What a Real Kitchen Renovation Timeline Looks Like (No Sugar-Coating)

Every kitchen renovation starts with the same conversation, and it usually goes like this. The customer says they need it finished in three weeks because of a family event, and we gently explain that a realistic custom fit-out runs closer to six to eight weeks from approval. The people who take that number seriously are almost always the happiest at handover, because nothing that happens next drives them crazy. The ones who insist on three weeks are usually the ones phoning us every second day wondering why the stone template has not happened yet. The first two weeks vanish faster than anyone expects. That is drawings, revisions, benchtop selection, appliance finalisation and getting the deposit into the workshop queue. It feels slow because you cannot see anything happening, but this is the stage that decides whether the install runs cleanly. If you change your mind on the sink or the drawer configuration after carcasses are cut, you are paying for it twice and waiting longer for the rebuild. Demolition and install can run in as little as ten working days on a straightforward kitchen, but real houses rarely cooperate. There is always one wall that is not square, one old pipe in the wrong spot, one power point that the electrician has to move before the splashback can be fitted. We build a buffer for that, and we tell you in writing which days the plumber and sparky are booked in. If you want to keep a temporary sink and cooktop running, say so early, because setting that up adds a day but saves you a fortnight of takeaway. The last stretch is the part nobody talks about. Doors get hung, handles get fitted, silicone gets run and the final clean happens. This is where a good joiner earns their money, because a one-millimetre gap across ten doors is the difference between a kitchen that looks expensive and one that looks flat-packed. Add a week on either side for stone, and you are looking at a six to eight week real-world project. Plan for that and your renovation will actually feel calm.