Remodel tour offers look at $100k+ kitchens, home makeovers in Columbus

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Remodeling a kitchen or bathroom during a pandemic has its special challenges: waiting six to eight months for appliances, scarce raw materials, and soaring costs.

But house prices are also soaring, allowing homeowners to take out equity and create a space to suit their needs.

In Upper Arlington, one family on Andover Road decided to enlarge their kitchen to suit a chef, owner of the home.

“We actually took an old kitchen that was very small and compact, and we combined it with the old dining room that was rarely used,” said Bryce Jacob, Element One, the contractor for this house.

“We took a wall out…expanded the kitchen into this area…there was an old peninsula, a couple little seats on the backside of it. It really wasn’t very functional.”

There’s a six- to eight-month wait for appliances at the moment. “A kitchen remodel doesn’t take six to eight months if you’re doing it right, and it’s not the whole house that you’re remodeling at the same time,” Jacob said. “So you’ve got to really plan or delay the start of your construction project.”

Kitchen remodels like this one are priced between $125,000 to $175,000 — and costs are going up.

“If you’re opening walls, re-doing floors, putting in custom cabinetry, solid-surface countertops, whether it be a Cambria quartz or granite or concrete, and that drives costs because they are luxury goods,” Jacob said.

Ways to pay for the expense are savings, home equity lines of credit, or construction loans with a post-completion valuation.

From October 2-3, you can visit remodeling projects in and around Columbus including Westerville, Powell, Worthington, and Upper Arlington during an event held by the Central Ohio Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Experts will be on hand to answer questions. Masks are required.