Kitchen Remodeling in Delray Beach
Kitchen Renovations in Delray Beach Are Usually Bigger Than They Look
A kitchen renovation in a Delray home is usually not just a kitchen project. The houses here, particularly the older single-family stock around downtown and the Atlantic Avenue corridor, have original electrical, original plumbing, and load-bearing walls that have to come out to deliver a modern layout. By the time the dust settles, what started inside the kitchen has touched the structure, the systems, and often the spaces on either side. Homeowners who go in expecting a six-week refresh are usually surprised. The work is worth doing well. It is rarely small.
Palmhouse Design & Build has been doing this work for 20+ years. We are based at 801 Maplewood Dr, Suite 25, Jupiter, FL 33458. Our Florida General Contractor license is CGC1537109. We are a women-owned and Latino-owned firm. Consultations are by appointment. Call 561-831-4170 to schedule.
What We Find When We Open Up an Older Kitchen
What follows is a sequence of what we typically encounter behind the walls in older Delray homes and what we do about it.
Original electrical at the panel. What we typically find: 100-amp service that is no longer adequate for a current kitchen. Knob-and-tube remnants in some 1940s homes. Aluminum branch wiring in some 1970s ones. Our scope usually includes a panel upgrade and full kitchen-area rewiring, because doing it while the walls are open is the only time it makes sense.
Cast-iron drain and galvanized supply. Original plumbing systems that have outlived their useful life. The cast-iron drain stack will eventually fail at the seams. The galvanized supply line will eventually clog with mineral deposits. We typically replace drain and supply during the kitchen renovation. Opening the walls is the cheapest time to do it.
Load-bearing walls in unexpected places. Older Delray homes often have load-bearing interior walls between the kitchen and the dining room. Removing them to create the open kitchen layout requires structural engineering review and a properly engineered beam replacement. The City of Delray Beach Building Department requires engineered drawings, and we submit them in-house.
Outdated venting. Kitchen vents through the roof that do not meet current code, or no real venting at all. Our scope includes high-CFM ventilation built into the cabinetry envelope with proper exterior termination, sized for actual cooking volume.
Slab or crawlspace surprises. Plumbing routing through slabs, crawlspaces with original ductwork, asbestos-containing materials in some 1940s homes. We test before we cut. Abatement is handled separately when needed and documented for the homeowner’s records. Surprises behind the walls are the most common reason renovations go over budget. Surfacing them in the first week, not the eighth, is how we keep the project on track.
Working With City of Delray Beach Permitting and Structural Review
A full-systems renovation involves multiple permits in parallel: a building permit, a structural permit when load-bearing wall removal is part of scope, an electrical permit, and a plumbing permit. The City of Delray Beach Building Department reviews each on its own track. We coordinate the full package in-house. The submittal package includes the structural engineer’s calculations and drawings for any load-bearing change, the electrical scope drawn against the existing panel, and the plumbing scope drawn against the existing risers. Permit timelines vary with scope and with how busy the Building Department is at the time of submittal. We set realistic expectations during the consultation, build the permit timeline into the master schedule from kick-off, and surface delays the day they happen rather than three weeks later when they cascade.
Modern Function Inside a Home With Historic Exterior Character
Many homeowners chose their home for the character of the exterior and the streetscape. The renovation has to deliver modern function without breaking the architectural character visible from the street. We work to preserve original windows, exterior trim, and roofline character on the exposed elevations. Where the home sits in a historic-district overlay or near one, we coordinate with the City’s review requirements during design rather than after demolition. Interior modernization that maintains exterior character is a real design discipline, not a marketing line. The street view of the home looks the same in the after photo as in the before. The interior does not.
The discipline runs deeper than just preserving the front facade. Window proportions matter. The replacement window we specify needs to read correctly from the street even if the glass spec underneath is a current impact-rated assembly. Original interior trim profiles get documented and replicated where new walls go in. Original tile fields that need to come up get photographed first so the replacement reads as a continuation rather than a substitution. Browse our kitchen design portfolio for examples of how the discipline reads in finished projects.
Our Team and Process
Palmhouse Design & Build holds Florida General Contractor license CGC1537109. 20+ years of South Florida construction experience. Women-owned and Latino-owned. Jonathan Barrig and Gabriel Barrig hold Certified General Contractor credentials. Jason Vassalotti, our OSHA-certified project manager, brings 20+ years of construction experience. Read our full design and build process, browse our whole-house renovation portfolio, meet the Palmhouse team, and learn about Palmhouse Design & Build.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you handle full electrical and plumbing replacement as part of kitchen renovations in older Delray homes?
Yes. Almost every kitchen renovation we do in an older home in this market includes a panel upgrade, full kitchen rewiring, and replacement of drain and supply plumbing in the kitchen area. Doing it while the walls are open is the only time it makes sense.
Do you handle load-bearing wall removal with structural engineering review?
Yes. We coordinate structural engineering for any load-bearing wall removal during kitchen renovations. The City of Delray Beach Building Department requires engineered drawings, and we submit them in-house. Our license is CGC1537109.
Do you work in homes with historic-district character?
Yes. Many of our local kitchen renovations are in homes with historic-character exteriors. We work to preserve the architectural character visible from the street while delivering modern function inside.
Do you serve all of Delray Beach, including downtown, beachside, and country-club neighborhoods?
Yes. We renovate kitchens throughout Delray Beach, including downtown and Atlantic Avenue-area homes, beachside properties, and country-club communities. Consultations are by appointment. Call 561-831-4170.
How long does a kitchen renovation typically take?
Length varies with scope. Full-systems renovations of older homes take longer than surface-level refreshes. The design and permitting phase often takes longer than homeowners expect. We set realistic expectations during the consultation. Call 561-831-4170 to discuss your home.
Start a Conversation
Kitchen remodeling in Delray Beach, full-systems older-home scope. By appointment. Florida General Contractor license CGC1537109. Call 561-831-4170 to schedule a consultation.