Stop Asking What a Kitchen Costs Per Square Foot
Whenever someone calls us about a kitchen remodel in Lincoln, NE, this is usually the first question out of their mouth: “What do you guys charge per square foot?”
Stefan Carlson has an immediate reaction to that:
“This is probably the most atrocious question you could ask a builder. And that is how much do you charge per square foot.”
He’s not being difficult. He’s watched people get burned by that number for thirty years.
Square-foot pricing works when you’re grading dirt and pouring foundation on an empty lot in a new subdivision. When you’re standing in an existing house, the number is basically fictional.
“You could be remodeling a 1920s kitchen and you could be building a brand new house. And those things could be coming out the exact same square foot.”
Say you get two bids on a 200-square-foot kitchen and both come back at $450 a square foot. It looks like a clean comparison. It almost never is.
One guy is figuring builder-grade boxes from a big-box store, laminate or entry-level quartz, and leaving every pipe and wire where it was installed in 1974. The other guy is pricing custom cabinetry built to your ceiling, running a real vent hood out through the roof, moving the sink under the window, and fixing the sagging floor joists underneath the island.
Same number on paper. But by week three of demo, the “cheaper” bid starts climbing because none of the actual work was in the bid [1].
Why Six Bids on the Same Project Came $60K Apart
What Actually Moves the Price
If you own an older home in Lincoln, whether that’s a 1920s two-story near Sheridan or the Country Club neighborhood, or a 1960s ranch in Piedmont, the square footage is never what costs you money. What costs money is what’s hidden behind the plaster:
- Old galvanized pipes tied into cast iron that crumbles the moment you touch it.
- Knob-and-tube wiring sharing circuits with your refrigerator.
- Walls that were supposed to be partition walls carrying a surprise load from an upstairs bathroom.
- Allowances for tile and lighting that only cover the clearance aisle.
When contractors rely on “we’ll figure it out as we go,” those three words quickly become the most expensive words in your remodel [2].
Stefan tells homeowners to stop asking for the square-foot average and ask this instead:
“Ask what details do I get for the money I’m going to be spending.”
The Questions That Replace the Square-Foot Question
Before you sign a contract with any remodeler, put the square-foot math aside and ask four straight questions:
- What are the actual allowances? If they gave you $3,000 for appliances or $15 a square foot for tile, go look at what that actually buys. If you want a 36-inch range and handmade tile, their bid is already ten or twenty grand short.
- Did your trades actually walk the room? If the plumber and electrician haven’t stood in your kitchen, the estimate is just a guess made from a truck. That’s why bids on the exact same project routinely come back tens of thousands of dollars apart [3].
- What is explicitly not included? Does this cover drywall patching, paint, subfloor repair, and city permits, or do those show up as surprise line items later?
- How do change orders work? If it isn’t in writing before work begins, you’ll find out how expensive surprises are when your kitchen is already torn down to the studs.
A contractor who bids from a real set of plans and has their subs walk the house won’t mind these questions. A contractor who sells you on an attractive square-foot number will try to change the subject.
If you want to see how we price and build projects from an actual plan, take a look at our kitchen remodeling process. Get the drawings done first. It’s the only way the number you sign matches the number you actually pay. For a deeper breakdown of how upfront planning prevents budget blowouts, read our guide on spending five thousand now or fifty thousand later.
Questions We Get
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Lincoln, NE? The honest answer depends on the era of your home, whether walls or plumbing move, and what finish level you want. A cosmetic refresh with stock cabinets in a 1990s home might land at $40,000 to $65,000. A full gut with custom cabinets, moved mechanicals, and structural changes in a 1920s Lincoln home typically starts around $85,000 and can easily run past $150,000. Anyone giving you a flat square-foot number before seeing your mechanicals is guessing.
Why won’t a reputable builder quote price per square foot? Because square footage only measures floor area. It doesn’t tell the builder whether your subfloor is rotted under the sink, whether your electrical panel has space for an induction cooktop, or whether you want $4 tile or $45 handmade tile.
What should I ask instead of cost per square foot? Ask what allowances are included for cabinets and counters, whether licensed trade partners walked the actual space, what is excluded from the contract, and how unforeseen issues behind the walls are priced.
Do I need architectural drawings before getting a real kitchen quote? Yes. Without drawings, you are comparing what three different contractors imagine in their heads. With drawings, the cabinet shop, electrician, plumber, and tile setter are all bidding the exact same project.
Sources and References
[1] Stefan Carlson: Why Your Remodel Costs 30% More Than the Low Bid
[2] Stefan Carlson: The Three Most Expensive Words in Construction
[3] Stefan Carlson: Why Six Bids on the Same Project Came $60K Apart