The kitchen is the room people remodel first, and for good reason. It is where everyone ends up, it dates a house faster than anywhere else, and a good remodel changes how the whole home feels to live in. It is also the room where the most can go wrong if the planning is rushed, because a kitchen ties together framing, plumbing, electrical, gas, cabinets, counters, and appliances in a small space where everything has to fit and work together.
This guide walks through what a kitchen remodel actually involves in an Acadiana home, what drives the cost, and what tends to surprise people once the walls are open.
Start with how you use the room, not the finishes
It is easy to jump straight to picking countertops and cabinet colors. That is the fun part. But the decisions that matter most for how happy you are with the finished kitchen are about layout and function, and those come first.
Think about how you actually cook and gather. Where do you want the sink, the stove, and the refrigerator in relation to each other. Do you need more counter space to work on, more storage, or a place for people to sit while someone cooks. In a lot of older Acadiana homes, the kitchen was built as a closed-off room, separated from the living and dining space by a wall. Opening that wall is one of the most common requests we get, because it changes a cramped kitchen into the center of the house.
Once you know how you want the space to work, the finishes follow naturally. Cabinets, counters, tile, and paint are choices you layer on top of a layout that already makes sense.
Opening up a wall is a framing question
When people ask to take down the wall between the kitchen and the living room, the first thing we check is whether it is load-bearing. A load-bearing wall is holding up part of the structure above it, and you cannot simply remove it. What you can do is take it out and put in a beam, called a header, that carries that load across the new opening, supported at each end.
That is a normal part of a lot of kitchen remodels, and it is very doable, but it is real structural work and it needs to be done right and to code. This is one of the reasons the same crew that handles your cabinets should be able to handle your framing. If opening the wall means coordinating a separate framing contractor, that is one more handoff where things fall through.
Plumbing, electrical, and gas
Moving the sink, adding an island with a prep sink, or relocating the stove all mean moving plumbing or gas lines and running new electrical. Modern kitchens pull a lot of power. Between the range, microwave, dishwasher, disposal, and small appliances, an older home's wiring often was not built for the load. During a remodel, that wiring frequently needs to come up to current code, with the right circuits and outlets for how kitchens are used now.
None of this is visible in the finished room, but it is a meaningful part of the work and the cost, and it is not the place to cut corners. Getting it done properly during the remodel, while the walls are open, is far cheaper than fixing it later.
What drives the cost
A few things move the price of a kitchen remodel more than anything else.
Cabinets are usually the single biggest line item. Stock cabinets cost the least, semi-custom more, and full custom the most. The material and finish you choose make a big difference.
Countertops come next, and the range here is wide. Laminate is inexpensive, quartz and granite cost more and last for decades, and the price depends on the material and how much square footage you have.
Layout changes drive cost in a way that finishes do not. Keeping the sink, stove, and refrigerator roughly where they are keeps plumbing and electrical work to a minimum. Moving them, or opening a load-bearing wall, adds framing, plumbing, and electrical labor. That is not a reason to avoid it, because those changes are often what make the kitchen worth remodeling, but it is worth knowing where the money goes.
Appliances are their own budget, separate from the construction, and they range from modest to more than the cabinets depending on what you choose.
The Louisiana details that matter
A few things specific to building here deserve attention in a kitchen.
Humidity is constant, and kitchens generate their own moisture on top of it. Good ventilation, a range hood that actually vents outside rather than recirculating, and proper sealing help keep that moisture from causing problems over time.
If your remodel includes any plumbing against an exterior wall or a slab penetration, doing it right protects against the slow leaks that this climate turns into rot and mold. The waterproofing and sealing details are not glamorous, but they are what keep a beautiful kitchen from developing hidden problems a few years down the line.
In older homes, expect the unexpected once demo starts. Outdated wiring, plumbing that is not up to code, and occasionally water or termite damage in the framing turn up regularly. A good contractor tells you about these the day they are found, with the cost to address them, rather than hiding them or springing them on you at the end.
A realistic timeline
A kitchen remodel is not a weekend job. Depending on the scope, most take somewhere from a few weeks to a couple of months from demo to finish. Custom cabinets have a lead time, so they are often ordered early and the schedule is built around when they arrive. Opening walls, moving plumbing and electrical, and inspections all add time.
The sequence usually runs: demo, then framing changes, then the rough-in for plumbing and electrical, then inspection, then drywall, then cabinets, then counters, then tile and finish work, then appliances and the final details. Skipping ahead or rushing a step, especially the rough-in and inspection, is how problems get sealed inside the walls.
We keep one crew on the job through all of it and keep you updated as it moves, so you are not left wondering what is happening in your own house.
Getting started
The best first step is a conversation about what you want the kitchen to do and a walkthrough of the space. From there we can talk through layout, what is possible with the walls you have, and a realistic budget and timeline. You get a written estimate before any work starts, and if something behind the walls changes the plan once we open them up, you hear about it right away.
Royal Builders has remodeled kitchens across Acadiana for more than 25 years. Call us at (337) 399-1790 for a free estimate.