You probably spend a lot of time in the kitchen, which is the heart of your home. Whether you’re entertaining guests or making dinner with your family, the kitchen plays a significant role in your everyday life. If it’s not up to your standards, you might be considering a kitchen renovation.
This has you wondering: how long does a kitchen renovation take? While the exact timeframe depends on the scope and specificity of the design, consider the average length of each phase to help you establish realistic expectations.
Planning Phase: At Your Own Pace
This is when you gather inspiration for your kitchen renovation from design magazines, websites, Pinterest, and more. It can take days, weeks, or even years, depending on how serious you are about the project and its overall scope.
Finding a Kitchen Renovation Designer & Contractor: At Your Own Pace
Research kitchen renovation and design companies in San Diego to decide which ones you want to meet with. Look for these qualities in a design+build contractor:
- Licensed and certified
- Reliable
- Capable of eco-friendly designs
- Experienced with renovations in your preferred style (view the contractor’s portfolio for examples)
Initial Consultation & Property Assessment: 1 to 3 Days
It helps to have an idea of what you want when you start meeting with designers for the initial consultation. This should take place in your home so a property assessment can happen at the same time. If the designer and contractor are a good fit for your project, this process should take one to three days.
Design Phase: 1 to 4 Weeks
This is the most enjoyable part of renovating your kitchen. With your ideas and your designer’s expertise, you can come up with an amazing kitchen transformation. Together, you’ll choose new appliances, flooring, cabinets, countertops, backsplashes, lighting and plumbing fixtures, paint colors, and more.
Ordering Products: 1 to 2 Months
As soon as the design is finalized and you’re confident about your product choices, the ordering process can begin. Encountering backorders, receiving damaged products, and changing your mind can drastically affect the timeframe, but it usually takes one to two months for everything to arrive.
Demolition Phase: 2 to 3 Days, or 2 to 3 Months
So far, it’s been planning, designing, and ordering—but now it’s time for the project to really begin. Demolition involves removing any existing components you don’t plan to keep. Ripping out all the old fixtures usually takes two to three days.
However, if you’re changing the layout of your kitchen—including moving walls, changing window placement, or relocating plumbing fixtures—preparing your kitchen for its new look takes much longer. Keep this in mind if you have a drastic overhaul in mind.
Kitchen Renovation Construction Phase: 1 to 2 Months
The contractor should break down the construction schedule into daily tasks. This way, you’ll know early on how long to expect the job to take. Just remember, delays can occur if products don’t arrive on time, structural surprises crop up, or you want to change the plans halfway through. To help ensure the job is finished on time, plan to order products early and respect the contractor’s decisions when complications arise.
