Serving Catalina Foothills
Kitchen Remodeling in the Catalina Foothills
A custom-home market, which means no two kitchens are the same and none of them can be honestly priced from a walkthrough.
✦ September Bathroom Event — free design consultation plus one premium upgrade included. Book by September 30. Call (520) 548-2125 left
Serving Catalina Foothills
A custom-home market, which means no two kitchens are the same and none of them can be honestly priced from a walkthrough.
Why this is different here
Everywhere else in the metro we can price a kitchen partly from the floor plan, because tract builders repeat plans. In the Foothills there is no repetition. Territorial houses with viga ceilings, mid-century post-and-beam, and contemporary builds with structural glass all sit on the same street, and each needs surveying individually.
Not because of the postcode. Because of four things that are genuinely different here.
No standard details. Cabinet runs, structural layouts, mechanical routing and ceiling construction all have to be established on site before anything is priced. We spend longer at survey in the Foothills than anywhere else we work, because the alternative is a number that will not hold.
Viga and beam ceilings. On territorial and Santa Fe houses the exposed vigas frequently are the structure. That kills the easy route for range hood ducting and recessed lighting, and the answer is a designed solution rather than a site improvisation.
Solid masonry walls. Deep masonry means electrical cannot be chased the way it can through studs, and any opening needs an engineer.
County permitting. The Foothills is unincorporated Pima County despite Tucson mailing addresses, so it is Pima County Development Services rather than City of Tucson PDSD. Different requirements, different review times.
Almost always, a better relationship between the kitchen and the view.
These houses were sited for the Catalinas to the north or the city lights to the south, and often both. The kitchen frequently was not. Opening the kitchen into the living space, or moving glass to capture what the lot actually offers, is the brief behind a large share of Foothills kitchen projects.
The discipline is doing that without creating an oven. North glazing is a gift here, giving even usable light all year with almost no heat gain. West-facing glass takes the full low afternoon sun in July and needs shading or high-performance glazing, or the room is uncomfortable at exactly the hour you want to be in it.
Many Foothills properties fall within Pima County's Hillside Development Overlay Zone, Code Chapter 18.61, which regulates grading, cut and fill, slope disturbance, retaining structures and revegetation.
For an interior kitchen remodel that usually does not bite. It matters when the project grows to include an addition, an expanded terrace, or anything that adds footprint. We check whether your parcel sits within it at feasibility, because it can constrain where new structure may go.
Straight Answers
| Scope | Typical Catalina Foothills range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen refresh, cabinets stay | $35,000 – $70,000 | Higher than the metro baseline because finish expectations are. |
| Mid-range, new cabinetry, same footprint | $70,000 – $120,000 | Semi-custom to custom cabinetry. |
| Full remodel with layout change | $120,000 – $250,000+ | Custom everything, wall removal, relocated plumbing. |
| Opening a solid masonry wall | $12,000 – $25,000 | Beam, posts, footings and engineering. |
| Range hood routing through a viga ceiling | $2,500 – $9,000 | Designed solution, not a site fix. |
| Slab plumbing relocation | $4,000 – $12,000 | Same concrete work as the rest of the metro. |
Market ranges for 2026, not quotes. Full detail on the Tucson remodeling cost guide.
Catalina Foothills Questions
No. It is unincorporated Pima County, permitted by Pima County Development Services, despite addresses using Tucson as the mailing city.
Requirements, fees and review times differ from City of Tucson PDSD. A contractor who works mainly inside the city limits will quote your schedule wrong.
Generally above the metro baseline: roughly $35,000 to $70,000 for a refresh, $70,000 to $120,000 for new cabinetry in the same footprint, and $120,000 and up for a full remodel with layout changes.
The reasons are structural rather than opportunistic. Custom houses with no repeated details, solid masonry, beam ceilings, higher finish expectations and county permitting.
Yes, and they are among the most interesting projects in the metro. The essential thing is respecting what the architecture is doing rather than treating the style as decoration.
Exposed vigas are frequently structural, so a ceiling cannot simply be opened for ducting or recessed cans. That gets designed, not improvised on site.
Because there is no standard plan to price from. In a tract community we often know the floor plan before we arrive. Here, every house is one of one.
Structural layout, ceiling construction, mechanical routing and wall composition all have to be established before a number means anything. A custom house quoted from a quick walkthrough produces an estimate that moves.
Keep Exploring
Ends September 30 · left
Sign a full bathroom remodel by September 30 and pick one premium upgrade, included at no cost. Not a discount — an actual upgrade to the finished room, specified and installed as part of the build.
Custom-templated to your finished walls after tile. The single upgrade that most changes how a bathroom reads.
Electric in-floor heat under the tile, on its own thermostat. Impossible to retrofit later without pulling the floor up again.
A step up in cabinetry and countertop material — the two things you touch every morning for the next fifteen years.
One upgrade per household, on full bathroom remodels signed by September 30, 2026. Upgrade is specified during design and installed with the project; it cannot be exchanged for a credit or discount. Consultations and written estimates are always free and carry no obligation.
Free consultation and a written, itemised estimate for your actual house.