How Long Does a Kitchen Remodel Take? Week by Week
Most homeowners ask two questions before anything else. What does it cost, and how long will my kitchen be gone. This post covers the second one.
The honest answer for a typical full kitchen remodel is six to ten weeks of active work in the house. That number assumes the layout stays close to where it is, materials are already on site, and nothing surprising shows up behind the walls. Move the sink to a different wall, add a structural change, or order cabinets with a long lead time, and the schedule grows.
But the part people underestimate is what happens before week one. That planning and ordering stretch often takes longer than the construction itself.
Before Demo: Four to Twelve Weeks of Planning and Ordering
Nothing gets torn out until the cabinets are built and sitting in a warehouse. This is the single most important rule of kitchen scheduling, and ignoring it is how people end up eating off a card table for four months.
In this phase you are doing the following:
- Settling on a layout and confirming appliance sizes, because cabinets are built around them
- Selecting cabinets, counters, flooring, tile, sink, faucet, and lighting
- Signing off on a final scope so the order can be placed
- Waiting on cabinet production, which commonly runs four to ten weeks depending on the line
- Pulling a permit from your city or township if the work involves plumbing, electrical, or structural changes
Semi custom and custom cabinets take the longest. Stock cabinets are faster. Specialty counter materials and imported tile can also carry long waits. Permit turnaround varies a lot across Michigan municipalities. Some issue in days, some take a few weeks, especially in older communities with a small building department.
We do not start demo until the cabinets have arrived and been checked for damage. A damaged or short shipped order found on day one of install can cost weeks.
Week 1: Demolition and Discovery
Protection goes down first. Floors, doorways, HVAC returns. Then the old kitchen comes out. Cabinets, counters, appliances, flooring, and drywall where it needs to open up.
This is also the week you learn what the house has been hiding. In Michigan that often means plaster and lath instead of drywall, cloth wrapped wiring, galvanized supply lines, a floor that is out of level by an inch across the room, or past water damage under the sink base. Homes built before 1960 almost always have something.
If something major turns up, this is when the scope and the schedule get adjusted. Better to find it now than at cabinet install.
Week 2: Rough Plumbing, Electrical, and Framing
Any wall changes get framed. Plumbers move drains and supply lines. Electricians run new circuits for appliances, add outlets to meet current code, and set boxes for under cabinet and ceiling lighting. HVAC gets adjusted if a vent is in the way.
Then the inspector comes. Rough inspections have to pass before walls close. Inspector availability is outside anyone's control and can add a few days.
Week 3: Drywall, Paint, and Prep
Walls and ceiling get closed, taped, and sanded. Drywall mud needs drying time between coats, and in a damp basement adjacent kitchen or a humid August week, that takes longer. Primer and first coats of paint go on while the room is still empty, because it is much faster now than around finished cabinets.
If you are installing flooring that runs under the cabinets, it often goes down at the end of this week.
Week 4: Cabinet Installation
Cabinets go in level and plumb, which in an older Michigan home means a lot of shimming and scribing. Base cabinets first, then uppers, then fillers, panels, and toe kick. Crown and trim may follow now or at the end.
This is the week the room starts to look like a kitchen again. It is also the week templating happens.
Week 5: Countertop Template and Fabrication
Once cabinets are set, the counter fabricator comes out and makes a template. Then they cut and polish the material at their shop. That turnaround is usually one to two weeks for stone and quartz. Laminate is faster.
There is no way to skip this gap. Templating off drawings instead of installed cabinets leads to bad seams and poor fits.
During this wait, we keep moving on other items. Painting, trim, lighting, and flooring in adjacent areas.
Week 6: Counters, Plumbing Final, and Backsplash
Counters get installed. Then the sink, faucet, disposal, and dishwasher get hooked up, which usually means your water is back the same day or the next. Tile backsplash goes on after counters, with a day for grout and cure time.
Week 7: Finish Work, Appliances, and Punch List
Electrical trim out, light fixtures, outlets and switch plates, cabinet hardware, toe kick, shoe mold, caulk, and touch up paint. Appliances get set and connected. Final inspection if a permit is open.
Then the punch list. A drawer that needs adjusting, a touch up spot, a door that needs a half turn on a hinge. This is normal and usually takes a few days of short visits rather than full days.
What Stretches a Michigan Timeline
Winter affects deliveries and any work touching an exterior wall or window. Older housing stock in southeast Michigan and the older river towns frequently brings plaster, undersized panels, and layered flooring. Changing your mind mid project on a finish item that has to be ordered can add a week or more. Appliance backorders can hold up the final week.
Planning Your Life Around It
Set up a temporary kitchen somewhere else in the house before demo starts. Fridge, microwave, coffee, a folding table. Use the laundry or bathroom sink for dishes. Expect dust in nearby rooms even with protection up.
Ask for a written schedule before work starts, and ask which weeks you will have no water in the kitchen. Knowing that in advance makes the whole thing easier to live through.