Investment Ranges by Room

You might be surprised to discover we’re one of the few companies revealing candidly online how much our kitchen, bathroom, and home remodels cost. When we started this, we had such an overwhelmingly positive response to our remodel cost transparency that we’ve continued it.

As of 2025, all of our remodeling costs are for homes in Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Alamo, Danville, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Moraga, Concord, and the surrounding area. The costs shown below reflect starting points for rooms on the smaller side and finishes similar to those in our portfolio.

large blue kitchen island with white quartz countertop and white quartz backsplash

Average Kitchen Remodel Costs

Our kitchen renovation costs exclude appliance and specialty lighting costs.

  • $175,000 and up, depending upon the size of the kitchen

Average Bathroom Remodel Costs

Our bathroom renovation costs vary depending on whether it’s a hall bath, or primary bathroom (generally larger than hall bathrooms). Note that we only remodel half bathrooms as part of your larger project.

  • Hall bathrooms: $55,000 and up
  • Primary bathrooms: $75,000 and up
blue and tan tile shower walls, LINEAR SHOWER DRAIN and freestanding jetted tub
Family room remodel at average cost

Average Whole Home Renovation Costs

Out of all the types of remodels we do, whole home renovation costs vary the most widely, depending on the scope, the complexity of the project, and whether or not there will be structural changes.

Average Home Addition Costs

Home additions can be as simple as adding a dining room or a primary suite to doubling the size of your home by adding an entire second story.

  • $200,000 and up
Installation of new roof during home addition project
MSK Design Build design team at work

Why Home Renovation Costs Vary So Much

We know that we’re only providing starting costs, but with today’s hundreds of choices, it’s hard to pin down where your investment will land without some initial help on your part. Once you engage us for a free consultation, we can gather this information and provide you with a ballpark estimate. Then, when you make further product and design decisions, we’ll be able to narrow in on your final cost.

There are many influences on what your home, bathroom, or kitchen remodel will cost. We go over each of the main ones below.

Locale

Unfortunately, the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States.

Therefore, those “helpful” articles written about average home renovation costs are woefully misleading in helping you understand how much it costs to remodel here in the East Bay.

Finishes

California is known for innovation, and as you know, it is expensive to be on the front end.  For example, 95% of our countertops over the past 15 years have been quartz, granite or marble. In other parts of the country, and in the entry level market, tile and solid surfaces (such as Corian) are still in use, and the cost difference can be significant.

Fiberglass shower surrounds and pans are little used in our market, although they are much less expensive, and tile and barrier free showers and linear drains that are common in our market are much more expensive than standard.

Higher end plumbing fixtures and luxury appliances are also common choices here, increasing costs.

Permits

Building permits in the East Bay Area are much more expensive than most other areas of the country, and the costs vary by jurisdiction. Typically, a city building permit for a kitchen remodel will cost between $1,800 and $4,000, depending on the city.

Engineering

The cities we work in are all located in the building code’s seismic zone “D,” with “A” being the least risk and “D” being the most risk.

Being in zone “D” means that projects generally require much more structural work than would be required in other areas of the country.

Structural work can be a significant part of the construction budget.

Economy

When you are getting quotes for products, and meeting with different design build firms and contractors, keep in mind that a mere month or two can cause your comparison to no longer be apples to apples. This is due to wildly fluctuating lumber and material prices.

Selections

Houzz, Pinterest, and a variety of other online venues have really expanded homeowners’ awareness of the wide variety of design and products available.

When working with a design build firm, you partner with your designer and begin to make what probably feels like hundreds of choices, from cabinetry to tile, flooring, countertops, casings, trim, windows, doors, hardware and more.

Each selection brings you closer to your final price, but it is a work in progress. We can give you a ballpark range of what your home, bathroom or kitchen remodel may cost, based on doing hundreds of similar remodels over the years.

After that, your design, allowances, and product selections will determine the final cost. As you make decisions on your product selections and design, we will provide you with your final cost.

We hope this gives you an initial sense of addition and remodel costs when working on a design build project with us. For more details, please look through our portfolio, where we provide kitchen, bathroom, addition, and whole house renovation costs at the top of each individual project page.

Give us a call at 925-944-0153 and we’d be happy to discuss more specific home remodel costs during a complimentary design consultation in our office.

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About the Design & Pricing processes with MSK Design Build

John Malkovich, Walnut Creek, CA, November 2015