# Kitchen Remodeling in Manor, TX: Costs & Process 2026

By the Home Remodel Pro team · published 2026-11-02 · Kitchen Remodeling, Manor

A kitchen remodel in Manor runs $45,000–$70,000 if you keep the existing footprint and replace cabinets, counters, lighting and fixtures, $70,000–$110,000 once the layout opens up and plumbing moves, and $110,000 and up for a studs-out kitchen with custom cabinetry and high-end appliances. Construction itself takes 6 to 10 weeks, with design and permitting done before anyone swings a hammer. Home Remodel Pro gives you that number as a fixed price in writing before demolition starts, so the figure you sign is the figure you pay unless you change the scope.

## What a Manor kitchen actually costs

Three tiers cover almost every kitchen we build in Manor. Which one you land in depends mostly on whether walls and plumbing move, and on what you put in the boxes.

A refresh in the existing footprint is $45,000–$70,000. Sink and range stay where they are, the old cabinets come out, new cabinets go in, you get new counters, a backsplash, lighting, fixtures and finished paint. This is the right call for most of the newer homes in Manor, where the layout already works and the problem is builder-grade cabinet boxes, laminate tops and three recessed cans trying to light a whole room.

Opening the layout puts you at $70,000–$110,000. That is removing or modifying a wall between the kitchen and living area, relocating the sink or range, adding an island with a sink or cooktop, upsizing the electrical service to the kitchen, and rerouting vent and waste lines. On a slab foundation, moving a drain means cutting and patching concrete, which is real labor and a real line item. Whether a specific wall can be modified is a question for a licensed engineer and the permit office — we bring the engineer in during design and build to their drawings.

$110,000 and up is a studs-out kitchen: full custom cabinetry built to the room, stone slab counters and a full-height slab backsplash, panel-ready or professional-grade appliances, new windows or a widened opening, hardwood or large-format tile flooring carried through, and specialty lighting.

- Moves you up: relocating sink, range or dishwasher; removing or modifying a wall; custom cabinetry instead of semi-custom; waterfall edges and slab backsplash; panel-ready refrigeration; new flooring through adjoining rooms; replacing a window or adding a door.
- Moves you down: keeping plumbing fixtures within a few feet of where they are; semi-custom cabinets in standard sizes; quartz over exotic natural stone; keeping existing appliances; tile backsplash instead of stone slab; keeping the existing flooring where it is in good shape.
- Roughly how a $70k kitchen splits: cabinetry 30–35%, counters and backsplash 10–15%, labor and carpentry 20–25%, electrical and plumbing 10–15%, flooring, paint, trim, fixtures and permits the balance.

## What is particular about kitchens in Manor

Manor's housing stock splits into two groups, and they lead to different jobs. The subdivisions that filled in east of US 290 over the last twenty-odd years are production-built homes on slab, usually with a kitchen open to a breakfast nook but closed off from the formal rooms, 36-inch upper cabinets with a soffit above, a corner pantry, and an island with no plumbing. Those kitchens almost always have good bones. The money goes into taller cabinets, removing the soffit, better lighting, and a working island — a refresh at the lower end of the $45k–$70k band, or the $70k–$110k band if you want the sink moved to the island.

Closer to the old town center there are smaller, older homes with compact, closed kitchens and a separate dining room. Those are the ones where opening a wall changes everything, and those are the ones that need an engineer's review before anything is planned, plus allowances for updating wiring and supply lines once walls are open.

Two practical Manor notes. First, Central Texas summers mean a kitchen gutted in July is a house with an open ceiling cavity and a hard-working air conditioner; we sheet and seal the work zone and keep the HVAC isolated. Second, many Manor subdivisions have an active HOA. Interior work rarely concerns them, but if your project touches a window, an exterior door or a rear elevation, we need the HOA's written approval in hand during design, not during framing.

## Permits and inspections

Manor is its own incorporated city in Travis County, so your remodel is reviewed by the jurisdiction your address falls under — the City of Manor for addresses inside the city limits, Travis County and the relevant state agencies for addresses outside them. We handle City of Austin permitting daily for our Austin work and we handle the Manor and Travis County submittals the same way: we pull the permit, we schedule the inspections, and we meet the inspector on site.

Whether a given scope needs a permit is the permit office's call, not ours and not yours. We submit the plans and let the reviewer decide. Plan on electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections at rough-in and again at final on any kitchen where circuits, drains or vents are touched. If a wall is being modified, the engineer's sealed letter or detail goes in with the application.

Permit and review fees for a residential kitchen remodel typically run $300–$1,500 depending on the valuation and how many trades are involved, and an engineer's site visit and letter typically runs $600–$1,800 when one is needed. Both are inside the fixed price we hand you, so they are not a surprise later.

Ask any contractor you interview who pulls the permit. If the answer is that you should pull it as the homeowner, understand you are taking on the inspections and the liability yourself.

## The timeline, week by week

Construction on a kitchen is 6 to 10 weeks. The honest total from your first phone call to cooking dinner in the new kitchen is longer, because design and permitting come first — on purpose. The calendar we hand you at contract signing is the one we build to, because by then the drawings are done, the permit is in motion and every cabinet, slab and fixture is selected.

- Week 1: in-home visit in Manor. We measure, look at the panel, the attic, the drain lines and the slab, and talk through what you want and what you are prepared to spend.
- Weeks 2–4: design and selections. Floor plan and elevations, cabinet layout, counters, tile, fixtures, lighting and appliances all chosen and priced. Engineer brought in if any wall is being modified.
- Week 4 or 5: fixed price in writing, signed contract, construction calendar issued.
- Weeks 5–9: permit submittal and review, cabinet fabrication and long-lead ordering. Custom cabinetry commonly takes 6–10 weeks to build, so this overlaps review rather than following it.
- Build week 1: protection, demolition, haul-off.
- Build weeks 2–3: rough plumbing, electrical and mechanical, any framing, then rough inspections.
- Build weeks 3–5: drywall, paint, flooring, cabinet installation by our own carpenters.
- Build weeks 5–7: counter template, fabrication and installation (templating to install is usually 7–14 days), backsplash, appliances, plumbing and electrical trim-out.
- Build weeks 7–10: final inspection, punch list, walkthrough, warranty paperwork.

## How our fixed-price design-build process works

One company does the design, the drawings, the permitting and the construction, so nobody gets to blame the other guy. The cabinets, trim and built-ins are installed by carpenters on our payroll, not a rotating sub crew.

The fixed price is the point. We do not start demolition with an estimate and an hourly rate. Every selection is made and priced before you sign, so the contract has a single number and a scope that spells out exactly what is in it — down to the cabinet line, the counter material, the tile and the fixture models. The number changes only if you change the scope, and then it changes in a written change order you sign first.

Behind the price sits a 5-year workmanship warranty on our labor, with manufacturer warranties on the products passed through to you. Financing is available if you would rather not write one check at the end of the project.

Progress is billed against milestones tied to the construction calendar, not to the calendar month. If you want a kitchen priced, the first step is a measured visit at your house in Manor.

## What to ask before you hire anybody

Take the same list to every contractor you talk to. The answers separate the companies that have a process from the ones that are making it up as they go.

- Is this a fixed price in writing, or an estimate that can move? What specifically would change the number?
- Who pulls the permit and who meets the inspector?
- Are the cabinet installers your employees or a subcontractor?
- What is the written workmanship warranty, in years, and what does it exclude?
- Show me the construction calendar by phase, and tell me what happens if cabinets arrive late.
- Are the cabinet line, counter slab, tile, fixtures and appliance models named in the contract, or carried as allowances? If they are allowances, what are the amounts?
- How is the work area sealed off, and where will the dust and debris go?
- What is the change-order process and does it get signed before the work happens?

## Manor homeowners also ask

### Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel in Manor?

That is the permit office's determination, not something a contractor should decide for you. We submit the plans to the jurisdiction your address falls under — the City of Manor inside the city limits, or Travis County outside them — and they tell us what is required. Any kitchen where we touch circuits, drains or vents should expect rough-in and final inspections. We pull the permit, schedule the inspections and meet the inspector, and the fees are inside your fixed price.

### Can I take out the wall between my kitchen and living room?

A licensed engineer and the permit office decide that, and we bring the engineer in during design so you have the answer before you sign anything rather than after demolition. If the wall can be modified, the engineer's detail goes in with the permit application and the beam and posts are built to that drawing. Budget-wise, opening a wall and moving plumbing is what takes a project from the $45k–$70k refresh band into $70k–$110k.

### How long will I be without a kitchen?

Construction runs 6 to 10 weeks, and the kitchen is out of service for most of it — figure from demolition day through appliance and plumbing trim-out. We set up a temporary kitchen with your refrigerator, microwave and a sink elsewhere in the house before demolition. Design, selections and permitting all happen before that clock starts, which is why the calendar we issue at contract signing is one we can actually hold to.

### What should a Manor homeowner budget for a typical production-built home?

Most of the 2000s-and-later homes in Manor's subdivisions land at $45,000–$70,000: new cabinets to the ceiling, soffit removed, quartz counters, backsplash, new lighting layout, fixtures and paint, with the sink and range staying put. Add an island sink, move the range, or open the wall to the dining room and you are in the $70,000–$110,000 range. Studs-out with custom cabinetry and high-end appliances starts at $110,000.

## Check it with Manor's own pages

Permit rules and fees change, and the office that issues the permit is the authority on them, not this guide.

- [City of Manor — building permits](https://www.manortx.gov/187/Building-Permits)

What a kitchen remodel in Austin involves: https://www.homeremodelpro.com/austin/kitchen-remodeling

## Get a free estimate

- Call (512) 601-5666 (Monday to Friday 8am–6pm and Saturday 9am–2pm); a project consultant calls back within one business hour.
- Request an estimate online: https://www.homeremodelpro.com/austin#quote
- 5-year workmanship warranty · one fixed price in writing · in-house carpenters · permits and inspections included

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Source: https://www.homeremodelpro.com/austin/blog/kitchen-remodeling-manor-guide · Home Remodel Pro Austin, TX