Your kitchen was probably built for a different decade. Revolution Contractors handles kitchen remodeling across St. Petersburg — from 1920s bungalows to waterfront homes to downtown high-rise condos.
Old cabinets, delaminating countertops, worn flooring, and appliances past their prime. When multiple parts need replacing at once, a full remodel makes more financial sense than patching each piece individually.
Kitchens built before the 1990s were designed for utility — not for how your family actually uses the space today, where the kitchen is the center of entertainment and daily life.
Eighty years of cast-iron plumbing, outdated electrical systems, and DIY work from multiple generations of homeowners hiding behind the drywall. You won't know what's inside a hundred-year-old wall until someone opens it.
The kitchen has become the focal point of every gathering. If yours can't host, can't flow, or can't keep up with your family, surface-level updates won't fix the core problem.
Pre-Construction
Home visit, scope assessment, exploratory demo if needed, architectural plans, material selections, sub bids
4-8 weeks
Permitting
Required for plumbing/electrical/structural work. We handle all submittals and inspections
3-5 weeks
Demo & Framing
Existing materials removed, structural changes, wall removal, beam installation
1-2 weeks
Trade Rough-Ins
Plumbing, electrical, HVAC repositioned for new layout. Inspections before walls close
1-2 weeks
Finishes & Walkthrough
Drywall, cabinetry, flooring, countertops, appliances, fixtures, then punch list
3-6 weeks
Cabinet lead times (6-12 weeks) often set the pace for the entire project. Pre-construction planning eliminates delays.
Demolition
Remove existing materials
Framing & Structure
Wall removal with engineered beams, foundation modifications
Rough-in MEPs
Plumbing, electrical, HVAC repositioned inside walls
Drywall & Cabinetry
Walls closed up, cabinets installed by our carpenters
Flooring & Millwork
Custom trim, flooring, and finish carpentry
Countertops & Fixtures
Final installation, appliances, backsplash, punch list
Before
AfterYou will not have access to your kitchen during construction — plan for eating out, delivery, or a temporary setup in another room. Revolution sequences the work to minimize disruption with dust barriers, dedicated work hours, and clear communication about what to expect each week.
Late-career owners of $750K+ homes who have been through one fixed-bid renovation and rejected the change-order shell game. They want open-book T&M, weekly budget reports, and a single point of accountability — not a contractor padding every line item to cover risk. Most of our work is on Old Northeast, Snell Isle, and Shore Acres homes for owners who want to know where every dollar went.
Younger owners taking on their first major renovation. They want a process they can explain at a dinner party — and a builder whose name they can repeat to friends without hedging. Revolution runs an open-book pre-construction phase where we lock 75% of line items to firm pricing before demo. Weekly client meetings cover budget actuals against estimate. We pair clients with architects and designers we have worked with for years.
Affluent owners in St. Pete's downtown condo market who don't want to spend evenings reading HOA bylaws. Elevator reservations, freight schedules, noise windows, neighbor relations, building management approvals — Revolution handles the building-side logistics so you don't have to. Our 20+ in-house W-2 carpenters matter more in a condo than anywhere else: when a sub cancels and the elevator slot is gone, your project doesn't lose a week. We've worked on condos at every level the building's GC license allows, and we're upfront when a project is outside that scope.
Straight numbers so you can plan your budget. These are real ranges from Revolution projects in St. Petersburg — not national averages pulled from a remodeling magazine.
Kitchen Refresh
$40K–$60K
Basic RTA cabinets, standard countertops, appliance swap, minimal layout changes.
Mid-Range Remodel
$75K–$100K+
Custom or semi-custom cabinets, stone countertops, layout modifications, updated plumbing and electrical.
Luxury Kitchen
$100K–$150K+
Premium cabinetry, luxury appliances (Wolf, Thermador, Sub-Zero), waterfall stone edges, full structural renovation.
“A realistic budget range for a kitchen remodel is gonna depend obviously on what’s being done. If it was just a facelift without a ton of layout changes, an entry-level basic RTA cabinet setup might be in the $40,000 to $60,000 range for the kitchen, and then $75,000 to $100,000 and up for a larger, nicer kitchen. It’s not uncommon for a luxury kitchen to spend $30,000 to $50,000 in appliances alone.”
Where Your Budget Goes
Understanding where your money goes helps you make smarter trade-offs during pre-construction.
| Component | Typical Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinetry & millwork | 29–40% | RTA vs. semi-custom vs. full custom — biggest single variable |
| Countertops | 10–15% | Natural quartzite and granite vs. engineered quartz. Waterfall edges add thousands |
| Labor (in-house carpenters) | 20–25% | Framing, demo, trim, installation — your crew is on payroll, not subcontracted |
| Plumbing | 8–12% | Higher in older homes with cast-iron pipes — replacement to the street can add $10K–$20K |
| Electrical | 5–8% | Panel upgrades, circuit rerouting, code compliance |
| Appliances | 5–20% | Standard vs. luxury brands can mean a $30,000+ difference |
| Design, permits, overhead | 5–10% | Pre-construction planning, permit fees, project management |
For the full cost breakdown with real St. Pete examples, read the complete kitchen remodel cost guide. Want to know which upgrades actually pay back when you sell? The kitchen remodel ROI analysis breaks down the numbers by project type.
Cost by Kitchen Type
| Project Type | Typical Range | What Drives It |
|---|---|---|
| Galley refresh (cosmetic only) | $25K–$45K | Keeping the same footprint, updating finishes |
| Full gut (same layout) | $60K–$90K | New everything, same plumbing and electrical locations |
| Layout change (walls move) | $85K–$130K+ | Structural engineering, beam installation, full re-plumb and rewire |
| Kitchen expansion (addition) | $120K–$200K+ | Foundation work, new square footage, full MEP extensions |
Pinellas County Kitchen Permit Timeline
A kitchen permit at the City of St. Petersburg building department — Revolution’s most common Pinellas County permitting office — runs two to five weeks. Cabinet swaps, countertop replacement, backsplash, appliance installation, and flooring within the existing footprint do not require permits. Anything touching plumbing, electrical, or structural framing does. Revolution pulls every required permit, schedules every required inspection, and signs off the final under our Florida licenses CRC1331628 (residential) and BC005541 (commercial).
For older Old Northeast and Crescent Lake homes, expect plumbing rough-in inspection plus an electrical inspection if panel work or knob-and-tube replacement is in scope. Coastal-zone kitchens in Snell Isle or Tierra Verde may add a flood-zone elevation review to the permit packet if your kitchen sits on a lower floor.
How We Price This
Your kitchen is priced using Time & Materials (T&M) — not a fixed-bid contract. Here's what that means for you:
T&M removes the incentive for your contractor to cut corners on materials or rush through difficult work. Learn more about our transparent pricing model.
For St. Petersburg-specific pricing, permits, and cast-iron plumbing expertise, see our St. Pete kitchen remodel page.
Call (727) 888-6161 or schedule a free consultation. You'll get a walkthrough of your kitchen, an honest assessment of what you're working with, and real numbers.
St. Petersburg's housing stock spans over a century. Your kitchen remodel in a 1925 Old Northeast bungalow is a fundamentally different project than a kitchen renovation in a downtown high-rise condo.
If your home was built between the 1920s and 1970s, you are in the majority of Revolution's kitchen remodel clients. Your kitchen was designed small — a galley layout stuffed on the back of the house, closed off from living areas. The construction reality behind your walls likely includes:
“In a 100-year-old house, we know that there have been four generations of grandpas and dads doing their DIY work, so 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. The T&M approach allows flexibility, allows us to communicate clearly and bill fairly for that without trying to guess what we’re gonna find in a 100-year-old wall.”
Revolution's 20+ in-house W-2 carpenters work in these homes every week — replacing cast-iron drain lines in Old Northeast kitchens, opening up galley layouts in Historic Kenwood bungalows, framing kitchen layout changes in Crescent Lake 1940s homes, cutting CMU walls in Jungle Terrace mid-century ranches, and rewiring panels in Snell Isle waterfront homes. Open-book Time & Materials with weekly budget reports against your estimate. For your older home, this is not specialty work. It is the standard scope.
For small kitchen remodel approaches specific to your older St. Pete home, see the small kitchen remodel guide.
If you own a condo, your kitchen remodel adds layers that single-family projects don't:
Revolution has remodeled kitchens in high-rise and mid-rise condos across St. Petersburg and handles the elevator logistics, HOA paperwork, and neighbor coordination so you don't have to. Read more about condo remodeling in St. Pete.
If your home sits in a flood zone — Shore Acres, parts of Old Northeast, barrier island properties — your kitchen remodel adds FEMA compliance to the equation:
Learn more about flood zone construction in Pinellas County.
If your home was built before 1980 — and most St. Pete homes were — your kitchen likely needs more than new surfaces.
With a Kitchen Showroom
You get cabinets and countertops installed. When they open your wall and find cracked cast-iron pipes, corroded wiring, or termite damage in a 1940s Crescent Lake bungalow or 1925 Old Northeast craftsman, they call someone else. Your project stops while they coordinate a plumber, an electrician, and a structural contractor — each on their own schedule. You wait. Showrooms sub out framing, plumbing, electrical, and tile to whoever has availability that week. Revolution does not.
With Revolution
You get 20+ W-2 carpenters on payroll who handle framing, demolition, trim carpentry, cabinet installation, and custom millwork. When your walls open and reveal a problem, it gets fixed the same day by your crew — not by a sub who has three other jobs that week. Time & Materials, open book, with weekly budget reports comparing actuals against your pre-construction estimate. Florida licenses CRC1331628 (residential) and BC005541 (commercial), both visible on every estimate and every permit pull in Pinellas County.
If your kitchen remodel is more than cabinets and countertops, you need a contractor who can handle everything behind your walls — not just what goes on top of them.
What makes us different from other kitchen remodel contractors in St. Petersburg.
20+ W-2 carpenters on payroll handle cabinet installation, custom trim, and millwork. Your project doesn’t sit waiting on a sub who has three other jobs. Consistent crew, consistent quality, faster timelines.
30% markup stated up front. 90–95% budget certainty by construction start. Weekly budget reports comparing actuals to the estimate. When things go faster, you save money. When surprises emerge, we discuss them openly. You see the same invoices we do.
Old Northeast galley conversions, Kenwood bungalow kitchens, Snell Isle luxury kitchens, downtown condo renovations, flood zone coastal projects. Family-owned since 2016. 70% of our revenue comes from repeat clients and referrals — not lead-gen sites.
Revolution is a hybrid — not a design-build firm with designers on salary. We pair clients with architects and designers we’ve worked with for years, so your design IP stays with you. We sit in those design conversations from day one and speak to budget throughout, so what gets drawn is what we can actually build for the money.
Kitchen remodeling guides written for St. Petersburg homeowners.
Full cost breakdown by project type with real local ranges. Cabinetry accounts for 29–40% of your total budget. After that: countertops, appliances, and structural labor. The hidden budget killers? Cast iron plumbing and design changes after construction starts.
Full cost breakdown
Timeline expectations by scope, including permit wait times. A cosmetic refresh: under 1 month. A full remodel with layout changes: 1–2 months of construction, plus pre-construction for design, selections, and permitting.
Phase-by-phase timeline
Solutions for galley kitchens and pre-1980 layouts. Most St. Pete kitchens were built for 1950s cooking — galley layouts, converted sleeping porches, sloped floors. Modernizing means rethinking the layout, not just swapping cabinets.
Older home guide
Which trends are worth the investment and which to skip. Workstation sinks, natural stone over engineered quartz, wood-grain cabinets, and a pullback from fully open floor plans.
2026 trend guideLayout transformations, wall removal realities, and what your contractor wishes you knew first.
Read guideWhich upgrades actually pay back at resale in the St. Pete market.
Read guideThe best kitchen layouts for St. Pete homes — from galley to open-concept.
Read guideBathroom Remodel
Planning kitchen and bathroom together saves on shared plumbing and overhead
Whole-Home Remodel
When your kitchen is one piece of a larger renovation
Home Additions
When your kitchen needs more square footage, not just a better layout
Pricing and How T&M Works
Understand exactly how your project gets priced before you commit
A cosmetic refresh with entry-level RTA cabinets starts around $40,000 to $60,000. Mid-range remodels with custom or semi-custom cabinets and stone countertops run $75,000 to $100,000+. Luxury kitchens with Wolf, Sub-Zero, or Thermador appliances and full structural work exceed $100,000 — appliances alone can run $30,000 to $50,000. In older Old Northeast or Crescent Lake homes, cast-iron plumbing replacement to the street can add $10,000 to $20,000.
Not a full remodel. $10,000 buys a paint-and-cabinet-door refresh on existing cabinetry, hardware updates, a single appliance swap, or a countertop replacement on a small kitchen — handled through Revolution's Contractors on Call division. A full kitchen remodel with permitted plumbing or electrical work starts around $40,000 in St. Pete because of cabinet, countertop, and trade-rough-in costs that don't scale down past that floor.
A like-for-like cabinet-and-countertop refresh takes under a month of construction. A standard kitchen remodel with layout changes runs one to two months of construction. Major renovations with structural work take two to three months or more. Add four to eight weeks of pre-construction planning and two to five weeks for permits at the City of St. Petersburg building department.
Permitting runs two to five weeks at the City of St. Petersburg building department, which is Revolution's most common Pinellas County permitting office. Other Pinellas municipalities — Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park — run similar timelines. Cosmetic work (same-footprint cabinet swaps, countertops, backsplash, flooring, appliance installation) does not require a permit. Anything that touches plumbing, electrical, or structural framing does.
Yes, most homeowners stay in the home during a kitchen remodel. You will not have access to your kitchen during construction, so plan for eating out, delivery, or a temporary setup in another room. Revolution sequences the work to minimize disruption with dust barriers, dedicated work hours, and weekly client meetings reviewing progress against your estimate.
A 20-by-20 kitchen — 400 square feet, on the larger end of St. Pete kitchens — typically lands in the $75,000 to $130,000 range. The variables: cabinetry tier (RTA vs. semi-custom vs. full custom is the biggest single budget driver at 29-40% of total spend), countertop choice (engineered quartz vs. natural quartzite or granite), appliance package, and whether layout changes require structural engineering or beam installation. Add cast-iron plumbing replacement to the street if your home is pre-1980s.
At $100,000 in the St. Pete market, expect semi-custom or custom cabinetry, natural stone countertops (quartzite or granite), a layout change with at least one wall removal and structural beam, full plumbing and electrical rough-in to current Florida Building Code, mid-tier appliance package ($15,000 to $25,000 for Bosch, GE Profile, KitchenAid), tile or hardwood flooring, and updated lighting. Revolution runs this kind of project on Time & Materials with weekly budget reports — every line item visible, 30% labor markup stated up front.
Kitchen showrooms install cabinets and countertops well. If your remodel is only surface finishes, a specialist works. But if your project involves structural changes, replumbing, rewiring, permitting, or anything behind the walls, you need a general contractor with in-house labor who can handle every trade. Revolution's 20+ W-2 carpenters handle framing, demolition, trim, and cabinet installation directly — your project doesn't stall waiting on subs with three other jobs that week.
Real reviews from St. Petersburg homeowners who trusted Revolution with their kitchen remodel.
"Revolution handled our kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, and rental property repairs. Brent and the team came in under budget. We keep coming back because they deliver every time."
"Our neighbor referred us and after Thad came out to walk through our kitchen in person, we understood why. Straightforward, honest, and genuinely helpful from the first conversation."
"The whole team was great, and everyone that worked on my kitchen was polite and helpful. They were very clean and even great with my dogs. Would absolutely use Revolution again."
"We had multiple contractors tell us that our 100-year old bungalow in Old Southeast should be torn down instead of remodeled. Revolution worked with us on an extensive plan to rebuild structural components and remodel the entire house. Now we have the best house in the block!"
"The guys at Revolution have done projects for us in two houses now. They added a master bathroom for us in northeast St Pete and then remodeled every square inch of a 4500-sq. ft house in Pinellas Pt. Through every challenge over two years of construction they have been there pushing our projects forward. We wouldn’t use anybody else!"
"Revolution Contractors have helped my family on numerous projects, providing guidance and honesty throughout all projects. The crew is hardworking and reliable. The owners are quick to respond and very honest. Definitely would recommend!"
SMALL JOBS. BIG STANDARDS.
Licensed carpenters for the repairs and small projects that are too important to trust to an unlicensed handyman. Same crew, same standards, smaller scope.
KitchenReal cost ranges for cosmetic refreshes, full remodels, and luxury kitchens in St. Pete — plus what drives the numbers.
Read Guide →
KitchenPhase-by-phase timeline from design through punch list, including cabinet lead times and permitting.
Read Guide →
KitchenHow to modernize galley kitchens, converted sleeping porches, and other tight layouts in pre-1960s St. Pete homes.
Read Guide →
