Whole House Remodeling in Bountiful, Utah
Kitchen remodeling Bountiful Utah homeowners ask us about almost always starts with the same sentence: the kitchen is closed off from everything else. That is not a coincidence. The median Bountiful home was built in 1973, and kitchens from that era were designed as work rooms, walled off from the family room, with a peninsula or a half wall separating whoever was cooking from everyone else. Fifty years later that is the single most common reason people call. Ironwood Custom Builders opens those kitchens up properly, which means confirming what is structural before anything comes down, bringing the electrical up to current code rather than reusing two overloaded circuits, and permitting the work through Bountiful City. You get a complete itemized estimate before demolition, one project manager, and one schedule. It is the same process behind our custom homes and our kitchen remodeling work across the Wasatch Front.
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What Bountiful Kitchens Were Built Like
Bountiful is one of Utah’s oldest communities, settled in 1847, but its housing stock is mostly postwar. The median build year is 1973, and the ranch, split-level and split-entry homes that dominate the East Bench, Canyon Crest, Val Verda and North Canyon neighborhoods all share a kitchen layout that has aged in the same way.
What we find, over and over:
- A wall or peninsula between the kitchen and the family room. Whoever cooks is separated from whoever is in the room next door. This is the complaint we hear first on almost every Bountiful kitchen call.
- Soffits above the upper cabinets. Dropped bulkheads that cut the room’s visual height and waste a foot of storage. Sometimes they are hollow. Sometimes they carry ducting, plumbing vents or wiring, which is the difference between a simple removal and a redesign.
- Two circuits doing the work of seven. More on this below. It is the item that surprises people most.
- Sheet vinyl flooring over a plywood or particleboard subfloor. Both the flooring and the black mastic under it are asbestos suspects in a house of this age.
- A recirculating hood, or no ventilation at all. Filtered air pushed straight back into the room.
- A single basin sink under a small window, usually on the exterior wall, with the dishwasher added later on whatever drain line was reachable.
None of that is a defect. It is a 1973 kitchen doing exactly what a 1973 kitchen was built to do. The question is what it takes to make it a 2026 kitchen.
What a Bountiful Kitchen Remodel Covers
What Bountiful kitchens were built like
Bountiful’s ranch, split-level and split-entry homes share a kitchen layout that has aged the same way. What we find, over and over: a wall or peninsula separating the kitchen from the family room; soffits above the upper cabinets that cut the room’s height and waste a foot of storage; two circuits doing the work of seven; sheet vinyl flooring over black mastic; a recirculating hood or no ventilation at all; and a single-basin sink with a dishwasher added later on whatever drain line was reachable. None of that is a defect. It is a 1973 kitchen doing what a 1973 kitchen was built to do.
Opening the wall, and what has to happen first
Removing the wall between the kitchen and family room is the highest-impact change available here, and the one homeowners most often get talked into without a structural review. In a 1970s ranch or split-level the interior wall running parallel to the ridge is frequently bearing, and in that era it was common to frame it with no header because it was never meant to be opened. Split-entry homes add a wrinkle: the kitchen sits on the upper level with the main beam and posts running below, so what you remove upstairs has to land on something downstairs.
Before we quote, we trace the load path from the roof down, size the beam and posts so the point loads reach the foundation, identify any plumbing vents, ducting or wiring inside the wall that needs rerouting, and confirm the Bountiful City permit scope.
Electrical, and why the panel usually comes into it
A kitchen built in 1973 typically has two general-purpose circuits serving the whole room. Under the 2023 National Electrical Code that Utah adopted on July 1, 2026, a kitchen needs at least two 20-amp small-appliance branch circuits that are not permitted to serve lighting or anything else, GFCI protection at kitchen receptacles, AFCI protection on kitchen branch circuits, dedicated circuits for the dishwasher, refrigerator and a permanently mounted microwave, and receptacle spacing such that no point along the countertop wall is more than 24 inches from an outlet. A range hood generally requires its own individual branch circuit.
That adds up to five to seven new circuits, and a 1970s panel frequently lacks the capacity or the spaces for them, so a service upgrade becomes part of the project. We price it at design stage. A kitchen quote that does not mention the panel in a 1973 house is a quote that is going to change.
Ventilation, gas appliances and makeup air
Most Bountiful kitchens of this era have a recirculating hood or nothing. Under IRC Section M1503.6, an exhaust system capable of more than 400 CFM requires makeup air at approximately the same rate, but only when a fuel-burning appliance that is not direct-vent or mechanically drafted sits inside the home’s air barrier. That second condition is what matters here, because a 1970s Bountiful home very often has an atmospherically vented gas water heater or furnace. Without makeup air, a high-capacity hood can depressurize the house enough to pull combustion gases back down a flue. We check your actual appliances before specifying a hood, and size the hood, makeup air system and damper together.
Asbestos and lead under the surface
Residential materials made before roughly 1980 commonly contained asbestos, and two of the most common sit in Bountiful kitchens: sheet vinyl flooring and the black adhesive mastic under it. Intact flooring that stays put is generally left alone. Flooring being torn out is identified before demolition rather than discovered during it. Lead paint is the same story on trim and cabinetry, since residential lead paint was not banned until 1978. We include a pre-demolition assessment, and any required removal is handled by licensed specialists under containment.
Cabinetry, countertops and lighting
Removing the soffits and running cabinetry to the ceiling recovers storage and makes a 1970s room read as current. Deep drawer lowers beat shelved base cabinets for anyone who cooks, and a walk-in or pull-out pantry is the most requested addition in Bountiful kitchens. Once the wall is out, whether the island can carry a sink or cooktop depends on routing plumbing and gas through the floor system, which is a design-stage question. With most Bountiful clients staying put, durability matters more than trend, and our breakdown of quartz versus granite countertops covers the tradeoffs. A 1973 kitchen usually has one ceiling fixture; layered task, ambient and island lighting changes how the room feels more than any single finish. See the standard we hold in our kitchen remodeling work and project gallery.
Why Choose Ironwood in Bountiful
Bountiful City permitting, not Davis County. Bountiful runs its own building department at 795 South Main Street, and permits go through the city’s CityInspect portal. Davis County only issues permits for unincorporated land. Residential single-family plan review runs at 10 percent of the permit fee, and inspections are scheduled by phone rather than online. Our project managers work inside that process rather than learning it on your job.
We price the panel and the beam before you commit. The two biggest sources of mid-project change orders on a 1970s kitchen are discovering the wall is bearing and discovering the panel is full. Both are knowable during design.
Structure and finish work under one roof. The crews that build our custom homes handle the framing, beam and electrical work, so you are not coordinating an engineer, an electrician, a cabinet company and a fabricator yourself.
Award-winning craftsmanship. Recognized across nearly every category of the Parade of Homes, plus Salt Lake Home Builders Association Builder of the Year.
On-time, on-budget guarantee. Our pre-construction process is detailed enough that surprises are rare, and our on-time, on-budget guarantee backs the schedule.
How Your Bountiful Kitchen Remodel Unfolds
- Free consultation. We visit your Bountiful home, look at the layout, the wall in question, the panel and the existing ventilation, and give you an initial estimate. Schedule yours.
- Design and assessment. Layout and selections, structural review of any wall coming out, an electrical load assessment, and a pre-demolition assessment for asbestos and lead. Fixed scope and price locked here.
- Permitting. We submit through Bountiful City’s CityInspect portal and manage plan review comments.
- Demolition. Selective demolition, with any required abatement handled first by licensed specialists under containment.
- Structural and rough-in. Beam and posts if the wall is opening, then electrical, plumbing, gas and ventilation rough-in, with inspections at each stage.
- Finishes and final walkthrough. Drywall, flooring, cabinetry, countertop templating and install, tile, lighting and appliances, then a detailed walkthrough. See our reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Bountiful, Utah?
Ironwood’s published range for a full kitchen remodel in Bountiful is $45,000 to $95,000. Where a project lands depends on whether a bearing wall is coming out, whether the electrical panel needs upgrading, cabinetry level, countertop material and whether any asbestos or lead abatement is required. You get a complete itemized estimate for your specific kitchen before demolition begins rather than a per-square-foot average.
Do I need a permit to remodel a kitchen in Bountiful, and does it go through Davis County?
You need a permit for structural, electrical, plumbing or mechanical work, and it goes through Bountiful City, not Davis County. Bountiful operates its own building department at 795 South Main Street and takes applications through its CityInspect portal. Davis County only permits unincorporated land. Residential single-family plan review runs at 10 percent of the permit fee, and inspections are scheduled by phone. Ironwood handles the application and every inspection.
Can I take out the wall between my kitchen and family room?
Usually yes, but it has to be engineered rather than assumed. In 1970s Bountiful ranch and split-level homes the interior wall running parallel to the ridge is often bearing and was frequently framed with no header, since it was never meant to be opened. In a split-entry the load has to be carried down to the level below. We trace the load path and size the beam before quoting, so the structural cost is in your number from the start.
Why does a kitchen remodel need electrical work in an older Bountiful home?
Because a 1973 kitchen typically has two circuits and current code requires far more. Under the 2023 National Electrical Code that Utah adopted on July 1, 2026, a kitchen needs at least two dedicated 20-amp small-appliance circuits that cannot serve anything else, GFCI protection at kitchen receptacles, AFCI protection, and separate dedicated circuits for the dishwasher, refrigerator and a permanently mounted microwave. That usually works out to five to seven new circuits, and in a home of this age the existing panel often lacks the capacity, so a service upgrade becomes part of the project.
Do I need makeup air for a new range hood?
Possibly, and it depends on more than the hood. Under IRC Section M1503.6, an exhaust system capable of more than 400 CFM requires makeup air at approximately the same rate when a fuel-burning appliance that is not direct-vent or mechanically drafted sits inside the home’s air barrier. Many 1970s Bountiful homes have an atmospherically vented gas water heater or furnace, so the requirement often applies. Without makeup air, a high-capacity hood can depressurize the house enough to pull combustion gases back down a flue.
