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AfterFull Kitchen Remodeling in San Diego, CA
A full kitchen remodel in San Diego typically costs between $35,000 and $85,000 depending on kitchen size, cabinet grade, and how much plumbing or electrical work is required, and most projects take 6 to 10 weeks from demolition to final walkthrough. At Mason Remodeling Co San Diego, we handle the entire job with one accountable team: written pricing before we start, verified technicians you’ll recognize by name and photo, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise that says exactly what’s covered and for how long. If you’re weighing a full gut renovation against a partial refresh, start with our Kitchen Remodeling in San Diego guide to understand the difference, then call (619) 673-9302 to get a written price on your specific kitchen.
Our definition of a full kitchen remodel is specific: we take the room down to the studs or near-studs, then rebuild it completely. That means new cabinets, new countertops, new flooring, new lighting, often new appliance locations, and new plumbing and electrical where code or layout demands it. It is not a cabinet refacing, not a countertop swap, and not a backsplash refresh. It’s the service San Diego homeowners choose when the kitchen no longer works for the way they actually cook, clean, and gather, and when band-aid fixes would cost more than a proper rebuild in the long run. For a broader look at what the parent service includes, see our Kitchen Remodeling overview page.
When You Need Full Kitchen Remodeling
A full remodel isn’t right for every kitchen problem. Here’s what tells us, after 20 years of remodeling San Diego homes, that a complete renovation beats a patch job:
- Your cabinet boxes are failing, not just your cabinet faces. If hinge screws keep stripping out, shelves sag under a normal load of dishes, or the cabinet bases are warped from sink leaks, new doors won’t fix the structure. We see this a lot in older Clairemont and Allied Gardens homes where the original 1960s particleboard cabinets have absorbed decades of coastal humidity.
- You’re moving a sink, range, or refrigerator. Relocating plumbing or a gas line means opening walls and floors anyway. Once we’re that deep, the incremental cost of doing the whole room properly is usually smaller than homeowners expect.
- Your electrical system can’t support a modern kitchen. Older San Diego homes in neighborhoods like Normal Heights and Mission Hills frequently have kitchens on a single 15-amp circuit. Adding a microwave, dishwasher, and countertop appliances on top of that is a real strain, and a full remodel is the right time to run dedicated circuits.
- The layout has a fundamental problem you work around every day. A refrigerator door that hits the island, a dishwasher that blocks the only walkway when open, a triangle that forces you to carry every pot across the room: these are structural layout failures, not cosmetic ones.
- The flooring is rotted or soft around the dishwasher, sink, or fridge. We regularly find subfloor damage in San Diego kitchens from slow dishwasher leaks nobody noticed until the tile cracked. Patching a section is possible, but if the rot is widespread, you’re better off replacing the subfloor as part of a full remodel.
- You’ve already decided to stay in the house for 5 or more years. A full kitchen remodel is a long-term investment in how you live. If you’re settled in a home you like in a San Diego neighborhood you like, rebuilding the kitchen to suit you, rather than some future buyer, nearly always pays back in daily satisfaction, not just resale value.
Our Full Kitchen Remodeling Process
You’ll know who is coming, what it costs, and what happens next before we ever swing a hammer. Here’s how a full kitchen remodel with Mason Remodeling Co San Diego goes, step by step.
- Call and speak with a live person. When you call (619) 673-9302, a human answers, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. No phone tree, no voicemail loop. We schedule a free in-home assessment at a time that works for you.
- In-home walkthrough and measurements. We come to your San Diego home, take precise measurements, check the existing plumbing and electrical, and talk through how you use the kitchen. Do you bake often? Do three people need to work in the room at once? Where does the trash actually live? These answers shape the layout more than any catalog photo.
- Written price, before any work starts. You get a line-item written price covering the entire project scope: demolition, cabinets, countertops, flooring, plumbing, electrical, finish work, and project management. This is our standard. It is never an upgrade, never a favor, and never a verbal estimate that grows on the final bill. Since 2004, this has been how Mason Remodeling works.
- Crew introduction with name and photo. Before anyone arrives at your door, you’ll receive the name and photo of each technician assigned to your project. Every crew member is background-checked and identity-verified through The Threshold Standard, and when they arrive, they’ll be in a clean marked uniform with a photo ID badge they show at the door. If you are home alone, or have young children, or simply want to know exactly who is walking inside, this is how we make that decision easy.
- Demolition and rough-in. We protect the path from your door to the kitchen, demolish down to the framing where needed, and rough in the new plumbing, electrical, and gas lines. Any surprises we find, like the subfloor rot mentioned earlier, are documented, photographed, and priced in writing so you always know where the project stands.
- Installation, finish work, and final walkthrough. Cabinets go in, counters are templated and installed, flooring goes down, fixtures get set, and the room gets cleaned. We walk the finished kitchen with you, and you get a written guarantee stating exactly what’s covered, what’s excluded, and for how long: 365 days from the completion date. If anything is not right within that year, we make it right at no cost to you.
Full Kitchen Remodeling Pricing in San Diego
Full kitchen remodels in San Diego run a wide range, and honest pricing means showing you the real numbers, not a teaser. Based on our work across the city, from Chula Vista to Carlsbad, here’s what you should expect for a full gut-and-rebuild kitchen.
What You’ll Likely Spend
| Project scope | Typical price range |
|---|---|
| Small full remodel (galley kitchen, under 120 sq ft, stock or semi-custom cabinets, laminate or basic quartz) | $35,000 – $48,000 |
| Mid-size full remodel (120-200 sq ft, semi-custom cabinets, quartz counters, mid-range appliances) | $48,000 – $65,000 |
| Large full remodel (200+ sq ft, custom or premium cabinets, stone counters, layout changes, high-end fixtures) | $65,000 – $85,000+ |
These ranges include demolition, standard plumbing and electrical updates, cabinet installation, countertops, flooring, finish work, and our written guarantee. They do not include structural work like removing a load-bearing wall without a beam, foundation repair, or relocating a gas meter. If your project needs those, we’ll tell you during the walkthrough and price them in writing before anything starts.
What Actually Moves the Price
- Cabinet grade and count. A 10×10 kitchen with stock cabinets might run $5,000 in cabinetry; the same kitchen with full-custom dovetailed boxes can exceed $20,000. We work with specification-grade lines like KraftMaid and Wellborn, but we’ll also quote mid-grade options when the budget calls for it.
- Countertop material and edge detail. Basic quartz is far less than book-matched marble or a thick mitered edge. We offer Cambria, Silestone, and Caesarstone alongside more modest options, and we’ll show you the price difference per square foot in writing.
- Plumbing and electrical scope. Moving a sink 4 feet can mean re-routing drain lines inside a slab or through joists. Adding dedicated circuits for a wall oven and induction cooktop is different from swapping fixtures in place. These trade costs are real and we line-item them.
- Appliance choices. We don’t sell appliances, so we’ll coordinate with your selections. But a 48-inch pro-style range needs a bigger gas line and a stronger hood than a standard 30-inch slide-in, and the difference shows up in the rough-in costs.
- Flooring removal and subfloor repair. If your current tile sits on mud bed over wire mesh, demolition alone can add $2,000 to $4,000 compared to pulling click-lock vinyl planks. Subfloor repair at the sink and dishwasher area is common in older San Diego homes and we always price it after we see it.
Every estimate we provide is a written price for your actual kitchen. Call (619) 673-9302 to schedule a free in-home assessment, and you’ll have a number you can plan around, not a range you have to hope about.
What’s In a Mason Remodeling Full Kitchen Remodel, Specifically
Here’s what we install and what we don’t, so you can compare our written price against any other San Diego contractor’s bid line for line.
- Cabinetry: Custom or semi-custom boxes, soft-close hinges and drawer slides, full-height backs, and crown or trim to ceiling where the design calls for it. We quote KraftMaid and Wellborn as our specification-grade partners, and we can also work with a cabinetmaker you’ve already met.
- Countertops: Quartz, granite, solid surface, or butcher block. Cambria, Silestone, and Caesarstone are our standard quartz partners. We template after cabinet install, so the fit is exact, not “close enough” with a thicker caulk line.
- Plumbing: New supply lines and shutoffs for sink, dishwasher, and refrigerator water line. Code-compliant drain and venting. We set sinks and faucets, including Kohler, Moen, and Toto fixtures if you provide them or ask us to source them. For anything involving gas lines, that work is done by a licensed San Diego plumbing sub, and we handle the scheduling and inspection coordination.
- Electrical: Dedicated circuits for major appliances, GFCI protection at required locations, under-cabinet and task lighting, and switch and outlet placement based on your actual countertop plan. We follow current California Electrical Code and pull permits where the city requires them for panel or service changes.
- Flooring: Tile, luxury vinyl plank, engineered hardwood, or sheet vinyl depending on subfloor condition and your preference. We level the subfloor before installation, because a new floor over a wavy subfloor will telegraph every wave within a year.
- Backsplash and finish trim: Tile or slab backsplash, window and door casing, baseboard, and transitions. We use a Schluter strip, the metal trim that seals the edge where tile meets flooring or drywall, wherever a raw tile edge would otherwise be exposed.
Our Guarantee & Who You’ll See at the Door
Every full kitchen remodel from Mason Remodeling Co San Diego comes with a written guarantee. The terms are stated plainly: we cover workmanship for 365 days from the completion date. What’s covered, what’s excluded, and for how long are all in writing, not in a marketing line. If a repair or installation fails within that year, we return and fix it at no charge. There’s no dispute process, no conditions, and no charge for the second visit.
The people who come to your home are held to The Threshold Standard, a named verification process we follow on every project. Every technician is background-checked and identity-verified. You get their name and photo before the visit, so you know who to expect. On arrival, they’re in a clean marked uniform, they show a photo ID badge at the door, and they introduce themselves by name. Mason Remodeling has operated this way since our founding in 2004 as part of the Threshold Group family of home-service companies. Isaac Pruett leads our San Diego team, and he’s the one accountable for making sure your kitchen remodel is done the way we said it would be.
FAQs – Full Kitchen Remodeling
How much does a full kitchen remodel cost in San Diego?
A full kitchen remodel in San Diego typically costs between $35,000 and $85,000, with smaller galley kitchens starting around $35,000 and larger custom kitchens exceeding $85,000 depending on cabinet grade, countertop selection, and plumbing or electrical scope. Your price will be specific to your kitchen: call (619) 673-9302 and we’ll provide a written estimate after a free in-home walkthrough.
Is it cheaper to remodel or replace a kitchen?
Remodeling is almost always cheaper than any alternative that produces a comparable result, because the alternative is usually a partial fix that leaves structural problems in place, and those partial fixes cost more to redo later than they save now. If your cabinet boxes are sound and your layout works, a partial refresh may be the right call, but if the room needs new plumbing, electrical, and cabinet structure, a full remodel is the cost-effective path.
Can you remodel a San Diego kitchen without moving plumbing or gas lines?
Yes, and keeping the sink, range, and refrigerator in their current locations is the single biggest way to control cost on a full remodel. We can work within your existing rough-in locations and still gut and rebuild everything else; if you do want to move fixtures, we’ll price the plumbing and gas line changes in writing before any work starts, so you can decide with real numbers in front of you.
How long does a full kitchen remodel take in San Diego?
Most full kitchen remodels we complete in San Diego take 6 to 10 weeks from the first day of demolition to the final walkthrough. Cabinet lead time is usually the biggest variable: custom cabinets from KraftMaid or Wellborn can run 4 to 8 weeks from order to delivery, and we order them immediately after your written price is signed so the schedule doesn’t slip.
Do I need a permit for a full kitchen remodel in San Diego?
Yes, most full kitchen remodels in San Diego require a building permit from the City of San Diego Development Services Department when the project includes electrical, plumbing, or mechanical changes, and many also require a separate electrical or plumbing permit. We handle the permitting process as part of your project scope, and we’ll tell you exactly which permits your kitchen needs during the walkthrough and price them in writing.
What if a contractor finds subfloor rot or bad wiring during my remodel?
We document it, photograph it, show you the problem, and give you a written price for the repair before doing any additional work. Subfloor rot and undersized wiring are two of the most common discoveries in San Diego kitchens, especially in homes built before 1980, and you’ll never be surprised by a change order without seeing the actual condition first. Call (619) 673-9302 to discuss your project and get a written estimate.
Get Your Written Full Kitchen Remodel Price
The fastest way to figure out if a full kitchen remodel fits your budget is to call Mason Remodeling Co San Diego at (619) 673-9302. You’ll speak with a live person, schedule a free in-home assessment, and receive a written price for your exact kitchen before any work begins. From our home page to our detailed Kitchen Remodeling resources, everything we do is built around one commitment: you should know who is coming, what it costs, and what’s guaranteed before you ever open the door to a stranger.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner at Mason Remodeling Co San Diego, serving San Diego.
