If you are looking to update your home or increase the value of your property, you may find that a kitchen remodel would be an excellent way to spruce up the house. However, when considering an extensive kitchen remodel, one of the first questions to strike your mind is likely about the length of a kitchen remodel or how long the kitchen remodeling process will take.
Several factors determine the length of a kitchen remodel, the primary type and size of kitchen you have. Of course, larger kitchens will take a longer time to remodel than smaller ones. Nevertheless, the length of a kitchen remodel also depends on the type of home you have and the team of contractors you employ to build the kitchen.
From start to finish, kitchen remodeling projects usually take anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months. Further, in most cases, for an average kitchen, you should expect the project to take around 4-12 weeks, which you should discuss in more detail with the contractors you have hired.
Planning Your Design
The first step to remodel a kitchen is to plan the design that you are going to use. Whether you want to maintain a traditional aesthetic or would like a more open floor plan, designing your kitchen is as essential as building it.
But you will need to decide on how you want to plan your remodel. Then, you can either plan the design of the remodel yourself or hire a kitchen remodel contractor.
The latter will likely be the more expensive option but will allow you to save time and lean on the expertise of professionals. Furthermore, you will save on some easily avoidable kitchen remodel mistakes.
Hiring a Designer
If you want to ensure that the design fits within your set budget and is feasible, it is highly recommended that you hire a licensed designer.
When working with a designer, the initial design of your remodel could take a few days to complete. Further, with the possible revisions that will need to be made, you can expect the design phase to take around 2-3 weeks to complete.
Whether you hire a designer or create the design yourself, you must take your time throughout the planning process. Also, you need to be comfortable and confident regarding what you are getting out of your new kitchen. Thereby, you must adequately consider each facet of the design for the kitchen.
You should remember, a kitchen remodel is a significant investment that can pay dividends to the overall value of your home, so there’s no reason to rush the job.
Demolition of Your Kitchen
Once you have determined how you are going to design your kitchen and which materials you are going to use for the project. The next phase of the length of a kitchen remodel includes the demolition of the kitchen. This phase will completely remove all of your flooring, appliances, cabinetry, backsplash, walls, and countertops.
This is one of the quickest steps of the kitchen remodel length since tearing down things is much easier than building them. Furthermore, you can expect the demolition of your existing kitchen to take around 2-4 days to complete.
Placement of Plumbing and Electrical Lines
Once you’ve demolished your kitchen, you will need to decide on where you will place the plumbing and electrical lines. This can be among the most challenging steps of a kitchen remodel process.
If you want to move the refrigerator or dishwasher to a new location, this is the time when you will make a note of new placements and compare them with the old ones. During this time, the contractor will install the plumbing and electrical lines of your choice.
The installation of electrical lines will take a couple of days. You can expect a similar length of time for the plumbing to be installed. Plan on the installation of any extra features to take a few days as well. Although the exact length of this portion of the project is going to be determined by the contractor’s schedule finally, planning plumbing and electrical lines should take anywhere from 5 days to a couple of weeks.
Flooring
At this point of the kitchen remodel, you will install the flooring and any drywall. The preparation and installation of drywall take less than a day to complete.
Once you’ve done this, you will move on to install the kitchen flooring. The installation of new flooring should take a short period of time, the exact amount of which is determined by the type of flooring you chose.
Installation of ceramic tile for flooring generally takes around 3 to 5 days to complete. In contrast, the installation of wood flooring can take anywhere about 5-8 days.
Cabinets and Countertops
After the placement of your desired flooring, the next phase of any kitchen remodel involves installing the cabinets you have chosen.
Whether you are thinking to use verticle cabinetry to save space or focusing on matching a specific theme in your kitchen, the fabrication and installation of the cabinets is likely the most exciting part of a kitchen remodel.
Cabinets can come in different styles and configurations, and they can substantially alter the entire look of your kitchen. Moreover, the duration of the cabinet installation depends on whether you or a contractor is completing the project.
How Long Does it Take?
If you are taking on this task, set aside 3 to 7 days to account for any mistakes and installation issues that could arise. Interestingly, if a contractor installs the cabinets, the process should add 2 to 3 days to the length of a kitchen remodel.
However, keep in mind that these averages can be higher if you have a particularly large kitchen. In addition, you will have to make sure that the finished installation is without gaps or unevenness around the cabinets.
For the countertops, they need to be measured before you can fabricate them. The measurement process takes less than a day. After this, the measurements will be sent to a contractor who can fabricate the materials and provide you with pre-fabricated slabs for your countertops.
You may need to wait anywhere from 7 to 30 days for the fabrication process to complete. Also, this includes the delivery of countertops. Finally, the actual installation of countertops takes a couple of days to complete.
Finishing Touches and Clean Up
At this point in the kitchen remodel project, everything is coming together, and you can see the final layout of your kitchen. But you will need to make some finishing touches to the kitchen remodel project to make it successful.
If you need to paint the walls and trim around your kitchen, it would be a great time to do so. You can even take care of this portion of the project before cabinet installation. Set aside a few days to paint the kitchen.
You will complete numerous small carpentry jobs during this phase of the project. For instance, adding a tow kick area, making any necessary adjustments to the cabinets, and figuring out molding details. You can also consider installing a kitchen backsplash if you want a more personalized and stylish look for your kitchen.
Once you’ve made the changes, it is time to clean up the area. You should clear the work area of all equipment along with any dust or debris. This process should add a day or two to the total length of a kitchen remodel.