Before you commit to anything, it’s worth knowing what a full refit actually involves financially, because the number that eventually lands on your kitchen table can be a lot bigger than the one you started with.
What’s actually included in a “kitchen refit”?
A full kitchen refit isn’t just new doors and a worktop. It typically means stripping the room back to the walls and floor, then rebuilding it from scratch: new cabinet carcasses, new worktops, new flooring, often new plumbing and electrics to move a sink or add extra sockets, then plastering, painting and a full fit. Every one of those stages adds its own cost and its own time, which is exactly why refit quotes creep upward the longer you look into them.
Kitchen refit cost UK: the real 2026 numbers
Labour and fitting costs
Labour alone is a significant chunk of any refit. A typical kitchen fitter day rate in 2026 runs at £250 to £350 a day, and for labour-only fitting on a full kitchen, MyJobQuote’s 2026 pricing data puts the typical range at £1,700 to £3,000, before you’ve bought a single cabinet.
Full project cost, cabinets to worktops
Add materials, appliances and the odd bit of building work most refits end up needing, and the total for a full kitchen refit in the UK commonly lands somewhere between £8,000 and £25,000, with high-end refits running well beyond that. Where you land in that range depends on kitchen size, the quality of units and worktop you choose, and how much of the existing layout you’re changing rather than keeping.
Why full refit costs add up so quickly
It’s rarely one big number, it’s a stack of smaller ones. New cabinets. A new worktop. Removing the old kitchen and disposing of it. Making good the walls and floor underneath. Moving a socket six inches to the left because the new layout needs it there. None of those are unreasonable costs individually, but they add up fast, and so does the time on site.
“The bit people underestimate isn’t the units, it’s everything that has to happen before the units go in. Strip-out, first fix electrics, plastering, drying time. That’s where weeks disappear, not just pounds.”
— Andy, Director, Kitchen Makeover Expert
That’s also, practically speaking, where the disruption lives. A full refit typically takes several weeks, during which your kitchen is often unusable, which for most households means a temporary kitchen setup in another room for the duration.
Is there a cheaper way to get the same fresh look?
If what you actually want is a kitchen that looks new rather than a kitchen that’s been entirely rebuilt, replacing the doors and fitting a quartz overlay on your existing worktops gets you there without most of the cost drivers above. The carcasses, plumbing and electrics stay exactly where they are, so there’s no strip-out, no first-fix rewiring, no weeks of drying time. It’s why Kitchen Makeover Expert can turn a kitchen around in as little as 2 to 3 days and save up to 50% against a full refit, because the most expensive and time-consuming parts of a refit simply aren’t needed.
Finance is also available if you’d rather spread the cost: 0% APR, buy now pay monthly options are available on makeovers, which is worth knowing before you assume a full refit is the only route to a kitchen that looks and feels new.
Kitchen refit vs kitchen makeover: which is right for you?
A full refit makes sense if you’re changing the layout itself: moving the sink, adding an island, knocking through a wall. If the layout already works and it’s just looking tired, a makeover is very often the more sensible spend. We’ve broken down what a kitchen makeover typically costs in more detail if you want to compare the two side by side before deciding.
How much does it cost to refit a kitchen?
Based on current UK trade pricing, a full kitchen refit typically costs between £8,000 and £25,000 depending on size and specification, with labour alone commonly running £1,700 to £3,000. A door replacement and worktop overlay makeover, by contrast, can save up to 50% against those figures and be completed in 2 to 3 days rather than several weeks. Exact pricing always depends on your specific kitchen, which is why a free home visit is the best next step either way.
Ready to see what your options actually cost? Book a free home visit and we’ll give you a straight answer, no strip-out required.
