Kitchen Remodeling in Baltimore City

How do you fit a modern kitchen into a Baltimore rowhouse?

By planning the cabinet run before choosing a single finish. In a brick row the kitchen width is fixed by the party walls, so the questions are where the sink, range and refrigerator go relative to the existing drain and gas line, and how many inches of counter that leaves. U.S. Census estimates show half of Baltimore’s homes are attached, so this is the kitchen most City homeowners are working with.

Layouts that work in narrow spaces:

• True galley. Cabinets on both walls with a walkway between. One we finished pairs white shaker cabinets with a stainless gas range and refrigerator.
• Single wall plus a short return. Good when a back door or basement stair takes up one wall.
• Compact kitchen with laundry. One of our finished kitchens fits gray cabinets, granite counters, a gas range and a stacked washer and dryer in a small footprint.

The wider mid-century “daylight” rowhouses give a little more room, and detached houses may allow an L-shape or island. One L-shaped kitchen we built has light gray shaker cabinets, quartz counters and a subway tile backsplash.

Which parts of a City kitchen remodel need permits?

The finish work doesn’t, and the systems work does. The City’s exempt list covers cabinets, countertops, tiling, painting and similar interior finishes. New or replaced plumbing, gas, electrical and mechanical fixtures, devices and appliance hookups need permits, and those permits are issued only to licensed trades: a City-licensed master plumber or master gas fitter for the sink, dishwasher and gas range, and a City-licensed electrician for circuits, lighting, switches and receptacles.

That means a “cabinets only” job can stay permit-free, while a full remodel usually needs at least an electrical and a plumbing permit. The licensed trades pull those permits under their own City licenses, and we list at the estimate which ones yours needs.

Opening the kitchen to the dining room

Taking down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room is a common goal in an older row. The City treats removing or opening walls as an alteration that needs scaled drawings, filed as a One and Two Family Combo Permit. If the wall is load-bearing, the drawings have to show how the floor and roof loads get carried to the foundation once it’s gone.

Before we commit to an opening, we check what’s above and below: which way the joists run, whether a stair or chimney sits in the wall, and where the basement offers a place for a post and footing. When the opening needs an engineer’s sizing, we tell you before you sign. For bigger structural changes across a whole floor, see our whole-home and rowhouse renovation page.

Floor repair before new cabinets go in

With about 41.5% of City homes built in 1939 or earlier, by Census estimates, kitchen floors have often been patched, re-laid or raised over the years. We take the old flooring up when it hides soft or uneven subfloor, level the floor, and then set cabinets to a straight line. On one job we put down new LVP first, then snapped level lines on the wall before hanging a single cabinet.

Doing the bathroom too? Our Baltimore bathroom remodeling page covers the City’s bath permit rules, and our Baltimore deck page covers the back of the house.