What projects actually cost in Metro Detroit, in real numbers

What is the average cost of a kitchen remodel in Michigan?

In Macomb, Oakland, and Northern Wayne counties, a full kitchen remodel runs $35,000 to $130,000 or more. That range is wide on purpose, because 'kitchen remodel' covers a lot of different projects. A $35,000 kitchen is a real gut and rebuild, new cabinets, counters, and flooring, just not the expensive versions of any of them. A $130,000 kitchen usually means custom cabinetry, a layout change that moves plumbing or electrical, high-end appliances, and natural stone counters.

Most of the kitchens we build in Rochester Hills, Troy, and Royal Oak land between $60,000 and $95,000: a full gut, semi-custom or custom cabinets, quartz counters, and a layout that mostly keeps the original footprint. Statewide averages you'll find elsewhere skew lower because they include smaller cities and a lot more laminate-and-refacing jobs. That's not what most homeowners calling us are after.

What is a realistic budget for a kitchen remodel?

Start with your house, not a magazine photo. If you own a typical brick ranch or colonial in Sterling Heights, Warren, or Rochester Hills and you want a full remodel, new cabinets, counters, flooring, appliances, and lighting, budget $55,000 to $85,000 for a layout that stays close to what you have now. Moving the sink, adding an island where there wasn't one, or opening a wall to the dining room adds plumbing, electrical, and structural cost on top of that.

A realistic budget also has room in it for the stuff that isn't cabinets and counters: permits, dumpster, temporary kitchen setup if you're not moving out, and a contingency. We tell every client to hold back 10 to 15 percent of the project cost for things that show up once the old cabinets come off the wall. In a lot of these houses, something does.

Is $10,000 enough for a kitchen remodel?

Not for a remodel. $10,000 is a refresh budget, and there's nothing wrong with that if a refresh is what you actually need. For $10,000 you can typically get new hardware and paint on existing cabinets, a new countertop (laminate or a modest quartz, not a large custom slab), a new sink and faucet, updated lighting, and maybe new flooring if the kitchen is small.

What $10,000 doesn't buy: new cabinet boxes, a layout change, new appliances as part of the scope, or any work that requires moving plumbing or electrical. If a contractor quotes you a full kitchen remodel at $10,000, that's the number to be suspicious of, not excited about. Somebody's cutting corners you won't see until the warranty period is long gone.

What is the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel?

Cabinetry. It's typically the single largest line item in a kitchen remodel, usually 30 to 40 percent of the total budget. The jump from stock cabinets to semi-custom to full custom is the biggest lever in the whole project, bigger than counters, bigger than appliances, bigger than flooring.

After cabinetry, the next biggest costs are usually countertops (material and edge profile matter a lot here) and labor for anything that touches plumbing or electrical. Appliances can swing a budget too, but that's a choice you're making consciously at the showroom. Cabinetry is where budgets quietly balloon, because a small upgrade per linear foot adds up fast across an entire kitchen.

What is the average cost of a bathroom remodel in Michigan?

A full bathroom remodel in this market runs $20,000 to $95,000 or more. A hall bath or powder room refresh sits at the low end. A primary suite bath with a custom tile shower, double vanity, freestanding tub, and heated floor sits at the high end, and it's not unusual for a primary bath in Rochester Hills or Troy to land there.

The biggest driver of where you fall in that range is whether the footprint changes. A bathroom that keeps its existing tub, toilet, and vanity locations but gets new finishes throughout costs a lot less than one where we're moving the shower, adding a second sink, or reconfiguring the layout entirely.

What does a $10,000 bathroom remodel look like?

It's a cosmetic refresh, not a gut renovation. For $10,000, expect a new vanity and countertop, new toilet, new fixtures and hardware, fresh paint, and possibly a re-tiled shower surround if the existing shower pan and plumbing stay put. The tub or shower footprint doesn't move, and the flooring may or may not get replaced depending on condition.

This is a real, useful project for a lot of hall bathrooms and powder rooms that just look dated but function fine. It's not the right budget if the tile is failing, the subfloor has water damage, or you want to change the layout. Those problems cost real money to fix correctly, and papering over them with new fixtures just delays the bigger bill.

Is $10,000 enough for a bathroom remodel?

For a full gut with new tile work, moved plumbing, and a layout change, no. Tile labor alone can eat most of that budget in a shower. For a cosmetic update of a bathroom that's structurally sound and keeping its current layout, yes, $10,000 is a workable number.

The honest answer depends entirely on what's behind the walls, which is exactly the kind of thing an inspector's eye catches before a quote gets written rather than after demo starts.

How much does a home addition cost in Michigan?

In Macomb, Oakland, and Northern Wayne counties, additions run $200 to $400 per square foot. Standard finishes, a bump-out, a family room, a primary suite addition with average-grade materials, land at $200 to $250 per square foot. Luxury or premium finishes, high-end windows, custom millwork, upgraded mechanicals, push that to $350 to $400 per square foot.

Per-square-foot pricing on an addition is almost always higher than what you'd expect from new home construction pricing you've seen quoted nationally, because you're not building a simple box. You're tying a new foundation into an old one, matching a roofline, extending mechanical systems that weren't sized for more square footage, and often working around a house that's still occupied during construction.

How much would a 1,500 square foot addition cost?

At standard finishes ($200 to $250 per square foot), a 1,500 square foot addition runs roughly $300,000 to $375,000. At luxury or premium finishes ($350 to $400 per square foot), that same addition runs $525,000 to $600,000. Most homeowners planning something this size, often a second story or a large family room and primary suite combination, land in the $300,000 to $375,000 range unless they're specifying high-end finishes throughout.

A project this size also carries costs a smaller addition doesn't: structural engineering, likely a second-story load recalculation if you're building up, and a longer permit and construction timeline. Get those line items in writing before you anchor on a per-square-foot number alone.

Is it cheaper to build a house or add an addition?

Dollar for dollar, an addition is almost always cheaper than buying land and building a new house from scratch, because you're not paying for a new lot, a new foundation under an entire house, new utility service, or site work across a whole new footprint. You're adding onto infrastructure that already exists.

Where it gets less obvious is per-square-foot cost. An addition's cost per square foot can run close to, and sometimes above, new construction pricing, because you're tying into an existing roofline, foundation, and mechanical systems that weren't designed to be extended. New construction, by contrast, gets to design everything once, with no compromises around what's already there.

If your goal is more square footage at the lowest total cost, an addition wins almost every time. If your existing house genuinely doesn't work as a starting point, bad bones, a layout that fights every addition option, a total rebuild can pencil out closer than people expect, though it's a much bigger and longer project to take on.

What is the 30% rule for renovations?

The 30% rule is a rule of thumb, not a law: don't put more into a single renovation or combined set of renovations than roughly 30 percent of your home's current market value, if resale within the next few years is part of your plan. Spend $150,000 remodeling a house worth $350,000 and you've likely over-improved for the neighborhood, meaning you probably won't recoup that spend when you sell, no matter how nice the kitchen turns out.

It's a useful gut check, not a hard ceiling. If you're staying long-term, the value you get is from living in the space, not from a future resale number, and that changes the math. We'll tell you honestly where a project puts you relative to your home's value and your neighborhood's comps, because that's information you should have before you commit, not after.