Push the back wall out. Give the kitchen enough depth for an island. Move the dining area. Open the old exterior wall.
Suddenly the cramped kitchen, unused dining room and disconnected living room can become one space that actually works.
That’s why I like starting kitchen additions with the layout problem, not a square-footage target. But they aren’t cheap projects. You’re combining two expensive kinds of construction: building an addition and building a kitchen.
For additions in Central PA, our current starting range is roughly $220 to $300 per finished square foot before major variables such as foundation type, roof complexity and finish level.
When the addition includes a kitchen, we’re currently budgeting another $40,000 to $60,000 for the kitchen portion.
So let’s look at a few examples.
Those are starting numbers. A complicated foundation, difficult roof connection, custom finishes or substantial remodeling inside the existing house can push the project higher.
And there’s one other big number homeowners forget. Appliances aren’t included in those figures. For the kitchens we’re pricing, a new appliance package can easily add another $8,000 to $22,000.
Because kitchens are expensive rooms before we even build the addition around them.
Think about what’s packed into one room: cabinets, countertops, plumbing, electrical, lighting, flooring, backsplash, sink, faucet, ventilation, appliances.
Then put all of that inside a new structure that also needs excavation, foundation, framing, roofing, windows, insulation, drywall, HVAC, siding, trim — and a structural connection to the existing house.
There’s a lot happening inside a relatively small footprint. A 300-square-foot family-room addition and a 300-square-foot kitchen addition are not the same project.
This is the first thing I’d figure out.
Sometimes the answer is clearly yes. The house is simply too small. There’s nowhere to put a functional kitchen without adding square footage. Fine.
Other times I walk into a house that technically has plenty of first-floor space. It’s just divided terribly. Small kitchen. Formal dining room nobody uses. Another small room beside it. Three doorways. A hallway eating up space.
In that situation, I’d want to see whether remodeling the existing footprint solves the problem before we pour another foundation. Maybe removing a wall gives you everything you need. Maybe it doesn’t. But it’s worth asking.
Our kitchen pricing guide breaks down what a kitchen remodel costs when we’re working primarily within the existing house.
This is where kitchen additions get interesting.
Imagine the existing kitchen is too narrow for an island. We push the back wall out eight feet. Maybe that’s only 160 or 200 square feet of new construction.
But now we can reorganize the entire kitchen. The old exterior wall opens up. The new cabinets extend into the addition. The island gets proper clearance. The dining area shifts. Traffic through the first floor changes. Maybe the old dining room becomes part of the kitchen.
We didn’t just improve the 200 square feet we built. We may have changed 700 or 800 square feet of the existing first floor.
That’s a good use of an addition.
I don’t want to add 400 square feet just because 400 sounds better than 200. What is wrong with the kitchen now?
Once we identify the actual problems, we can design enough addition to fix them.
Square footage is expensive. Make every bit of it earn its keep.
Sometimes the existing kitchen stays mostly where it is and expands into the addition. That’s often a straightforward concept.
Other times the best floor plan means moving the kitchen almost completely into the new space. Now we’re talking about a different project. Plumbing moves. Electrical moves. Appliance locations change. Ventilation changes. The old kitchen needs to become something else. Flooring may need to be addressed across a larger area.
That can create a much better house. It can also cost more.
This is why I don’t want the addition and kitchen designed as separate projects. They’re one floor plan.
Kitchen additions often want a big opening between old and new. Nobody wants to build a beautiful new kitchen and access it through a 36-inch doorway.
Maybe the existing exterior wall needs to disappear almost entirely. But that wall may be carrying the roof, second floor or both.
Removing the wall doesn’t remove the weight above it. We may need a structural beam. Posts. Connections. And proper support below those posts.
Depending on the house and opening, structural engineering may become part of the project. We covered that in do I need an architect or engineer.
This is one of those things that can change a kitchen design quickly.
You want a completely open 20-foot span. Great. What does the structure require? Can we do it? Probably. But what does it cost?
How deep is the beam? Can it be recessed into the ceiling structure? Where do the loads land? Is there a basement underneath? Do we need new support below? Would keeping a strategically placed post save a meaningful amount of structural work?
Sometimes the cleanest design is worth the money. Sometimes moving something two feet gets almost the same result for much less.
That’s the conversation I want to have before the cabinets are ordered.
The kitchen sink needs water and drainage. So does the dishwasher. The refrigerator may need water. Maybe you’re adding a pot filler.
If the new kitchen stays near the existing plumbing, great. If we’re moving it to the opposite side of the house, we need a workable path back to the plumbing system.
That doesn’t mean the sink has to stay where it is forever. It means moving it has a consequence. This is exactly what we discussed in what happens to your HVAC, electrical and plumbing.
This sounds like a tiny detail. It isn’t always.
A proper kitchen ventilation plan needs to account for where the cooking equipment sits and where the duct can actually run.
If the range is on an exterior wall, the route may be fairly simple. Put it in the middle of a large island and now we need to figure out where the ventilation goes. Maybe through the ceiling. Maybe through another part of the structure. Maybe the roof.
And depending on the equipment you’re selecting, the ventilation requirements can change considerably.
The appliance plan affects the construction plan. That’s why I want appliances selected early enough to design around them.
Modern kitchens are not a light electrical load. Range or cooktop. Wall ovens. Refrigerator. Dishwasher. Microwave. Countertop receptacles. Lighting. Garbage disposal if you’re using one. Beverage refrigerator. Maybe induction cooking.
Then there’s the rest of the addition. Recessed lighting. Exterior lighting. Receptacles. HVAC.
The existing electrical system needs to be evaluated before we assume we’ll just add a few breakers and call it a day. An electrical service upgrade isn’t something I want appearing as a surprise when the kitchen is half built.
This is one of my favorite parts of a kitchen addition because you have an opportunity the old kitchen may never have had.
Maybe the original kitchen has one tiny window over the sink. Now we’re opening the back of the house. We can potentially bring in a lot more natural light. Larger windows. Doors to the backyard. Windows around the dining area. Maybe a view you weren’t taking advantage of before.
But window placement needs to work from both sides. Inside, it affects cabinets and countertops. Outside, it affects what the addition looks like. We talked about that in making an addition look like it was always part of the house.
Our baseline addition pricing assumes a relatively straightforward roof connection. More complicated roof geometry can increase the base addition portion of our current pricing model by roughly 8%.
On a $100,000 piece of construction, that’s real money.
Sometimes the house gives us no choice. Other times the complicated roof is a result of the addition being designed without enough thought about what’s above it.
I’d rather spend time simplifying the roof on paper than spend your money building unnecessary valleys and transitions. Especially because those transitions also need to manage water for the life of the house.
A slab is our baseline for addition pricing. A crawlspace can add roughly $8 to $14 per square foot of addition footprint. A full basement can add roughly $45 to $62 per square foot of footprint.
If we’re building a 300-square-foot kitchen addition, a full basement could therefore add roughly $13,500 to $18,600 compared with the slab baseline.
Now you’ve got 300 square feet of basement underneath the kitchen. Maybe that’s useful. Maybe it isn’t.
But if your existing house already has a full basement, there’s a good argument for at least considering what happens underneath the addition instead of automatically building the cheapest foundation.
Cabinets and countertops have a huge range. Our kitchen pricing breaks finishes into three general levels.
At the basic end, we’re talking stock cabinetry and straightforward materials. Move into upgraded finishes and you might be looking at semi-custom cabinets, quartz, upgraded lighting and fixtures. At the custom end, cabinetry can be built specifically for the room, with stone countertops and fixtures and details that aren’t simply pulled off a shelf.
That’s why two kitchens with the exact same footprint can be tens of thousands of dollars apart.
You’re not paying for square footage when you buy cabinets.
You’re paying for cabinets.
This one deserves its own section because people forget it constantly.
Our kitchen construction numbers do not include the appliance package. For planning purposes, we’re currently seeing homeowners spend roughly $8,000 to $22,000 on a new appliance package.
You can spend less. You can spend considerably more.
But if you’re budgeting a kitchen addition and haven’t put anything in the budget for appliances, your number isn’t finished. I’d rather tell you that at the beginning.
Maybe. This is where I don’t want to think about the kitchen by itself.
If the addition creates enough room for a dining table, maybe the existing dining room can become part of the kitchen. Now perhaps we get a larger island. More pantry storage. A better traffic pattern. An office somewhere else. Or simply one fewer room sitting empty 360 days a year.
The addition can create a chain reaction through the existing house. That’s often where the real value is.
Same idea. If we’re already changing the back of the house, maybe this is the time to solve another problem. A proper pantry. Mudroom. Back entrance. Laundry.
But this is where scope can grow quickly. “While we’re here” might be the most expensive phrase in remodeling.
Some additions make perfect sense. Others turn into a wish list that doubles the project. I’d keep asking whether each piece improves the finished house enough to justify what it costs.
Usually, yes. But this is one of the more disruptive additions because at some point we have to deal with the existing kitchen.
There may be a period when you don’t have a normal kitchen. Temporary setups can help. A refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker and maybe a temporary sink can make life a lot easier.
But you’re still living through construction. Dust. Noise. Workers. Utility interruptions. And eventually a section of the existing house being opened into the addition.
The construction sequence matters. We’ve covered the overall process in how long it takes to build a home addition.
This is important. Sometimes the right answer is an addition. Sometimes it isn’t.
If the existing kitchen can become excellent by removing a wall, replacing the cabinetry and reworking the layout, I don’t want to pour a foundation just because we’re an addition contractor.
That’s why we price kitchen remodeling separately from additions.
The question is: do you need more square footage, or do you need the square footage you already have to work better?
If it’s the second one, remodel. If it’s the first, then an addition starts making sense. And sometimes the best answer is both — a relatively small addition combined with a smart remodel of the existing first floor.
Using our current numbers as a starting point:
Then consider appliances at $8,000 to $22,000, a more complex roof at potentially about 8% more on the base addition portion, a crawlspace foundation at roughly $8 to $14 per square foot additional, or a full basement at roughly $45 to $62 per square foot additional. Upgraded or custom finishes can move the number further.
Those aren’t quotes. They’re useful planning numbers. The actual house and design determine the actual price.
I’d start by figuring out whether the problem is the kitchen itself or the size of the house. Then we can determine whether you need 200 new square feet, 500 new square feet, or no new square footage at all.
How much does a kitchen addition cost in Central PA?
Using our current pricing, a 200-square-foot kitchen addition starts around $84,000 to $120,000, while a 400-square-foot version starts around $128,000 to $180,000. Foundation type, roof complexity, finishes, existing-house modifications and appliances can move those numbers considerably.
Are appliances included in the cost of a kitchen addition?
Not in our pricing figures above. For planning purposes, we currently budget roughly $8,000 to $22,000 for a new appliance package depending on the selections.
Is it cheaper to expand a kitchen or remodel the existing kitchen?
If the existing footprint can support the kitchen you want, remodeling it will generally avoid the foundation, framing, roofing and exterior work required for an addition. An addition becomes more compelling when the existing house simply doesn’t have enough space.
How big should a kitchen addition be?
There’s no standard size. A relatively small 150 to 200-square-foot addition can sometimes completely change a kitchen if it’s placed correctly, while other houses need considerably more space.
Can I put a kitchen addition on a slab?
Potentially. A slab is the baseline foundation in our current addition pricing, while crawlspace and full-basement foundations add cost. The right foundation depends on the house, site, design and applicable requirements.
Can I live at home while my kitchen addition is built?
Usually, although the project becomes much more disruptive once work affects the existing kitchen. The construction sequence and temporary kitchen setup should be discussed before that stage begins.
Fifteen minutes on the phone. You’ll have a realistic range before we hang up — and if we’re not the right people for it, I’ll tell you.