A 22 m² kitchen is the most expensive room in any SA home, per square metre. It is also the room that homeowners most consistently under-budget. Here is the real cost of a complete kitchen rebuild in 2026, with the assumptions on the table.
The scope: a full strip-out, replacement of plumbing and electrical first-fix, new floor screed, new tiling, new cabinetry, new appliances, new island, and three new windows. Standard suburban finish — not luxury, not basic.
The numbers
| Line | Spec | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition & disposal | Strip out, skip hire | R 18 000 |
| First-fix plumbing | Re-route to new layout | R 24 000 |
| First-fix electrical | New circuits, DB upgrade | R 32 000 |
| Floor screed & waterproofing | 22 m² | R 14 000 |
| Window replacement (×3) | Aluminium, double-glazed | R 28 000 |
| Plastering & paint prep | 60 m² wall surface | R 16 000 |
| Floor tiling | Porcelain, R 380/m² | R 18 500 |
| Wall tiling (splashback) | Subway, R 320/m² | R 4 600 |
| Cabinetry (carcasses) | 24 LM, marine ply | R 96 000 |
| Cabinetry doors | Polyurethane, satin | R 64 000 |
| Stone tops (engineered) | 8 m² Quartzite | R 42 000 |
| Island carcass + top | 1.2m × 2.4m | R 38 000 |
| Sink, mixer, dispenser | Mid-range SA brand | R 14 500 |
| Appliances (hob, oven, hood, fridge, DW) | Bosch / Smeg mix | R 78 000 |
| Lighting (downlights × 8, pendants × 3) | LED, dimmable | R 12 500 |
| Painting (walls + ceilings) | Plascon Premium | R 9 800 |
| Skirting & cornice | Replace | R 6 400 |
| Final clean & snag | R 3 500 | |
| Subtotal | R 520 800 | |
| Contractor margin & overheads | 18% | R 93 700 |
| Contingency | 10% | R 52 100 |
| Total | R 666 600 |
That is R 30 300 per square metre — about 2.3× the per-m² rate of a new build in Gauteng. Kitchens are dense with services, joinery and finishes; the rate is high because the m² is small.
What's not in this quote
- PC items above allowance. Stone, taps and appliances are listed at fair mid-range pricing. If you choose Caesarstone over the basic quartzite line, add R 18 000.
- Structural work. Removing a load-bearing wall is R 25 000 – R 60 000 depending on the span (engineer + lintel + builder + making good).
- Living without a kitchen. Three weeks of takeaways and one ruined microwave: R 8 000 – R 12 000.
- Decant or temporary kitchen. Hire of a portable kitchen pod runs ~R 4 500 / week if you can't function on a hot plate.
Where to spend and where not to
Spend on cabinetry carcasses (marine ply or 16mm moisture-resistant board), the stone top, and the hood. These last decades.
Don't spend on lighting, taps, or the sink — mid-range here lasts as long as luxury, and is half the price.
Skip entirely: integrated handles (they fail), gloss white doors (they yellow), wine fridges that aren't wine fridges (built-in versions are 3× the price of equivalent freestanding).
Programme
- Week 1: Demolition and first-fix services
- Week 2: Screeds, plaster, waterproofing
- Week 3: Tiling and window installation
- Week 4: Cabinetry installation, stone templating
- Week 5: Stone installation, sanitaryware, appliances
- Week 6: Paint, snag, handover
Build in a week of float. Stone delivery delays are the most common cause of overruns — your kitchen sits unusable while the supplier finishes the slab.
The bottom line
A complete mid-finish kitchen rebuild in Gauteng or the Cape in 2026 is R 600 000 – R 750 000 for 22 m². If a builder quotes you R 400 000 without a detailed BOQ, they are not building the same kitchen. Get three quotes against this BOQ as the benchmark.