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Kitchen Remodel Contractor in the Houston Metro
Two Houston houses can order the same kitchen and get two different jobs. A 1968 ranch off Long Point has cast iron under the slab, a small panel, a soffit hiding a duct trunk, and ceiling texture that should be tested before…
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In short
On an older inner-Loop kitchen the first work is investigative. The panel is opened and circuits counted. Supply lines are identified as galvanised or copper. The kitchen drain is camera-scoped from the cleanout to see whether the cast iron under the slab is scaled, bellied or cracked, because that…
What the work involves
On an older inner-Loop kitchen the first work is investigative. The panel is opened and circuits counted. Supply lines are identified as galvanised or copper. The kitchen drain is camera-scoped from the cleanout to see whether the cast iron under the slab is scaled, bellied or cracked, because that gets decided before a finished floor goes down, not after. Pre-1980 ceiling texture is sampled before it is disturbed. Then demo to studs and slab, where the rest appears: missing blocking, over-notched plates, a soffit carrying an HVAC trunk that either reroutes or stays. Rough plumbing and electrical follow, then drywall, ceiling, prime, floor, and cabinets set to a laser line and shimmed against a slab that is rarely flat. Countertop templating happens after the boxes are level, never before.
On a 2000s suburban kitchen the list is shorter and the constraints move. Structure and utilities are usually sound, so the work is layout: island relocation, wall removal with a beam and a bearing path down to the slab, uppers run to a taller ceiling, and any slab penetration scanned for post-tension tendons first. Finish tolerances get tighter because there is nothing to hide behind.
What gets specified, and why
Cabinetry is where the two paths diverge most. In an older house with an out-of-level slab and plaster-era walls, frameless boxes with generous scribe allowance and adjustable legs are easier to make land straight than a face-frame run installed tight to the wall. In either house the box should be plywood, not particleboard: under a Houston sink, a minor supply weep turns a particleboard deck to mush, while plywood dries. Drawer boxes dovetailed, slides full-extension undermount.
Door and finish selection is a humidity decision. Painted MDF five-piece doors stay flat through seasonal swings where solid stile-and-rail paint tends to open a hairline at the joints. Finishes should be sprayed catalyzed or two-part coatings, not brushed wall paint. Thermofoil near a dishwasher vent or wall oven delaminates and is worth avoiding.
Countertops: quartz needs no sealing and shrugs off hard water, but discolours near a sunny west window and does not like a hot pan straight off a burner. Granite and quartzite take heat but want periodic sealing and show mineral rings if hard water is left standing.
Why the Gulf Coast changes this job
Both houses sit on expansive clay that swells in a wet spring and shrinks through an August drought, so cabinet runs and slabs are checked with a laser rather than assumed level. In the older stock the failure is usually plumbing: original cast iron kitchen branches carry decades of scale, and a soft spot under a Meyerland or Westbury slab is far cheaper to address with the floor already out. In the newer stock the failure is usually the slab itself being penetrated blind. Post-tension construction is common in Katy, Cypress and Fulshear, and an island sink or downdraft means locating tendons before cutting. Humidity runs high year-round in both, which is why hood ducting is routed to outside air and never terminated in an attic. Permitting differs too: inside Houston city limits plumbing, electrical and structural work is permitted, while unincorporated Harris and Fort Bend follow their own process, and deed restrictions or an MUD may add a step.
Where these jobs go wrong
The recurring failure in older kitchens is finishing over a drain that was never inspected. Once tile is set and cabinets are anchored, a bellied cast iron branch turns into demolition of new work. Scope the line first. Second is aluminium branch wiring in mid-1960s and 1970s houses being pigtailed with wire nuts instead of a listed connector rated for the job. Third is scraping textured ceiling in a pre-1980 house without sampling.
In newer construction the expensive mistakes are structural and mechanical. Cutting a post-tension slab for an island drain without a scan can sever a tendon. Removing a wall between kitchen and family room without carrying the new point loads to a proper bearing pad shifts the problem to the slab. Oversizing a hood in a tight, well-sealed suburban house without providing make-up air can pull combustion products back through a gas water heater.
Common to both: setting cabinets to the floor instead of a level line, then templating countertops off that error, and tiling directly over a slab with no crack-isolation membrane and no soft perimeter joint.
What moves the price
The house type moves the number before any selection does. Replacing a galvanised supply run, swapping a cast iron kitchen branch, upgrading panel capacity or remediating aluminium branch circuits are all real line items that a newer house simply does not carry. Ceiling texture testing and soffit removal belong to the same category.
In newer construction the drivers are structural and layout: beam and bearing work for a wall removal, tendon scanning and slab trenching for a relocated sink or gas line, and higher ceilings that change upper cabinet and crown counts. Beyond that, the usual: cabinet construction tier, inset versus overlay doors, paint versus stain, slab material and seam count, edge detail, and appliance sizes that dictate the cabinet plan. Access matters too, including long carries, occupied-home protection and HOA or high-rise rules.
How a project runs
A site visit starts with measurements and existing conditions: panel, supply material, drain camera where warranted, ceiling age, and slab levelness. Drawings and selections follow, with appliance spec sheets confirmed before cabinets are ordered, since a slide-in range and a freestanding one do not occupy the same opening. Permits are applied for where the jurisdiction requires them. Cabinets are ordered before demolition so the kitchen is not sitting open waiting on a shop. Then protection, demo, rough trades, inspections, drywall and ceiling, floor, cabinets, countertop template, fabrication, install, backsplash, trim-out and punch. Call (281) 235-6971 to arrange a walkthrough.
Common questions
How do I tell whether my house is the older or newer category?
Look at the panel and the supply lines under the sink. Cloth-jacketed wiring, a small breaker count, and grey galvanised pipe place you in the older group even if the kitchen has been updated cosmetically. A house built after the mid-1980s in Katy, Cypress or Fulshear is very likely on a post-tension slab, which changes anything involving a cut in the concrete.
Does a newer house mean a simpler remodel?
Usually fewer surprises, not always less work. The utilities and structure tend to be sound, so the scope shifts to layout changes: removing a bearing wall, carrying loads to the slab, relocating an island drain through post-tension concrete. Those are engineered items. What a newer house mostly buys you is a scope that can be defined accurately before demolition rather than after.
Should the old cast iron drain be replaced during the kitchen?
Scope it and decide on evidence. If the camera shows heavy scale, a belly holding water or cracking, the floor being open is the cheapest access you will ever have. If it reads clean, leaving it is reasonable. What should not happen is deciding by guesswork and then finding out after new tile and cabinets are in place.
Kitchen Remodel Contractor by location
We cover 102 ZIP codes across the Houston metro. Pick the area closest to you:
- Bellaire 77401
- Brookshire 77423
- Cypress 77429
- Cypress 77433
- Fresno 77545
- Fulshear 77441
- Houston 77002
- Houston 77003
- Houston 77004
- Houston 77005
- Houston 77006
- Houston 77007
- Houston 77008
- Houston 77009
- Houston 77010
- Houston 77011
- Houston 77014
- Houston 77016
- Houston 77018
- Houston 77019
- Houston 77020
- Houston 77021
- Houston 77022
- Houston 77023
- Houston 77024
- Houston 77025
- Houston 77026
- Houston 77027
- Houston 77028
- Houston 77030
- Houston 77031
- Houston 77033
- Houston 77035
- Houston 77036
- Houston 77037
- Houston 77038
- Houston 77039
- Houston 77040
- Houston 77041
- Houston 77042
- Houston 77043
- Houston 77045
- Houston 77046
- Houston 77047
- Houston 77048
- Houston 77051
- Houston 77053
- Houston 77054
- Houston 77055
- Houston 77056
- Houston 77057
- Houston 77060
- Houston 77063
- Houston 77064
- Houston 77065
- Houston 77066
- Houston 77067
- Houston 77068
- Houston 77069
- Houston 77070
- Houston 77071
- Houston 77072
- Houston 77074
- Houston 77076
- Houston 77077
- Houston 77079
- Houston 77080
- Houston 77081
- Houston 77082
- Houston 77083
- Houston 77084
- Houston 77085
- Houston 77086
- Houston 77087
- Houston 77088
- Houston 77090
- Houston 77091
- Houston 77092
- Houston 77093
- Houston 77094
- Houston 77095
- Houston 77096
- Houston 77098
- Houston 77099
- Houston 77204
- Katy 77449
- Katy 77450
- Katy 77493
- Katy 77494
- Missouri City 77459
- Missouri City 77489
- Orchard 77464
- Richmond 77406
- Richmond 77469
- Rosenberg 77471
- Simonton 77476
- Spring 77379
- Stafford 77477
- Sugar Land 77478
- Sugar Land 77479
- Thompsons 77481
- Tomball 77377
Planning kitchen remodel contractor?
We measure, look at the slab and the existing rough-in, and give you a scope you can actually compare against another bid.
MS Home Remodeling · 1530 W Sam Houston Pkwy N, Houston, TX 77043 · (281) 235-6971