How Long Does a Kitchen Remodel Actually Take?

A full kitchen remodel takes 8 to 12 weeks of actual construction, but plan on 3 to 4 months total from your first design meeting to the last punch-list item. The gap between those two numbers is design, material selection, ordering, and permitting, all of which happen before a single cabinet comes out.

The Timeline Before Anything Gets Demolished

Most homeowners underestimate the pre-construction phase because it doesn't feel like progress. Design and layout decisions typically take two to four weeks. Cabinets, whether stock, semi-custom, or full custom, take anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks to arrive after you place the order, and that clock doesn't start until every door style, finish, and hardware choice is locked in. In DFW, where new-construction demand keeps regional suppliers busy, cabinet lead times have been running on the longer end of that range through 2026.

The Construction Phase, Week by Week

• Weeks 1-2: demolition, rough electrical and plumbing changes, any framing for layout changes
• Weeks 2-4: inspections on rough work, drywall repair, flooring prep or install
• Weeks 4-6: cabinet installation, which usually can't start until inspections clear
• Weeks 6-8: countertop templating and install (stone fabrication alone takes 1-2 weeks after templating)
• Weeks 8-10: backsplash, appliance install, plumbing and electrical trim-out
• Weeks 10-12: final inspections, punch list, touch-ups

What Stretches the Timeline

Custom cabinets are the single biggest schedule risk. If you're set on a fully custom order rather than semi-custom, add 4 to 8 weeks to the estimate above. Permitting is the second biggest variable: cities across Collin and Dallas counties have different review times, and a project that moves plumbing or knocks out a wall needs plan review before work starts, which can add one to three weeks depending on the city's current permit volume. The third factor is what's behind your walls. Homes built before the mid-1990s in this area sometimes have outdated wiring or plumbing that doesn't get discovered until demo, and any surprise there adds time while it gets sorted out and, if needed, re-inspected.

How to Keep Your Project on the Shorter End

Lock in every material selection, cabinet finish, countertop slab, tile, hardware, before demo starts, not during. Contractors who let selections drift into the construction phase are the ones whose projects run long, because a crew sitting idle waiting on a decision is still burning calendar days. Ordering long-lead items like custom cabinets or special-order appliances the moment the contract is signed, rather than waiting for demo to start, is the single biggest lever homeowners have over their own timeline.

Timing It Around Your Own Calendar

Certain windows of the year make a DFW kitchen remodel slower or faster. Starting a project in late spring means construction runs through the peak of North Texas summer, which doesn't slow the work itself but does make a kitchen-free house less comfortable if the crew needs to prop doors open for material deliveries. Late fall starts risk running into the holidays, when subcontractor schedules get tighter and some suppliers slow down between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Late winter and early spring tend to be the most predictable stretch for both scheduling and lead times, since it's before the spring rush of listings and remodels that typically picks up across Collin County starting in March.

Living without a kitchen for two to three months is the part people find hardest, not the dust. Setting up a temporary cooking station (microwave, mini-fridge, hot plate) in a garage or dining room makes the middle stretch tolerable. At Lonestar Kitchen & Bath Co. we build the schedule backward from your target move-back-in date and flag every long-lead item up front, so the estimate you get at signing is the one that actually holds.