We get asked all the time, “How long is my project going to take?”. And well, the response is almost never what people expect. We’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the popular home-remodeling TV shows have given an unrealistic expectation of how long a kitchen remodel should take! In reality (real reality, not reality television 🙂 ), a real-life kitchen remodel, given the time and expertise, cannot be done in a weekend, two weeks, or even a month. So to answer your question. Our typical full turnkey kitchen remodel can sit anywhere from 10-14 weeks, depending on the scope of work, and we are here to tell you why.

An Honest Timeline

Prior to demo day, we provide our clients with a Gantt chart.  With this chart, they have a pretty good idea of what their project timeline actually looks like. Although these have some fluidity to them, it shows what all needs to be done and is shown in the general order of when these items need to be done. The most important date to consider is when the cabinets are ordered and when they will be delivered. You can see the third line in a sample project plan below that cabinets were ordered April 15 and estimated to be delivered May 30. This is about a 6 week lead time which most semi-custom cabinet lines will sit in this general range. However, if you are going fully custom, think 8-10 week lead time on average.

Phase 1

Once we have an idea of when cabinets are going to arrive, we can then move backward to cover all the steps that need to be accomplished prior to cabinets being installed, almost like a ripple effect. To start, we have prep work, demolition, framing, electrical/mechanical/ plumbing rough-ins, trenching (if needed), and rough inspections. This is what we consider as Phase 1 of any project. Phase 1 can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks, depending on the scope and how much construction really needs to be done. Engineered beam? Add a couple of days. Lots of re-framing work? Add a couple more. Measure twice, cut once – that way it’s done right and we pass inspections the first time! Check out our guys in action after demo as they lay out the trenching work that needs to be done for this future kitchen island below:

Finish Material Installation

Once we pass our rough inspections – which can take up to several days (as inspectors don’t all show up at once) we then can close everything in and start with the “visual” items. This is usually the first big change you will see since the demo day. Cabinets go in and hardware gets installed. This part of the process can take somewhere between 1 and 2 weeks to complete. Once those are in we can set up any templates we need to do: countertop, glass inserts, etc. which line out the rest of the project.

“Down Time” – Countertop Install

Countertop installation is usually one of the only “down times” we have during the project. Counters are templated after cabinets; we don’t pre-order based off of our designs. This ensures that the counters fit perfectly snug on your new cabinets. Unfortunately, counters aren’t fabricated in a day! They are templated, then put into the fabrication queue, which can take anywhere from 5-10 business days depending on the material and how busy our fabricators are. Luckily, with us, we have already ordered and paid for the material so we can usually get it done in a calendar week! If you want to actually lay out your material, as seen below, we can go to the fabricator and have this done. It’s an extra couple of days, but worth it!

The Finish Line

Once counters go in, we’ve only got a few more things on our list to finish up! Tile goes in (set, grout, and seal), appliances get installed, and we can do our electrical and plumbing finish-outs. These final items typically range from 2-4 weeks to complete, mostly depending on what we can get done at the same time. You don’t want guys tripping over each other in the field! Then finally, we can start pulling together a punch list. Maybe a cabinet door got dinged or damaged during installation – we’ll have that ordered so that we can install that as soon as we get it. Then, we finish up any additional trim painting, and we’re almost ready to wrap up the remodel!

Last, Floor Finishing

Typically, the very last step in a remodel is the floor finishing. If you have tile or engineered floors, no need for this last step as they probably have already been installed. But if you have hardwoods, now is the time. With all the other materials installed, we can stain some samples to find the perfect one to match the space. We then close down the space for almost a week to everyone (including you) so that we can sand, stain, and finish. But then, we are on to the real finish line!

That’s A Wrap!

Once the punch list is all wrapped up – a couple of days – we call in final inspections and you’re done! All you have to do now is get a deep clean. We highly recommend having a true cleaning service do this. Once everything is clean, it’s time to move in and really begin using the new space. Imagine all the time you’ve spent dreaming and planning this kitchen with us, the day is finally here! Check out this kitchen project before and after to get an idea of what your new space could look like!

See all the details on the project featured in this blog, here!