How to read a kitchen quote before you sign it
A kitchen quote is only comparable to another quote if both are broken down the same way. Ask every contractor to split the price into cabinets, countertop, appliances, flooring, plumbing and electrical, and labour, and to state the exact cabinet line, door style and countertop material — "custom cabinets" on one quote and "stock cabinets" on another can differ by a factor of several, and a single-page total hides that completely. Then check who supplies what: if you buy the appliances and the cabinets yourself, they should not appear in the contractor's material line at all, and any handling markup should be spelled out.
The items that blow kitchen budgets are usually the ones nobody quoted. Permits and inspections, demolition and skip or dump fees, moving a sink or gas line more than a short distance, upgrading old wiring to code once a wall is open, patching and repainting the ceiling after the old soffits come out, and the rot or mould that shows up under a dishwasher that has been leaking quietly for years. Ask in writing what happens when something unexpected is found: an hourly rate plus materials, or a change-order process with your written approval. Hold a contingency of roughly 10 to 20 percent of the total on top of the quoted price, keep it separate in your head from the budget, and treat any quote noticeably below the others as a question to ask rather than a bargain to grab.