permit parking arranged in advance. It is a real line in the schedule and we plan the route and the delivery window rather than turning up and hoping.
Can we keep the original plaster and trim?
Where it is sound, yes, and it is usually worth it. Crown, picture rail and oak flooring are much of what makes a vintage unit desirable. We score and cut rather than break, and we price patching in the adjoining rooms instead of pretending none will be needed.
Which other neighbourhoods do you cover?
Rogers Park sits at the top of our Chicago area. West Ridge, Edgewater, Uptown and Lincoln Square are all regular ground, and we work north into Evanston from the same base.
Keep Reading