Phoenix Metro and Prescott
Kitchen Remodeling
The kitchen is the room where layout, structure, plumbing and electrical all have opinions.
Most kitchen projects start as a question about cabinets and finish as a question about everything behind them. Moving a sink means moving drain lines and vents. Adding an island usually means new circuits in the floor. Taking out a wall means finding out whether it was holding anything up.
We resolve those questions during design rather than during demolition. That is what lets the cabinet order, the countertop template and the trade schedule line up instead of waiting on each other.
Cabinetry and countertops are typically the long-lead items, so selections drive the schedule more than construction does. Deciding them early is the single most useful thing a homeowner can do to keep a kitchen project moving.
Ventilation is the part of a kitchen most often designed by default and regretted at leisure. A larger range wants a hood that actually captures, ducted to the exterior rather than recirculated, and beyond a certain airflow the code conversation includes make-up air. These are duct-routing and framing questions, which is why they are answered during design rather than discovered above a finished ceiling.
Lighting deserves the same seriousness as cabinetry. A kitchen works in layers — even general light, task light where knives and heat live, and accent where the design earns it — switched and dimmed the way the room is actually used at seven in the morning and nine at night. It is drawn before drywall closes because that is when moving a fixture is a pencil stroke.
What we coordinate
- Kitchen layout and construction drawings
- Cabinetry specification, ordering and installation
- Countertop templating and fabrication scheduling
- Licensed electrical and plumbing trades
- Tile, backsplash and flooring
- Appliance fit, clearances and connection
- Lighting layout and switching
Materials & detail
The parts you touch every day.
How the project runs
Typical major phases.
- 01
Consultation and measure
Understand how you use the kitchen now and what specifically is not working about it.
- 02
Design and selections
Layout, cabinetry, appliances, surfaces and lighting resolved together — appliance specs affect cabinet dimensions, so they are decided at the same time.
- 03
Permitting where required
Moving plumbing, gas or electrical usually requires permits and inspections.
- 04
Demolition and rough-in
Removal, any structural work, then electrical, plumbing and mechanical rough-ins with inspections between.
- 05
Cabinetry, surfaces and finish
Cabinet set, countertop template and install, tile, paint, fixtures and appliance connection.
- 06
Walkthrough
Punch list, adjustment of doors and drawers, and final clean.
Phases describe sequence, not schedule. We do not publish durations for work that has not been scoped, and permit review times belong to the jurisdiction.
Design & preconstruction
What gets decided before we build.
- Whether the wall you want removed is load-bearing
- How far plumbing can realistically move given existing drain runs
- Whether the panel can carry new dedicated circuits for appliances
- Ventilation and make-up air for a larger range hood
- Cabinet and countertop lead times, which usually set the schedule
What moves the cost
Why two similar projects can cost very differently.
These are the variables that actually move a number. We do not publish price ranges for work that has not been scoped — a real figure comes from your project, not from an average.
- Whether the layout moves
- Replacing cabinets in the existing footprint is a different project from relocating the sink, range and refrigerator. Keeping the layout keeps the drain runs, vents, gas line and circuits where they already are. Moving it turns a finish project into a rough-in project, and that single decision separates two kitchens that look equally new when finished.
- Cabinetry scope and construction
- Cabinets are usually the largest single line in a kitchen. Stock, semi-custom and custom differ in price, lead time and how they handle a wall that is not square — and the difference between refacing existing boxes and replacing them entirely is enormous, even though both end with new doors.
- Plumbing and electrical relocation
- In a slab-on-grade house — most of the Valley — moving a drain means cutting concrete, re-routing below the slab, and re-pouring. Adding an island with a sink or cooktop usually means both. New dedicated appliance circuits may also reveal that the panel is full, which is its own scope.
- Structural work
- Removing a wall is inexpensive if it carries nothing and a structural project if it does. A load-bearing removal brings in a beam, posts down to adequate bearing, and often an engineer's involvement — decided during design, because discovering it during demolition means pricing it under pressure.
- Countertop material and fabrication
- Material cost per square foot is only part of it. Edge profiles, waterfall ends, integrated or undermount sinks, seam placement on a long run and cutouts for cooktops all affect fabrication. A slab with heavy veining also costs more to lay out well, because matching the pattern across a seam wastes material.
- Ventilation
- A recirculating hood is a cabinet accessory. A ducted hood is a construction item — routing through cabinetry, ceiling or wall to the exterior, and above a certain airflow the code conversation includes make-up air. This is why hood selection is a design decision rather than an appliance decision.
- How far the flooring runs
- Replacing flooring only inside the kitchen leaves a transition. Continuing it through adjoining rooms looks better and costs more, and if the existing floor cannot be matched the decision is often all-or-nothing rather than incremental.
What moves the schedule
What actually consumes the calendar.
We do not publish durations for work that has not been scoped, and permit review times belong to the jurisdiction rather than to us.
- Cabinet and countertop lead times
- These usually set the schedule, not construction. Cabinets are built against a specific approved layout; countertops are templated against installed cabinets, so fabrication cannot start early. Changing the layout after the cabinet order restarts that clock entirely.
- How complete the design is before work starts
- A kitchen with appliances specified, cabinets ordered and finishes chosen runs continuously. A kitchen still deciding an appliance mid-project stalls, because appliance dimensions drive cabinet openings and those cabinets are already built.
- Permit review, when the scope requires it
- Once plumbing, gas or electrical moves, a permit is generally required. Review time belongs to the jurisdiction's queue, not to us, and it is one of the few schedule items no contractor controls.
- Inspection sequencing
- Rough-in inspections have to pass before walls close. That is a fixed order — a passed inspection is a gate, and work waiting on one cannot be resequenced around it.
- What demolition uncovers
- Soffits in Valley kitchens frequently hide ducts, drains or wiring. Finding a drain line inside one changes the scope mid-project. Investigating with a small opening during design is what turns this from a delay into a decision.
Before you commit
Worth understanding first.
- when a kitchen needs a permit
Replacing finishes often does not. Moving plumbing, gas or electrical generally does.
Included capabilities
Work commonly included in this project type.
Monarch coordinates the full project scope, with specialty work performed by appropriately licensed trades where required.
Questions
Answers we can give honestly.
- Can the island go anywhere?
- Not always. An island with a sink or a cooktop needs drain, vent, water, gas or power reaching it, and in a slab-on-grade house that can mean cutting and re-pouring concrete. It is usually possible; the question is what it costs and whether that is the best use of the budget.
- Do we need a permit for a kitchen remodel?
- If you are only replacing cabinets and finishes, often not. Once plumbing, gas or electrical moves, generally yes. We confirm what your jurisdiction requires before the scope is priced.
- What usually delays a kitchen?
- Selections and lead times, far more often than construction. Cabinets and countertops are ordered against a specific layout; changing the layout after the order restarts that clock.
- Can we keep using the kitchen during the remodel?
- Not the kitchen itself once demolition starts — but a temporary setup elsewhere in the house, planned rather than improvised, keeps a household functional. A microwave, the refrigerator and a sink you can still reach cover more of daily life than people expect. We plan that setup as part of the sequence.
- What happens to the soffit above the old cabinets?
- It gets investigated before it gets promised away. Valley kitchens often use soffits to route ducts, drains or wiring, and what is inside decides whether removing it is cosmetic or a rerouting project. It is exactly the kind of question design answers with a small opening instead of construction answering with a surprise.
How a project starts
Start with a consultation. We look at the space, talk through what you want to change and what you want to keep, and set out what the design and preconstruction stage would involve for your project.