Kitchen Remodeling in Northern Virginia and Washington DC

What is included in a full kitchen remodel?

A gut kitchen remodel is a structural and mechanical job wearing a decorative face. This is the order our contracts run in:

1. Containment. Plastic dust tents go up and furniture, flooring and electronics are covered before demolition. A kitchen opens onto the rest of the house, so containment matters more here than anywhere else.
2. Appliances out. Refrigerator, range or cooktop, wall oven, range hood and dishwasher are disconnected and removed. Anything being reused is set aside — we have kept a client’s dishwasher through a full remodel and moved an old sink faucet onto a new laundry room sink rather than throw it away.
3. Sink, cabinets and counters out. The sink and faucet, every wall and base cabinet, all countertops and the baseboard and shoe molding come out.
4. Floor down to the deck. Tile and grout are removed to the subfloor and the subfloor is inspected.
5. Walls and openings. Any wall removals, enlarged openings or new door and window openings are framed at this stage.
6. Rough-in. Plumbing, gas and electrical are relocated and rebuilt for the new layout, then inspected where a permit requires it.
7. Close up and finish. Insulation and drywall, floor build-up and tile, cabinets, countertops, backsplash, appliances, lighting, trim and paint.

The work is performed to the Virginia building code. What separates one contractor from another on a kitchen is almost never the cabinet doors — it is whether steps four, five and six were done properly underneath them.

Can a wall between the kitchen and dining room be removed?

Often, and it is the single change that transforms a dated kitchen most. We have taken out two walls between a dining room and a kitchen, enlarged the opening between a kitchen and a family room, removed pantry and laundry room walls to gain floor area, converted an island into a peninsula, and added a kitchenette and bar into an adjoining dining room.

The first question is always whether the wall carries load. On one project four posts between a kitchen and dining room were confirmed non-load-bearing before they were removed. On another, the wall between the kitchen and the dining room was load-bearing, so the opening was carried on approved plans with permits and inspections, with temporary shoring in place before anything was cut and the new framing built to the engineer’s details.

Openings in exterior walls are the same kind of work. We have converted a kitchen window into a French patio door, replaced a family room window with a smaller unit, and swapped a swing closet door for a pocket door as part of a kitchen reconfiguration.

How a kitchen floor is rebuilt before the tile goes down

Kitchen tile fails because of what is under it, not because of the tile. Our floor build-up is deliberate and it is the same every time:

• Strip to the subfloor. Existing tile, grout and underlayment come off down to the deck, and the subfloor is inspected and reported.
• Secure the deck. The existing subfloor is screwed down to the joists — on one kitchen, at six-inch intervals across the whole floor — and the joints are sanded flat.
• Add plywood where the build-up calls for it. 5/8 inch plywood, glued and screwed.
• Cement board over that. 1/2 inch cement board, again glued and screwed, rather than tile laid straight onto wood.
• Slab floors get prepared, not ignored. On a kitchen over a concrete slab, the slab was ground and smoothed before any tile went down.
• Grout chosen for the joint. Unsanded grout on tight-jointed porcelain, sanded grout where the joints are wider. The wrong one cracks or will not pack.

While the walls are open at floor level we also correct what is exposed: on one kitchen the exterior wall was re-insulated with R-15 fiberglass and a sleeve was fitted around the supply lines before new half-inch drywall went back, taped, blocked, skimmed and sanded.

Cabinets, countertops and backsplash in a kitchen remodel

Cabinets go in level and plumb to the rebuilt floor and the corrected walls, which is why the order above matters. Shaker-style cabinetry and quartz countertops are what most of our clients specify, and quartz is templated after the cabinets are set rather than before.

The backsplash is where shortcuts show. Where old mirrors or damaged wallboard come off the backsplash area, we board it in half-inch moisture-resistant Durock before tiling rather than tiling onto whatever was left behind. And the joint between the backsplash tile and the countertop is caulked with a mildew-resistant siliconized kitchen caulk, not grouted. That joint moves every time the counter is loaded; grout in it cracks and lets water behind the counter. Failed caulk at exactly that joint is one of the most common kitchen repairs we are called out for.

A backsplash can also be done on its own, without a remodel. We have installed one as a stand-alone job for a client who supplied the tile.

Does a kitchen remodel need new electrical circuits?

Almost always. A kitchen that was wired decades ago does not have the circuits a current kitchen needs, and moving the range, the refrigerator or the island changes where those circuits have to land. On our gut remodels the electrical rough-in is brought up to current Virginia code with added circuits — on one kitchen that included running a circuit for a future EV charger while the walls were already open, which is far cheaper than opening them again later.

Lighting is the other half of it. We have removed a single ceiling fixture and installed five recessed lights with new wiring and a dimmer switch in its place, and put a blank plate where an unwanted kitchen ceiling fan came down. See lighting installation for that work on its own, and electrical panel upgrades where the existing panel cannot take what the new kitchen needs.

Who does the plumbing, gas and electrical in a kitchen remodel?

We do. Sam & Sons Services is a licensed Virginia contractor — DPOR license 2705070610 — and the water, waste, gas and wiring inside a kitchen remodel are performed by the same firm that signed your contract. On a kitchen relocation we moved the gas and plumbing lines to the new layout ourselves; on others we ran a copper refrigerator supply and set a recessed supply box with a valve, replaced sink shut-offs, and secured hot water lines found running loose through a kitchen ceiling.

Details that get missed by trades working in isolation are the ones we look for: a kitchen sink with no vent, found as a code item on an inspection punch list and corrected; a dishwasher drain line with no high loop, looped and anchored so waste cannot siphon back; a garbage disposal at the end of its life replaced during the remodel rather than a month after it. Related repairs we handle separately include kitchen sink repair and installation.

Do you need a permit for a kitchen remodel in Virginia?

Swapping cabinets, a countertop or an appliance in place generally does not. Removing a wall, enlarging an opening, cutting a new exterior opening, relocating plumbing or gas, or adding circuits does — and a gut kitchen remodel usually does all of those at once.

Where a permit is required we pull it before the job starts, in the jurisdiction the house sits in, and we work to approved plans. Plans, permit, permit processing fees and inspections are written into the contract price rather than presented as extras. On a load-bearing opening the structural framing follows the engineer’s plans and is inspected before it is covered. Payment milestones are tied to the work passing inspection and to completing the drywall, so the inspector sees the rough-in first.

How long does a kitchen remodel take?

Longer than a bathroom, and the schedule is set by the sequence rather than by a promise made on the phone. Demolition and floor strip-out, framing of any wall changes, plumbing, gas and electrical rough-in, the rough-in inspection where one applies, insulation and drywall, floor build-up and tile, then cabinets, countertop template and fabrication, backsplash, appliances, lighting and trim.

Two items dominate the calendar. Countertops cannot be templated until the cabinets are set and fabrication takes its own time. And cabinetry has to be on site when the schedule calls for it. Plan for the kitchen to be out of use across the whole run and set up a temporary arrangement before demolition day.

What does a kitchen remodel cost in Northern Virginia and Washington DC?

We do not price kitchen remodeling over the phone and we do not publish figures or per-square-foot numbers. A kitchen estimate depends on whether a wall is load-bearing, what the subfloor looks like under the old tile, whether the panel can carry the new circuits, whether gas and water have to move, and what grade of cabinetry and countertop you choose. A number produced without seeing those things is a guess, and a guess is not what you want to sign.

An estimator comes to the house, works through the scope with you and puts the price in writing before demolition. Where selections are still open, the contract can carry a stated finish allowance for tile, fixtures and finishes so you can choose later without renegotiating the whole job. Permit and processing fees are in the contract. Anything uncovered during demolition is reported to you and agreed in writing before it is covered up — which is the only way a kitchen price stays a price.