How Much Does It Cost to Move a Kitchen in St. Louis?
If the kitchen in your St. Louis home is in the wrong place, you may be wondering whether you have to live with it—or whether you can move the kitchen altogether.
The good news is that yes, a kitchen can usually be relocated. A kitchen can move into a dining room, swap places with another room, expand into adjoining space, or be completely reconfigured within the existing footprint.
But moving a kitchen is significantly more involved than replacing cabinets and countertops. Once you change where the kitchen sits, you may also need to move plumbing, electrical, gas, ventilation, walls and flooring.
So, how much does it cost to move a kitchen in St. Louis?
There isn't one flat price. The cost depends less on how many feet the kitchen moves and more on what has to move with it.
Here’s what St. Louis homeowners should consider before deciding whether relocating a kitchen makes sense.
What Does “Moving a Kitchen” Actually Mean?
There are several different levels of kitchen relocation.
You might simply move the sink and appliances to different locations within the existing kitchen. You might remove a wall and extend the kitchen into a dining room. Or you could relocate the entire kitchen from one room to another.
Those are very different construction projects.
A relatively simple layout change may require some new plumbing and electrical work. Moving a kitchen across the house could involve rerouting supply and drain lines, adding electrical circuits, moving gas lines, installing new ventilation, modifying walls and repairing flooring throughout the affected areas.
That's why the first question isn't really, “How much does it cost to move a kitchen?”
It's:
“What needs to change to make the new kitchen layout work?”
What Makes Moving a Kitchen More Expensive?
1. Moving the Plumbing
Plumbing is often one of the biggest considerations when changing a kitchen layout.
Your sink and dishwasher need access to water supply and drainage. Moving them a short distance along the same wall may be relatively straightforward.
Moving them across the room—or into an entirely different room—can be much more complicated.
The contractor needs to determine where the existing plumbing runs, whether the new drain can maintain the necessary slope, and how easily the pipes can be accessed.
The type of foundation matters, too. Moving plumbing where there is accessible space below the kitchen may be easier than relocating lines that require opening or cutting into finished surfaces or concrete.
2. Electrical Changes
Today's kitchens use a lot of electricity.
Changing the layout may mean relocating or adding outlets, lighting, switches and dedicated circuits for appliances.
If you're moving the refrigerator, range, dishwasher or microwave—or adding an island—the electrical plan will need to change along with the floor plan.
Older St. Louis homes can add another layer of complexity. Once walls are opened, existing electrical systems may need to be evaluated and, depending on their condition and the work being performed, updated as part of the project.
3. Moving a Gas Range
If your new kitchen design moves a gas range, the gas supply may also need to be relocated.
How difficult that is depends on where the existing gas line is located and how accessible the route to the new range will be.
This is one of those seemingly small layout decisions that can have a much bigger impact on construction than moving a cabinet or refrigerator.
If you're considering switching from gas to induction as part of your remodel, that changes the equation again because the electrical requirements need to be considered during design.
4. Venting the Range Hood
This one is easy to overlook during the early design phase.
A properly designed kitchen needs a plan for ventilation. If the range moves, the route for the range hood may need to move with it.
Where will the ductwork run?
Can it vent directly through an exterior wall?
Does it have to travel through cabinetry, a ceiling or another part of the house?
A beautiful floor plan isn't necessarily a buildable floor plan. Ventilation is one of the reasons it's helpful to think about construction while the kitchen is being designed rather than after the layout has already been finalized.
5. Removing or Moving Walls
Sometimes the best kitchen isn't simply in a different location—it requires changing the rooms around it.
For example, you may want to combine a small kitchen and formal dining room into one larger kitchen.
If the wall between those rooms is non-load-bearing, the change may be relatively straightforward.
If it's load-bearing, the project becomes more involved. Structural support may need to be redesigned, which can include engineering and the installation of a beam or other structural elements.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't remove the wall. It simply means you want to understand what you're dealing with before building your entire kitchen design around its removal.
6. Flooring
Here's another expense homeowners don't always anticipate.
Imagine moving the kitchen into the dining room. The old kitchen had tile, while the dining room has hardwood.
What happens to the floor?
You may need to replace flooring in the new kitchen, repair the flooring where old cabinets were removed, or refinish a much larger continuous area so everything looks intentional.
With open-concept layouts, a kitchen flooring decision can sometimes become a first-floor flooring decision.
7. Cabinets and Countertops
Relocating the kitchen often means starting with an entirely new cabinet layout.
And that can be one of the advantages.
Rather than trying to make a new kitchen work around an old footprint, you can design storage, prep areas, appliance locations, seating and circulation around how your family actually uses the space.
But cabinetry and countertops remain major components of the overall kitchen budget. The larger and more customized the new kitchen becomes, the more those selections will affect the final price.
Do You Need a Permit to Move a Kitchen in St. Louis?
Potentially, yes.
Requirements depend on where the home is located and exactly what work is being performed.
Structural changes and major alterations may require a building permit. Plumbing, electrical and mechanical work can also trigger additional permit requirements.
Homes throughout the St. Louis area can fall under different municipal or county requirements, so permitting needs should be determined for the specific property rather than assumed.
Is It Cheaper to Keep the Kitchen in the Same Place?
Usually, yes.
Keeping the existing kitchen footprint can reduce the amount of plumbing, electrical, gas, ventilation and structural work required.
But cheaper doesn't automatically mean better.
If you're investing significantly in a kitchen remodel and the existing layout fundamentally doesn't work, spending money on beautiful cabinetry and finishes while preserving a dysfunctional floor plan may not give you the result you want.
The better question is:
Is the improvement you'll get from moving the kitchen worth the additional construction cost?
Sometimes moving a sink a few feet dramatically improves the room.
Sometimes removing a wall transforms how the entire first floor functions.
And sometimes relocating the entire kitchen allows an older St. Louis home to work much better for the way people live today.
The right answer depends on the house.
Can You Move a Kitchen Into a Dining Room?
In many homes, yes.
In fact, an underused formal dining room can sometimes provide an opportunity to create a larger, more functional kitchen.
Before making that decision, however, you'll want to determine:
- How plumbing can reach the new location
- Where appliances will go
- Whether gas service needs to move
- How the range hood will vent
- Whether walls are structural
- What electrical upgrades are required
- How flooring will transition between spaces
- What happens to the former kitchen
That last question can be especially important.
Moving the kitchen may create valuable space elsewhere in the house for a pantry, mudroom, home office, laundry room or another purpose. Looking at the whole floor plan rather than the kitchen alone can reveal opportunities you might otherwise miss.
Is Moving a Kitchen Worth It?
It can be—particularly when the existing location creates problems that new cabinets and finishes won't solve.
If your kitchen is isolated from the rest of the home, has poor traffic flow, lacks usable storage or simply occupies the wrong part of the floor plan, relocation may be worth exploring.
The key is to investigate feasibility and cost before becoming attached to a particular design.
A design-build approach can be particularly useful for a project like this because design decisions and construction realities can be considered together. Plumbing, structural requirements, electrical work, ventilation and budget can inform the layout from the beginning rather than becoming expensive surprises later.
Planning a Kitchen Remodel in St. Louis?
If you're considering moving your kitchen—or you're simply trying to determine whether changing the existing layout is worth it—Aptitude Design & Build can help you explore the possibilities.
We design and build kitchen remodels throughout the St. Louis area, helping homeowners understand what is possible within their home, what different layout options involve and how those decisions affect the overall project.
Ready to rethink your kitchen? Contact Aptitude Design & Build to start the conversation.
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