What a Full Kitchen Remodel Actually Costs and Takes in Palmona Park, FL
A full kitchen remodel in Palmona Park, FL, done to current Lee County code, typically runs between $14,000 and $45,000 and takes six to ten weeks from the first day of demolition to the final walkthrough. That range assumes a full gut down to the studs, new drywall, new flooring, new cabinetry, new countertops, new appliances, and new lighting, with permits pulled and inspections passed. If you’re pricing a job right now, call us at (844) 638-7249 for a written, line-item estimate built specifically for your home in Palmona Park.
How We Run a Full Kitchen Remodel in Palmona Park
Every kitchen is different, but the sequence is predictable. We follow the same five stages on nearly every full kitchen remodeling project in Palmona Park because that order is what keeps the job on schedule and keeps the county inspector’s sign-off straightforward. Here is what you can expect, stage by stage.
Stage 1: Design lock and permit submission (1-3 weeks)
Before a single cabinet gets ordered, every decision that matters to the structure gets locked. That means cabinet layout, appliance locations, sink and plumbing rough-in positions, lighting zones, and any wall changes. We measure your Palmona Park home in person, produce the plan set, and submit it to Lee County’s building department. Because permit volume here has been elevated since Hurricane Ian, we budget two to three weeks for plan review, sometimes less on a clean submittal. The key homeowner decision at this stage is the cabinet configuration and whether any walls move. Changing either after permit submittal resets the clock.
Stage 2: Demolition and rough-in (5-8 days)
This is the loudest week. The old kitchen comes out down to the wall studs and subfloor. Our crew pulls the permit card, sets up dust containment, and strips everything. Then our plumbers and electricians rough in the new supply lines, drain locations, and circuits for appliances, islands, and under-cabinet lighting. If we are relocating a sink or range, this is the stage where the slab gets cut or the wall gets opened for new plumbing, and that is the single biggest variable in the timeline. Relocating a sink across the room in a 1970s concrete block home in Palmona Park adds two to three days of core drilling and patching.
Stage 3: Drywall, flooring, and paint (5-7 days)
Once the rough-in inspection passes, we close the walls. New moisture-resistant drywall goes up, seams get taped and mudded, and we apply two coats of primer and finish paint. Flooring installation follows paint, whether you choose large-format porcelain tile, luxury vinyl plank, or engineered hardwood. The homeowner decision that matters here: flooring material and cabinet run lengths. Flooring goes in before cabinets so there are no awkward toe-kick gaps. If the flooring decision slides past the drywall stage, the whole job pauses.
Stage 4: Cabinet, countertop, and trim installation (7-12 days)
Cabinetry delivery is the moment the kitchen starts looking real. Our install team sets upper and lower boxes, levels everything, and secures the run. Once cabinets are in, our templater measures for countertops. Stone fabrication takes five to seven days in the Fort Myers market, so there is a built-in gap here. We use that gap to install trim, door and drawer fronts, and begin fixture rough-out. When the slab arrives, we set it in one day with seam placement discussed and agreed on beforehand. Homeowner decision: sink and faucet selection must be firm before templating, because the fabricator cuts the sink opening off those exact specs.
Stage 5: Backsplash, fixtures, appliances, and final inspection (5-8 days)
The finishing stage ties everything together. Backsplash tile goes in, plumbing fixtures get connected, appliances get slid into place and tested, and the electrician installs all switch plates and under-cabinet lighting. We then schedule the Lee County final inspection. Once the inspector signs the job card, we do a full cleaning pass and walk the kitchen with you to punch any small items. The whole process, from start to key handoff, is a settled sequence. Things go sideways when decisions happen out of order. We keep that from happening.
The Options You’ll Choose Between
Full kitchen remodeling in Palmona Park is not a single product with a single price. It is a series of choices that stack up. Here are the four biggest ones and what they mean for your budget and your day-to-day life in that kitchen afterward.
- Cabinet construction: stock vs. semi-custom vs. full custom. Stock cabinets ship in two to three weeks and run the lowest line item. Semi-custom from a brand like KraftMaid gives you depth options, filler sizing, and finish variety, and adds two to four weeks of lead time. Full custom, built to the inch, suits odd-footprint Palmona Park kitchens where nothing is square, but expect a ten-to-twelve-week lead time before the installers even arrive.
- Countertop material: quartz vs. granite vs. solid surface. Engineered quartz is what most of our clients choose. It is non-porous, does not need sealing, and holds up to the heat and humidity of a southwest Florida kitchen. Natural granite costs less per square foot on the slab but requires annual sealing. Solid surface is the budget-friendly option. It scratches more easily but can be repaired on-site.
- Flooring: tile, luxury vinyl plank, or engineered wood. Large-format porcelain tile is the Florida default. It handles moisture, cleans easily, and stays cool underfoot. Luxury vinyl plank is quieter and softer to stand on, and it installs faster because it floats over the subfloor. Engineered hardwood looks beautiful but is the least forgiving of Palmona Park’s summer humidity. We do not recommend solid hardwood in kitchens here unless the homeowner is running a whole-home dehumidifier.
- Layout: keep the footprint or move the plumbing. The single largest cost lever in any full kitchen remodeling job is whether the sink, dishwasher, and range stay where they are. Keeping the footprint means the existing drain lines, vents, and supply lines are reused. Moving a sink six feet in a slab-on-grade Palmona Park home means cutting concrete, trenching for new drain pipe, and re-routing supply. That decision alone can swing the total by several thousand dollars.
What Full Kitchen Remodeling Costs in Palmona Park, FL
A complete gut remodel of an average-sized kitchen here lands in the $14,000 to $45,000 range. The low end gets you a straight replace-in-place with stock cabinets, a standard laminate or basic quartz countertop, off-the-shelf lighting, and no wall or plumbing changes. The high end covers a larger-footprint kitchen with semi-custom or custom cabinetry, a premium quartz or natural stone slab, relocated plumbing and electrical, a custom island, under-cabinet lighting, and higher-end appliance rough-ins. Here is what moves the number.
Kitchen square footage. More linear feet of cabinets, more countertop slab, more flooring, more drywall. A compact 10×10 kitchen in a 1970s Palmona Park CBS home prices differently than a 15×20 open-plan space.
Existing condition. If we open the walls and find corroded galvanized supply lines, cloth-wrapped wiring, or water-damaged bottom plates, those get addressed before the new work goes in. Lee County inspectors will not sign off on new finishes over unsafe rough-in conditions, and neither will we.
Plumbing and electrical relocation. As noted above, moving the sink, adding a dedicated circuit for a double oven or induction cooktop, or running new gas line for a range all add labor and material. On slab homes, every foot of drain line we move requires saw-cutting, trenching, and patching.
Material grade. The step from stock cabinets to semi-custom, or from a basic quartz to a full-height slab backsplash in Cambria, widens the material line items by 50 to 100 percent. We price these options transparently so you decide where to spend and where to save.
Our written estimate includes all labor, materials, permit fees, and a clear scope of work. What it typically does not include is the appliance purchase itself. We provide the rough-in dimensions and electrical and plumbing specs, and you buy the range, refrigerator, dishwasher, and hood. We coordinate delivery and install them as part of the final stage. Call (844) 638-7249 to schedule a free on-site estimate and we will give you a fixed price before any work starts. That number is the number you pay. Our 730-Day Done Right Promise backs every full kitchen remodeling project in writing.
What Palmona Park Homes Specifically Do to This Job
Full kitchen remodeling here is shaped by three realities that do not apply fifteen minutes east in Fort Myers proper. First, Palmona Park is unincorporated Lee County. There is no city building department. Everything runs through Lee County’s permit office, and since Hurricane Ian made effective landfall just a few miles away in September 2022, that office has been processing an extraordinary volume of reconstruction work. Their plan reviewers are thorough, and they apply the post-Ian substantial-improvement rule strictly. If your remodel cost crosses half the assessed pre-damage value of the home, the county triggers a requirement to elevate the entire structure to the current Base Flood Elevation. For a homeowner planning what they thought was a straightforward kitchen gut, that can change the entire scope. We flag this risk up front during the estimate walk, before any money gets spent.
Second, the housing stock here skews toward concrete block homes from the 1970s and 1980s, along with a significant number of manufactured and mobile homes. Older block homes often have interior plumbing walls that are load-bearing, not just partition walls. Opening one up to relocate a sink requires an engineered beam and a structural detail on the permit set. Mobile and manufactured homes have their own set of constraints: non-standard dimensions, different underfloor access, and HUD-code compliance considerations that a tract-home remodel never encounters.
Third, the seasonal storm window is real. We book our full kitchen remodeling work in Palmona Park with an eye on the calendar. A kitchen that starts demo in August needs to be dried in and weather-tight before any named storm enters the Gulf. That does not mean the work stops. It means we sequence the exterior-facing elements and any material deliveries to avoid exposure. It is just part of building in southwest Florida now. The crews who work here live here, and we all plan around the same weather forecasts.
If you are taking on a full kitchen overhaul as part of a wider project, it often makes sense to coordinate it with other interior work. Homeowners in Palmona Park frequently pair this with Full Bathroom Remodeling in Palmona Park or a Walk-In Showers & Shower Remodeling in Palmona Park to get all the messy interior work done in one concentrated phase. We handle the full scope, which keeps the subcontractor scheduling tight and the permit process cleaner. For the broader view, you can also read about how we approach every phase of Kitchen Remodeling in Palmona Park. Our kitchen remodeling team handles the full process from plan submission to final punch, and we cover all of Palmona Park with the same crew consistency and upfront pricing.
Serving Palmona Park, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Palmona Park area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions About Full Kitchen Remodeling in Palmona Park
Plan on six to ten weeks from the day we start demolition. The biggest variables are whether you are relocating plumbing or electrical, what the Lee County permit review turnaround looks like that month, and how long your chosen cabinetry takes to fabricate. We give you a week-by-week schedule at the start so you know exactly when the kitchen will be back in service.
Yes. Any job that involves moving or adding electrical circuits, altering plumbing drain or supply lines, or modifying interior walls requires a permit through Lee County. We pull the permit as part of the job. Working without one in Palmona Park exposes you to code enforcement action and creates a problem when you sell the home.
Absolutely, and that is the most common path. A replace-in-place full kitchen remodel, where the sink, dishwasher, and range stay in their existing positions, keeps the plumbing and electrical scope minimal. You still get new cabinets, countertops, flooring, lighting, and finishes. The kitchen looks entirely new, but the budget stays at the lower end of the range because the underground work is eliminated.
Every full kitchen remodeling project we complete in Palmona Park is backed by our 730-Day Done Right Promise. If something is not right, we make it right. That covers workmanship for two full years, which is one of the longest guarantees in residential remodeling. Material warranties from manufacturers like KraftMaid or Cambria run separately and we provide all those documents at project close.
In Palmona Park, a permit-included full kitchen remodel typically runs $14,000 to $45,000. The permit fees themselves are a relatively small line item. The bigger cost drivers are square footage, material grade, and whether you relocate plumbing or electrical. When we give you an estimate, it includes every permit fee, every inspection, and every labor hour. There are no change orders unless you decide to add scope. Call (844) 638-7249 for an exact quote. Estimates are free, and you will have a fixed number in writing before you decide anything.
Get a Fixed-Price Estimate for Your Palmona Park Kitchen
If you are planning a full kitchen remodeling job in Palmona Park, the best next step is a free on-site estimate. We will walk your kitchen, talk through layout options, take measurements, and give you a written, line-item price. No ballpark numbers. No vague allowances. One fixed number backed by our 730-Day Done Right Promise. Call (844) 638-7249. A live person answers, day or night, and we will schedule the walkthrough at a time that works for you.
Written by Derek Hollenbeck, Owner at Groundwork Construction Co., serving Florida homeowners with full-scope remodeling since 2014.