Roughly one out of every 10 households undertook a kitchen remodel or replacement project in 2015, and two-thirds of them hired a professional remodeler for the work, the National Kitchen & Bath Association said in a new study released today. That same research found about 13% of all households undertook a bathroom remodel or replacement project that same year, and for those a pro was hired 58% of the time.

As expected, the likelihood of hiring a pro varied by the customer's age, according to the report. Here's the breakdown:

  • Among baby boomers (generally those born from 1946 to around 1964), 82% hired a remodeler for a kitchen project and 63% did for a bath job.
  • People in generation X (1965 to 1980) hired a pro 68% of the time for kitchen work and 63% of the time for bath jobs.
  • "Mature millennials" (those 25 to 37 years old, meaning they were born between 1980 and 1992) hired a remodeler for 65% of the kitchen jobs and 52% of the bath jobs.
  • "Younger millennials," (those 18 to 27 years old, meaning they were born between 1980 and 1999) hired a pro on 60% of kitchen projects and 62% of bath jobs.

Many other surveys by research groups tend to focus on "pro worthy" projects that carry a pricetag of at least $500. This report counts every K+B job, no matter how small. Including the slide above, here are five snippets of the presentation that give the highlights:

Extrapolating from an early 2016 survey by The Farnsworth Group of 1,078 homeowners, builders, remodelers and general contractors, the NKBA calculated that during 2015, roughly 10.2 million households undertook a kitchen remodel or replacement project while 14.2 million households launched a bathroom remodel or replacement job.

Nearly half of kitchen projects were budgeted at $15,000 or more, while 21% of respondents spent $7,500 or more to remodel their master bathroom.

Here's the breakdown NKBA found of what got purchased in a kitchen remodel ...

... and this is what NKBA found was spent on bathroom work.

The study breaks down kitchen and bath activity by age group, segment product behaviors, average amount spent on product, and estimated retail market value. NKBA members can get an executive summary of the work for free and the entire research report for $99. For non-members, the report costs $499. Contact www.nkba.org for details.