A full kitchen remodel means gutting the space to the studs or block, then rebuilding every layer — layout, rough electrical and plumbing, cabinetry, countertops, flooring, lighting, and appliances — as one coordinated project rather than a series of swaps. It’s the right scope when the kitchen’s problem isn’t one outdated finish but the whole room: a layout that fights how the family actually cooks, cabinets and counters original to a home built decades ago, or electrical and plumbing that were never sized for a modern kitchen.

Across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, a huge share of the housing stock dates to the 1960s-1990s, meaning the kitchen being remodeled today is often original or close to it. That makes a full remodel as much an infrastructure project as a design project — the rough-in behind the walls usually needs as much attention as what’s visible.

Elbaz Construction runs full kitchen remodels as a licensed general contractor project: one permit umbrella, one team coordinating the electrician, plumber, and cabinet installers in the right order, and one point of accountability from demo to final inspection.

A full remodel almost always pulls a building permit with electrical, plumbing, and sometimes mechanical sub-permits underneath it, each requiring its own licensed contractor and its own inspection. The sequence matters: rough electrical and plumbing get inspected before drywall goes up, insulation gets inspected where applicable, and a final inspection closes out the project. Trying to compress or skip that sequence is the single most common reason unpermitted kitchen work becomes a problem later — Florida homeowner’s insurance policies typically exclude claims tied to unpermitted structural, electrical, or plumbing work, which matters at claim time and at resale.

The order of operations on a full remodel isn’t arbitrary — demolition happens first, then rough electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work, then inspections, then insulation and drywall, then cabinet installation, then countertop templating (which can only happen once cabinets are set and appliance specs are confirmed), then backsplash, fixtures, and final trim. Skipping ahead — ordering countertops before cabinets are installed, for example — is one of the more common and avoidable sources of delay and cost overruns on remodels not run by a general contractor managing the full sequence.

• Layout changes — Moving a sink, range, or refrigerator location means relocating plumbing, gas, or dedicated electrical circuits, which adds real cost beyond a like-for-like swap.
• Cabinet tier — Stock, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry occupy very different price bands and are typically the single largest line item in the budget.
• Countertop material — Quartz, granite, marble, and porcelain/sintered stone vary widely in material and fabrication cost.
• Appliance package — Builder-grade versus professional-grade or integrated/panel-ready appliances is one of the widest cost swings in a full remodel.
• Structural and permit complexity — Flood-zone status, any wall changes, and the number of required inspections all affect both cost and timeline.
• Finish level — Flooring material, lighting design, backsplash, and hardware selections compound across a full remodel in a way they don’t in a single-surface update.