How to know how much kitchen renovation adds to home value

[Rick Alexander]

I have to question the idea that $6,500 in materials is an appropriate amount of money to spend rehabilitating the kitchen of even a $300,000 house.

Not in my mind - depends on a lot of things - how much glass, how much moving electrical/plumbing, flooring or tile, lots of things. I could do an awful lot with $6,500 materials only - not including appliances - just won't be able to use things like fancy Italian countertops or all tempered glass door fronts. In my case I'm using sawmilled lumber solids (have my own kiln), UV ply boxes, and veneered faces (have a bandsaw to make the veneer and a press to make the faces).