Small Kitchen Remodel for Older St. Pete Homes: What It Actually Takes

A small kitchen remodel in an older St. Pete home typically runs $40,000 to $75,000 for a cosmetic-to-mid-range project, and $75,000 to $100,000+ if you’re changing the layout. The wide range comes down to one thing: what’s hiding behind those walls. Homes built before the 1990s in neighborhoods like Old Northeast, Kenwood, and the Old Southeast have kitchens that were designed to store and prepare food — not to entertain, not to gather, and definitely not to function the way you use a kitchen today. Remodeling one means rethinking what the room does, not just how it looks.

Here’s what you need to know before you start planning.

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After

Why Small Kitchens in Older St. Pete Homes Are Different

Most small kitchen remodel guides assume you’re working with a standard-sized room that just needs updating. That’s not what’s happening in pre-1990s St. Pete homes.

“A lot of times in St. Petersburg, where we do most of our work, we see small cramped kitchens, old galley kitchens that sit on the back of the house,” says Jeremy, owner of Revolution Contractors. “A lot of times, we saw one today that had the kitchen stuffed onto what used to be, I think, a sleeping porch, so it was part of an addition with a sloped floor, and the kitchen itself was an afterthought.”

That’s the typical starting point — and we finished that exact project last fall. The sleeping-porch kitchen now has a 4-foot island where the old galley wall was. Your kitchen might be a narrow galley along a back wall. It might be crammed into a converted sleeping porch with a sloped floor. It might have a layout that made sense in 1940 when the kitchen was where one person cooked meals — not where six people gather on a Saturday night.

Revolution is a Florida licensed general contractor with 20+ years in St. Pete real estate and construction. Seventy percent of our kitchen remodeling projects come from repeat clients and referrals — not lead-gen sites. Here’s what that experience has taught us about remodeling small kitchens in older homes.

The remodel challenge isn’t just cosmetic. You’re often trying to change the entire concept of the room. That means evaluating load-bearing walls, rethinking where plumbing and electrical run, and planning around structural quirks that newer construction simply doesn’t have.

What to Expect Behind the Walls

Older homes don’t just look different — they’re built different. And what’s behind the walls matters more than what’s on them.

“In a 100-year-old house, we know that there have been four generations of grandpas and dads doing their DIY bullshit work,” Jeremy explains. “Everything from electrical to the flooring to the framing inside the floor — things that we don’t know, that we can’t see until we really are doing some destructive demo.”

Here are the most common surprises in older St. Pete kitchens:

Cast iron plumbing. Homes built before the 1970s typically have cast iron drain lines. After 50–80 years, the interior diameter narrows from buildup. Replacing cast iron plumbing from the kitchen to the street can add $10,000 to $20,000 to your project. It’s not always necessary, but it’s the single most common surprise in older kitchen remodels.

Outdated wiring. Older kitchens often have insufficient electrical capacity for modern appliances. A kitchen with a single 15-amp circuit can’t support a dishwasher, garbage disposal, refrigerator, and microwave running simultaneously. Upgrading electrical typically means opening walls and running new circuits back to the panel.

Previous DIY work. Multiple generations of homeowners have made modifications — some permitted, many not. We’ve found improvised plumbing connections, undersized framing, and electrical work that doesn’t meet current code. None of this is visible until demo begins.

Load-bearing walls. In many galley kitchens, the wall separating the kitchen from the dining or living area is load-bearing. Opening it up requires structural engineering — a steel beam or LVL (laminated veneer lumber, an engineered beam) to carry the load the wall was supporting. This is common but adds cost and requires a permit.

This is exactly why Revolution uses a time-and-materials (T&M) approach rather than a fixed-bid contract. When you can’t see what’s behind the walls, a fixed bid means one of two things: the contractor padded the price to cover unknowns, or you’ll get hit with change orders when surprises appear. T&M means you pay for what the work actually costs. By construction start, 75% of line items are confirmed fixed-price from subcontractors and vendors, which translates to 90–95% budget certainty. Weekly budget reports show exactly where your money is going — no surprises at the end.

What a Small Kitchen Remodel Actually Costs in St. Pete

Cost depends on scope. Here’s how the numbers break down for older homes:

What drives cost up: Moving plumbing (especially if cast iron replacement is needed), removing load-bearing walls (structural engineering required), and making design changes after construction has started. That last one is the most avoidable. For a detailed cost breakdown by component, see our kitchen remodel cost guide.

“When people are making design changes on the fly — kitchens happen in a specific order, especially the layout,” Jeremy says. “So if there’s a layout change to a kitchen that just got framed and had plumbing roughed in, that’s gonna cost some amount of thousands of dollars to backtrack.”

Making a Small Kitchen Work Harder

You don’t always need to knock down walls to transform a small kitchen. Some of the highest-impact changes in older St. Pete homes come from working smarter within the existing footprint:

Rethink the work triangle. In a galley kitchen, the sink, stove, and refrigerator are often lined up along one wall or squeezed into an L-shape that doesn’t flow. Even minor plumbing relocation — moving the sink to an island or to the opposite wall — can transform how the kitchen functions.

Go vertical. Older homes often have 9-foot or higher ceilings, but the original cabinets stop at 7 feet. Running cabinets to the ceiling adds 30–40% more storage without touching the floor plan. In a small kitchen, that’s significant.

Workstation sinks. “One of the things that I really like are the workstation sinks,” Jeremy says. “They used to be really expensive a few years back when they started showing up, but now they’re not as big of a deal.” A workstation sink with integrated cutting boards, colanders, and drying racks consolidates counter space in a kitchen where every inch matters.

Natural stone over engineered quartz. Jeremy has a strong opinion here: “White and gray quartz — I think it looks like plastic garbage. I’d much rather use a natural quartzite or granite, even a marble.” In a small kitchen where the countertop is one of the most visible surfaces, the material choice has an outsized impact on how the space feels.

Lighting upgrades. Older kitchens often have a single ceiling fixture. Under-cabinet lighting, pendant lights over a work area, and recessed cans (where ceiling depth allows) transform a dim galley into a bright, functional workspace.

Why In-House Labor Matters for Small Kitchen Remodels

In a small kitchen, precision matters more than in a large one. When cabinets need to fit a 9-foot-6-inch wall exactly, when custom trim has to work around an out-of-plumb corner in a 1940s house, and when the margin for error is measured in fractions of an inch — you need skilled carpenters who’ve done this before.

Revolution has 20+ W-2 carpenters on payroll. They’re not subcontractors juggling three other jobs. They’re employees who show up because they work for Revolution. That means cabinet installation, custom trim, and millwork are handled by the same crew that knows your project — not a rotating cast of subs who’ve never seen your kitchen before.

For a small kitchen remodel in an older home — where nothing is square, nothing is level, and every cut is custom — that consistency is the difference between a kitchen that looks tailored and one that looks like it was forced into place.

The Process: Small Kitchen Remodel in an Older Home

Here’s what the timeline looks like from first call to cooking dinner in your new kitchen:

1. Consultation (1–3 weeks). We walk your kitchen, assess the existing layout, identify structural constraints — load-bearing walls, plumbing stack location, electrical panel capacity — and discuss what you want the kitchen to become.
2. Design (varies). High-end clients pair with an interior designer from our network. Budget-conscious projects use vendor-provided free design services — cabinet companies, tile suppliers, and flooring showrooms all offer design help at no additional cost. Revolution is involved from the beginning, speaking to budget throughout so design aspirations stay realistic.
3. Pre-construction (3–5 weeks). Estimate sharpening, cabinet and appliance orders placed (lead times run 6–12 weeks depending on manufacturer), allowances converted to actual selections. This is where budget reaches 90–95% certainty.
4. Permitting (3–5 weeks in St. Pete). Required if you’re moving plumbing or electrical. Not required for a straight cabinet/countertop/appliance swap.
5. Construction. Demo, rough plumbing and electrical (MEPs), framing modifications if walls are moving, insulation, drywall, cabinets, countertops, tile and backsplash, fixtures, appliances, punch list. A cosmetic refresh takes less than a month. A full remodel with layout changes runs 1–3 months.
6. Punch list and warranty. Our superintendent walks the project, then you walk it with us. Anything that’s not right gets fixed. Revolution provides a 1-year bumper-to-bumper warranty on all work.

One thing to prepare for: “A kitchen takes the house out of play largely — it means the house is no longer functioning as it usually does,” Jeremy says. “Doing a kitchen remodel or any large remodel creates a level of stress that a lot of people don’t expect.” Plan for takeout, set up a temporary coffee station, and know that the disruption is temporary.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

• Small kitchen remodels in older St. Pete homes cost $40K–$60K for a cosmetic refresh, $75K–$100K+ for layout changes
• Older homes hide surprises — cast iron plumbing, outdated wiring, and previous DIY work are common behind the walls
• T&M pricing protects you from padded bids and hidden change orders — you pay for what the work actually costs
• You don’t always need to remove walls — vertical cabinets, workstation sinks, and better lighting can transform a small kitchen within its existing footprint
• In-house carpenters (not subcontractors) matter most in small kitchens where every measurement is custom

Want to understand the full cost picture? Read our kitchen remodel cost guide for St. Petersburg pricing by tier. Planning your timeline? See how long a kitchen remodel takes. Looking for design ideas that work in older homes? Browse our kitchen remodeling trends guide. Explore our kitchen remodeling services or check out our bathroom remodel services if you’re considering tackling both rooms.