InstaBids

How many kitchen remodeling bids should I compare?

Ask more than one kitchen remodeling company for a written estimate, following FTC home improvement advice to get multiple estimates, then hold every bid to one kitchen plan: layout, cabinets, countertops, sink and appliance hookups, hood venting, wall changes, any permit and debris haul-away, since extra bids help little when each one prices a different kitchen.

Source: FTC home improvement hiring guidance, read 15 October 2026.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 15 October 2026 Updated 2026-10-16

A large remodeled open kitchen with a long island, pendant lights and light cabinets.

Key facts

Why do bids for one job differ?

Check what each kitchen remodeling bid moves before weighing totals. One company may keep the sink, range and walls where they are, while another relocates a drain, adds appliance circuits, runs a new hood duct or opens a wall, and every one of those choices rewrites your written scope behind the new cabinet doors.

Ask every company to spell out materials, because the FTC's home improvement advice lists what a written estimate covers: "Get multiple estimates. A written estimate should include a description of the work to be done, materials, completion date, and the price." Have each company name its cabinet line and box material, its countertop slab and edge profile, and who supplies the range, dishwasher and refrigerator.

Source: FTC home improvement hiring guidance, read 15 October 2026.

Ask how each bid handles a gas range. EPA's nitrogen dioxide page, read 15 October 2026, lists this step: "Install and use an exhaust fan vented to outdoors over gas stoves." A hood that recirculates through a filter and a hood ducted through an outside wall or the roof are different line items, so ask every bidder which one it assumed and where the duct leaves the house.

Source: EPA nitrogen dioxide and indoor air quality, read 15 October 2026.

On its lead renovation page, EPA warns: "Any renovation, repair or painting project in a pre-1978 home or building that has lead-based paint can easily create dangerous lead dust." If your house predates 1978, ask each company how demolition of painted soffits, trim and old cabinets will be sealed off from the rest of the home and cleaned up.

Source: EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, read 15 October 2026.

InstaBids gets you competitive written quotes without calls or home visits to bid; contractors never pay to see a request or to bid, and there is no fee during our pilot.

Post your request

When is a comparison less useful?

Treat a kitchen that keeps its layout and a kitchen that moves a wall, sink, range or gas line as two separate jobs, and pick one before collecting more bids. Until you choose, each new estimate guesses at a different written scope.

On its What Requires a License page, read 15 October 2026, DBPR's contractor table places this entry in its Needs a DBPR License column: "Remodel a home that requires alteration or replacement of a load-bearing wall for compensation." Beside it, the Does not need a DBPR License column reads: "Paint; install cabinets, wood or tile flooring, and insulation regardless of compensation."

Source: DBPR, What Requires a License, read 15 October 2026.

The next row of that table lists under Needs a DBPR License: "Installation or replacement of drywall if the contract also includes work on the load bearing part of the wall, plumbing, electrical, or air conditioning work." Swapping cabinets, counters and tile is a different scope from opening walls for new pipes or wiring, so ask each bidder in writing which parts of yours it hands to another trade.

Source: DBPR, What Requires a License, read 15 October 2026.

How can I ask several companies the same questions?

Start with a single kitchen sketch showing wall lengths, windows and doors, where the sink, range, refrigerator and dishwasher sit today and where you want them, and each cabinet run. Hand that sketch and one photograph set to every bidder, and put the five questions below to each of them in the same order.

  1. Cabinets: ask whether the boxes are stock, semi-custom or custom, when the order is placed, and how long the bid assumes delivery takes.
  2. Countertops: ask whether the fabricator templates after the base cabinets are set, and who cuts the sink and cooktop openings and installs the backsplash.
  3. Plumbing: ask whether the sink, dishwasher, disposal and any ice maker line stay in place, and who connects each one.
  4. Electrical: ask which appliances get their own circuit, whether your panel has room for them, and who wires any under-cabinet lights.
  5. Gas and venting: ask who disconnects and reconnects a gas range, and whether the hood duct runs through a wall or the roof.

Should I ask whether a quotation has a charge?

Ask each kitchen company, in writing, whether its design drawings, renderings and field measurements come with the estimate or are billed as their own design service. A design appointment is not the remodel, and your written scope should show which of the two you would be agreeing to.

Ask too who keeps the drawings if you pick another company, and whether any cabinet order goes in before any permit is issued.

What should my request include?

Describe the kitchen in pictures and words. Photograph every wall, the open sink cabinet with its pipes, the range connection, the electrical panel label and any soffits; then write out the layout, cabinet and counter choices, appliances kept or replaced, the year your home was built and how long you can live without the room.

Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 15 October 2026.

What should I do when written bids arrive?

Read each written kitchen remodeling bid beside your sketch, checking cabinet runs, countertop slab, appliance list, plumbing and circuit changes, hood venting and debris haul-away line by line. Where they match, ask who applies for any permit, whose name goes on it, and which trades handle plumbing, electrical and gas work.

DBPR's Understanding DBPR Codes table, read 15 October 2026, includes Certified General Contractor, Certified Building Contractor and Certified Residential Contractor, Registered General Contractor, Registered Building Contractor and Registered Residential Contractor, and separate Certified Plumbing Contractor and Registered Plumbing Contractor entries. You can ask each bidder which category its record shows; looking up that public DBPR record yourself is optional.

Source: DBPR, Understanding DBPR Codes, read 15 October 2026.

Cabinet and countertop timing is the line to settle between kitchen bids that look alike. A bid with a cabinet order date, a countertop template date and an install date tells you when the room is usable again; if another bid skips those dates, request them in writing from that company rather than adding one more estimate.

Next: How InstaBids works, Florida hiring checklist.

InstaBids is in an early pilot in Broward and Palm Beach counties. InstaBids is new in your area, so finding contractors can take longer, and a request may get no bids.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Pilot FAQ, read 15 October 2026.

Sources for the facts on this page

Sources checked: 15 October 2026.

Parent: InstaBids home.