Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable Kitchen Remodeling Across Santa Monica
A full kitchen remodel in Santa Monica typically runs $14,000 – $45,000, and most projects take six to ten weeks depending on whether you’re moving plumbing, replacing the subfloor, or keeping the existing footprint. Call (903) 568-7222 to get a written, line-item price before any work starts. Bradford Remodeling handles the whole job from rough-in to final walkthrough, with a documented scope and a one-year written guarantee behind every project. Our Kitchen Remodeling team pulls permits, coordinates inspections, and doesn’t leave a job until the site is clean and the punch list is closed out.
We work across Santa Monica from Sunset Park to Ocean Park, and we’ve been through the city’s planning and building process enough times to know what will hold up a permit and what won’t. Most of the homes we remodel here were built in the 1920s through 1950s, and that age shows up in the framing, the subfloor, and the existing electrical. A real local estimate has to account for that on the front end of the bid, not as a surprise change order in week three. Call (903) 568-7222 for a free estimate and a written scope of work.
Why Bradford Remodeling Is Santa Monica’s Preferred Kitchen Remodeling Company
Bradford Remodeling is part of the Garrison Partners family, established in 2004, and operates as an independently owned and operated business held to The Garrison Standard. Curtis Lane runs the operation, and the same discipline applies to every kitchen remodel we take on in Santa Monica: a written price before work begins, a documented materials list, and a signed 365-Day Done Right Promise at close.
Santa Monica homeowners deal with a particular kind of frustration. Contractors who quote low, show up late, and then hand over an invoice that looks nothing like the original scope. We solve that with a process that puts every number in writing before the first tool comes out. The price we hand you is the price on the contract. No numbers that move at the door. No vague allowances that quietly become change orders.
Crews arrive background-checked and uniformed. You know exactly who is walking through your door before they arrive. And our phone is answered by a live person 24/7, not a voicemail queue. If you call at 9 p.m. with a question about the schedule, a human picks up. That matters when a kitchen has been torn apart for three weeks.
Styles & brands we work with
Kitchen Design in Santa Monica
Kitchen Design in Santa Monica starts with the actual room, not a showroom fantasy. Most kitchens here are modest in footprint, and the job is figuring out how to get more usable storage and counter space out of a 120-square-foot room without moving a load-bearing wall. We work through layout options, cabinet configurations, and counter overhangs before we ever talk finishes. Homeowners typically spend $14,000 – $45,000 on a full remodel that includes design work, with smaller projects running $9,000 – $20,000.
One thing that separates a good Santa Monica kitchen design from a bad one is how the plan accounts for the crawlspace below. Most single-family homes here sit on a raised foundation, not slab-on-grade. That means the designer has to think about joist direction, point loads from a kitchen island, and whether the existing subfloor can handle the weight of stone counters. You don’t get that from a big-box store design service.
Cabinet and Countertop Layout
Cabinet installation in Santa Monica runs $4,000 – $13,000 depending on the cabinet line and the number of boxes. We install KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinets, and the pricing includes shimming, leveling, and scribing to the existing walls. Older homes drift. Walls that look flat are rarely flat, and a good installer accounts for that before the first cabinet box goes up.
Countertop installation in Santa Monica runs $2,000 – $6,500. Cambria and Caesarstone quartz are our standard options, and we order from local fabricators who template the counter after the cabinets are set. Lead time on a slab runs one to two weeks, and that window is built into the schedule from day one.
What the Design Fee Actually Covers
We don’t charge a separate design fee on most Santa Monica kitchen remodels. The design work is baked into the project price, which includes scaled drawings, cabinet elevations, and a full materials schedule with brand names and model numbers. That document is part of the written contract, so there’s no ambiguity about what you’re buying.
Kitchen Renovation in Santa Monica
Kitchen Renovation in Santa Monica means more than swapping finishes. For most homes in this city, it means correcting framing, subfloor, and electrical issues that have been hiding under the old floor and behind the old cabinets for 50 or 60 years. Homeowners typically spend $14,000 – $45,000 for a full renovation, and the hidden conditions are the single biggest cost driver.
The crawlspace is the variable. Our crew remodeled a kitchen in a 1940s bungalow off Ocean Park Boulevard where the original subfloor had settled unevenly under the old cabinets. We pulled the flooring, sistered joists and replaced the subfloor section before setting KraftMaid cabinets and a Cambria quartz island. The final punch list was short because we’d documented the subfloor issue as a change order before rough-in started. That’s how the job should run.
Rough-In, Permits, and Inspection Work
Before tile, paint, or cabinets ever go in, the walls get opened for electrical and plumbing rough-in. Santa Monica’s Building and Safety division requires permits for any change to the plumbing or electrical layout, and inspectors sign off on the rough-in before the drywall goes back up. Bradford Remodeling pulls the permits, schedules the inspections, and stands behind the work through final sign-off. It’s not an add-on. It’s the only way to close out a kitchen renovation in this city without reopening finished walls later.
Flooring, Backsplash, and Finish Work
Once the rough-in passes inspection, the trades stack in sequence. Subfloor patching if needed, tile or hardwood flooring, cabinet set, counters, backsplash, plumbing trim, electrical trim, paint, and a final walk with the homeowner. Backsplash installation runs $800 – $2,500 depending on tile choice and square footage. The finish phase is where the schedule either holds or slips, and it holds when the upstream work was scoped correctly.
Trusted Brands We Service in Santa Monica
We install and service documented, name-brand materials on every Santa Monica kitchen remodel. KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinets, Cambria and Caesarstone quartz, Kohler and Moen fixtures. California homeowners also ask about prefab and panelized options from Abodu and Dvele for ADU-adjacent kitchen scopes, and we can coordinate those where the project calls for it. Every material we install is traceable to a manufacturer spec and carries a manufacturer warranty that backs our own 365-Day Done Right Promise. No house brands. No white-label unknowns.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Kitchen Remodeling Problems We See in Santa Monica Homes
- Settled subfloor under the old cabinets. Most single-family homes in Santa Monica sit on a raised foundation with a crawlspace, and decades of moisture and load movement leave the subfloor out of level. Cabinets set on a sloped floor rack and bind, and the problem doesn’t show until the doors stop closing.
- Unpermitted work from a previous remodel. The plumbing and electrical in a 1950s Santa Monica kitchen often carry shortcuts from a previous owner. If we open a wall and find unpermitted wiring, the permit scope changes and so does the rough-in schedule. We document that before the wall gets closed.
- Materials allowance overruns on slab stone. Santa Monica’s local stone and slab yards keep a tight inventory, and a homeowner who selects a specific Cambria slab late in the process can push the countertop allowance past the original scope. We lock the slab selection at design, not at template time.
- Cabinet boxes that don’t fit the existing walls. Older Santa Monica homes drift. A run of cabinets that looked perfect on paper can be a half inch out of square against a real wall. The fix is scribing and filler, and it’s accounted for in our cabinet installation pricing. Low-bid installers skip it, and the reveal lines show it.
Pricing for Kitchen Remodeling in Santa Monica, CA
Here are the actual ranges for the work we do in Santa Monica. These are line-item prices based on current local labor and materials, not ballpark guesses.
| Scope of Work | Santa Monica Price Range |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | $14,000 – $45,000 |
| Small Kitchen Remodel | $9,000 – $20,000 |
| Cabinet Installation | $4,000 – $13,000 |
| Countertop Installation | $2,000 – $6,500 |
| Backsplash Installation | $800 – $2,500 |
| Kitchen Island Installation | $3,000 – $10,000 |
What moves the number is the condition of the subfloor, the age of the electrical panel, and whether you’re changing the plumbing layout. A galley kitchen in Ocean Park that stays in its current footprint lands at the lower end. A kitchen in Sunset Park where the subfloor needs joist work, the panel needs an upgrade, and the wall comes down to open into the dining room lands at the higher end. Every estimate we write is a fixed, written price with a documented scope. Call (903) 568-7222 and we’ll walk the kitchen with you and put the number on paper.
We Also Serve Cities Near Santa Monica
Our crews handle kitchen remodels in Venice, Pacific Palisades, Marina del Rey, and Culver City as well. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from the brand’s Los Angeles office, and the crews working in Santa Monica live and work in the westside metro. If you’re in a neighboring city, read more about our Santa Monica service area or call (903) 568-7222 and we’ll tell you which crew covers your block.
Serving Santa Monica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Santa Monica area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Kitchen Remodeling in Santa Monica
Yes, if you’re changing the plumbing or electrical layout, moving walls, or adding a kitchen island with power. Santa Monica’s Building and Safety division requires permits for rough-in electrical and plumbing work, and the rough-in inspection must pass before the drywall goes back up. Bradford Remodeling pulls the permits, schedules the inspections, and handles final sign-off as part of the written scope. Call (903) 568-7222 for a free estimate, and we’ll tell you exactly which permits your project triggers.
A full kitchen remodel in Santa Monica takes six to ten weeks from demolition to final walkthrough, assuming no major structural surprises. The biggest variable is the subfloor and crawlspace work, which can add three to five days on older homes. We build the permit and inspection timeline into the schedule up front, so the calendar we hand you is the one we hit. Call (903) 568-7222 and we’ll walk your kitchen and give you a realistic calendar in writing.
A small kitchen remodel in Santa Monica runs $9,000 – $20,000 for a galley or compact kitchen that keeps its current footprint. That range includes cabinet installation, countertop replacement, backsplash, and new fixtures, but does not include moving plumbing or electrical. Call (903) 568-7222 and we’ll scope your specific kitchen and put a written price on it before any work starts.
The subfloor. Most Santa Monica single-family homes sit on a raised foundation, and it’s common to find a settled or rotten subfloor section under the old cabinets once the flooring comes up. That repair adds cost and time that a slab-on-grade city wouldn’t have, and it’s the number one source of change orders on cheap bids. We document the subfloor condition before rough-in starts so it’s a known line item, not a surprise.
You avoid it by putting the full scope in writing before the first tool comes out, which is exactly what Bradford Remodeling does. The written price includes the permit work, the subfloor inspection, the cabinet and counter allowances, and the finish schedule. If we find a hidden condition, we document it as a change order before work in that area continues, not after. That’s The Garrison Standard, and it’s how we’ve run Santa Monica kitchen remodels since the beginning. Call (903) 568-7222 and we’ll give you a written price, a documented scope, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise that says we’ll come back and fix it if the work doesn’t hold.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner at Bradford Remodeling, serving Santa Monica, CA.
