How Long Does a Kitchen Remodel Take? A Phase-by-Phase Timeline

When homeowners ask how long a kitchen remodel takes, they almost always mean the part between demolition and the first dinner cooked in the new kitchen. That is the wrong clock to watch.

Construction is usually the shorter part of the project. Most of the time is spent before anyone picks up a tool, and most of the delays are decided there too. So the honest answer comes in two parts: how long until work starts, and how long the house is torn up once it does.

Here is where the time goes in each phase, and which parts you actually control.

The short answer

A full kitchen remodeling project with AC Remodeling typically runs 12 to 16 weeks from start to finish. The construction portion, meaning the stretch when you do not have a working kitchen, typically runs 6 to 9 weeks. Kitchens that move walls or relocate plumbing and gas sit at the longer end of both.

The phases below explain why.

Phase one: design and selections

3 to 5 weeks

This is where the kitchen is actually decided: the layout, cabinetry, appliances, surfaces, lighting, and every detail that has to be known before anything can be ordered.

It is the phase homeowners most want to rush, and the one that most rewards patience. Every decision left open here becomes a stoppage later. An appliance chosen after the cabinets are ordered can force a cabinet change. A sink chosen after the countertop is measured means measuring again. A lighting plan settled after drywall means cutting into drywall.

The fastest kitchens we build are not the ones where construction moves fastest. They are the ones where every selection was final before demolition.

What you control: how quickly you make decisions, and whether you change them.

Phase two: permits

3 to 5 weeks

A kitchen that changes plumbing, electrical, or structure needs permits. In most of Montgomery County that means a building permit from the county plus separate trade permits, with plumbing and gas handled by WSSC Water. The county says eligible Fast Track projects can be permitted in three to five days, but a kitchen that involves a load-bearing wall does not qualify. Those go through standard review, which the county aims to complete within three to four weeks for a well-prepared application, and WSSC has to finish its own review before the permit is issued.

Our guide to Montgomery County remodeling permits covers the process in detail.

On a well-managed schedule, permitting runs alongside ordering rather than before it, which is why those two phases overlap.

What you control: avoiding last-minute design changes after the drawings and permit paperwork have been submitted. Any revision can trigger another review.

Phase three: ordering and lead times

5 to 6 weeks

Cabinetry sets the pace of almost every kitchen. Semi-custom and custom cabinets are built to order, and their lead time is often the longest single item on the schedule. Appliances and specialty plumbing fixtures can carry long lead times of their own.

We do not schedule demolition until the long-lead items are ordered. It is the least exciting rule in remodeling and the one that saves the most time, because the worst delay a household can live through is a gutted kitchen waiting on cabinets or appliances to be delivered.

What you control: choosing shorter-lead options for anything the schedule depends on.

Phase four: demolition and rough-in

5 days

Once construction starts, the first stretch moves quickly. The old kitchen comes out, and the work moves inside the walls: framing changes, relocated plumbing, wiring, and mechanical work.

This phase ends with inspections, and they are the real gate. WSSC inspects plumbing and gas rough-in, the county inspects framing, electrical, and mechanical, and the walls cannot be closed until everything passes.

This is also where surprises live. Older houses in Kensington, Chevy Chase, and Silver Spring can reveal outdated wiring, undersized drain lines, or framing a previous owner altered without saying so. A well-run project tells you the day something is found, along with what it means for the schedule.

What you control: nothing about what is behind the walls, which is why a realistic schedule leaves room for it.

Phase five: close-in and cabinets

6 to 8 days

After rough-in inspections pass, the walls get insulation where required, drywall, and paint preparation. Then the cabinets go in, and the room starts to look like a kitchen again.

Phase six: countertop template and fabrication

6 to 9 days

This is the gap that surprises nearly everyone. Stone and quartz countertops cannot be measured until the cabinets are installed and level, because the fabricator templates from the actual cabinets rather than the drawings.

During that wait the kitchen looks almost done and still cannot be used. For most households it is the hardest part of the schedule, and it is the reason to be wary of anyone who promises a date for a working sink before the template has been made.

If you are still choosing a surface, our luxury kitchen remodeling guide covers how quartz, quartzite, marble, and granite behave once they are installed.

Phase seven: finishes, final inspections, and walkthrough

3 to 5 days

Countertop installation comes next, followed by the sink and faucet, backsplash, appliances, light fixtures, and hardware. Final inspections close the project out, including WSSC's plumbing final and the county's building, electrical, and mechanical finals.

What actually stretches a kitchen timeline

Four things account for most of the difference between a kitchen that finishes on schedule and one that does not.

Changes after ordering. A different door style, a larger range, an island that moves six inches. Each one can restart a lead time or a permit review.

Structural work. Removing a load-bearing wall adds engineering, standard permit review, and beam installation. It is often worth doing. Just plan for it from the start.

Late selections. Anything still undecided when demolition begins is a future stoppage.

Hidden conditions. Common in older housing stock and impossible to fully predict. A schedule with no room for them is a hope, not a schedule.

Questions to ask about any contractor's timeline

A timeline is only as useful as the assumptions behind it, and those assumptions are easy to check if you know what to ask.

Ask whether the number you were given covers construction only or the whole project. Those can differ by months.

Ask when demolition gets scheduled relative to cabinet delivery. The answer tells you whether the long-lead risk sits with the contractor or with your household.

Ask what happens when something unexpected turns up behind a wall: who decides, how quickly you hear about it, and how the schedule changes.

Planning for life without a kitchen

The construction phase is the number that matters most to your household, so plan for it honestly. To help you manage daily routines during construction, AC Remodeling sets up a small temporary kitchen with a table for your coffee maker and countertop oven, and relocates your existing refrigerator nearby.

Start packing earlier than you think you need to. Our guide to packing up a kitchen for a remodel walks through it step by step. If you want to understand the sequence of trades once work begins, read the order of a full kitchen remodel.

Building the schedule as one plan

AC Remodeling is a design-build firm in Gaithersburg working across Bethesda, Rockville, Potomac, Chevy Chase, Kensington, Olney, Silver Spring, and Northwest DC. Because design, permitting, ordering, and construction sit under one contract, the schedule is built as a single plan from the first meeting, and the long-lead items are known before demolition is ever put on the calendar.

Learn more about our kitchen remodeling work, see finished kitchens in our portfolio, or schedule a design consultation.

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