What Does A Whole-House Renovation Cost in 2026?

What does it cost to remodel an entire house? Like most remodeling questions, the answer is: it depends, but at Home Front, we believe homeowners should have a realistic budget range before spending a lot of time developing plans and selections.

A full-home remodel can mean very different things to different people. For the examples below, we’re talking about a substantial interior renovation that includes a full gut and remodel of the kitchen, master bathroom and hall bathroom, plus new flooring and paint throughout the house. Depending on the home, the project may also include lighting updates, trim and baseboards, doors, fireplace updates, stair work, closet improvements, or other cosmetic changes.

These are not firm estimates for a specific home, but based on the types of projects we routinely build in Fort Worth and the surrounding area, they are good budgetary numbers to start with.

For a fairly typical project with good-quality, midrange finishes:

• 1,700 square-foot home: approximately $120,000
• 2,400 square-foot home: approximately $150,000
• 3,200 square-foot home: approximately $200,000

Those numbers are not meant to suggest that remodeling cost is simply a fixed price per square foot. Kitchens and bathrooms are much more expensive per square foot than bedrooms, hallways and living rooms. A 1,700-square-foot house and a 2,400-square-foot house may have similarly sized kitchens and the same number of bathrooms, so the larger house does not necessarily cost proportionally more to remodel.

For budgeting purposes, we’re assuming a scope something like this:

• Full kitchen gut and remodel, including new cabinets, countertops, backsplash, flooring, lighting and paint
• Full master bathroom remodel, including shower, tub where applicable, vanity, countertops, plumbing fixtures, flooring, lighting and paint
• Full hall bathroom remodel
• New flooring throughout most or all of the house
• Interior painting throughout
• Typical trim, baseboard and finish repairs associated with the remodel
• Reasonable electrical and plumbing updates required to complete the work

Appliance costs are not included in kitchen remodeling costs – the homeowner typically provides those separately from the remodel – but installation cost is included. Likewise, major structural work, extensive window replacement, HVAC replacement, foundation repairs, roofing, or major exterior work would generally be additional.

Two houses with exactly the same floor plan can have very different remodeling costs depending on the products selected.

Flooring is a good example. LVP can provide a durable, attractive floor at a relatively modest installed cost. Engineered hardwood or wood-like porcelain tile is more expensive, but gives a more upscale feel. Site-finished solid hardwood can cost more still, especially when the project involves extensive floor preparation, custom stain colors or tying new flooring into existing wood.

Countertops work the same way. A good granite can be a very cost-effective natural-stone option. Quartz offers tremendous consistency, a huge range of colors and patterns, and very low maintenance. Quartzite and other premium natural stones can be considerably more expensive, both for the slabs themselves and because some materials require more fabrication care.

Cabinetry can range from high-quality ready-made cabinets to fully custom cabinetry. Plumbing fixtures, decorative lighting, shower glass, hardware and appliances can all move the budget up or down.

That doesn’t mean you need to choose the least expensive option in every category to stay within budget. Usually, the best approach is to decide where you want to spend more and where a more practical selection will look great and perform just as well.

The figures above assume that we are primarily remodeling the existing interior footprint. Some wall removal, plumbing relocation and electrical changes can usually be incorporated, but extensive reconfiguration can move the project above these ranges.

Removing a load-bearing wall may require an engineered beam and new structural supports. Moving a kitchen sink or relocating a toilet can require significant plumbing work, particularly in a slab-foundation home. Changing the location of a kitchen, creating a completely new bathroom, moving staircases, or substantially altering the floor plan can all add cost.

This is one reason our design team works closely with our estimators. Sometimes a relatively small design change can create a much better layout without adding much cost. Other times, a change that looks simple on paper can have major structural, plumbing or electrical implications. It’s better to understand those tradeoffs early.

A full-home remodel can be a large investment, but doing several areas at the same time can also be more efficient than remodeling them separately over several years.

There is only one mobilization period. Demolition, dumpsters, protection, painting and flooring can be coordinated as one project. Trades can often move through the house more efficiently. And perhaps most importantly, the design can be coordinated so the kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, paint, lighting and trim all feel intentional rather than looking like a series of unrelated projects completed at different times.

For reference, our current budget guidance for individual projects puts many midsize kitchens in roughly the $35,000–$60,000 range, spacious master bathrooms around $32,000–$45,000, and typical hall bathrooms around $17,000–$20,000. Once you combine those spaces and add whole-house flooring, painting and related finish work, the full-home budget ranges above become fairly easy to understand.

To recap, if you are considering a full-home remodel, a useful starting point is:

• Around $120,000 for a 1,700-square-foot home
• Around $150,000 for a 2,400-square-foot home
• Around $200,000 for a 3,200-square-foot home

A project with simpler finishes and very little reconfiguration may come in below those numbers. A project with extensive custom cabinetry, premium natural stone, high-end hardwood flooring, luxury plumbing fixtures or major floor-plan changes can go well above them.

The goal of these numbers is not to tell you exactly what your remodel will cost before we see the house. It is to help answer the more useful early question: “Are we generally thinking about the right budget?”

If you are, the next step is to look at the house, discuss what you want to change, and identify the choices that will have the biggest effect on cost. From there, we can help develop a design and scope that balances the way you want the home to look and function with the amount you want to invest.

We want to help you build a home that feels new again—without having to move.

If you don’t know where to start with your space, our designers have experience creating cohesive homes of all shapes and sizes. If you need planning help, or if you’re struggling to visualize your idea, we offer in-house floor plan and 3D rendering services. Read more about our interior design team and their process.

We want to help you build your dream home!