How long does a kitchen take from the first order to the last piece of trim?

A kitchen is not one continuous stretch of work. It is a series of short work phases separated by quiet gaps, and those gaps account for most of the schedule. During them the house sits idle while a shop sprays the cabinet doors and a fabricator cuts the slab.

Cabinets are made to the measurements of your room after the order is placed, so none are held in stock. The shop cuts the boxes, builds the doors and drawer fronts, sprays the finish, then lets it cure before anything is packed, and that runs four weeks at the least. KraftMaid states that your cabinets will take a minimum of four weeks to arrive, and a paint match or a long list of modifications pushes it past that. The only way to shorten it is to order sooner, which means settling the layout and the door style before demolition rather than during it. If the existing boxes might stay, read keep or replace your cabinets first, because that one decision sets the whole schedule.

Stone is the second wait, and it starts only after the first one ends. A fabricator templates off the cabinets as installed, in the room itself, against walls that are never as square as the drawing. Templating from a plan instead leaves the corner miter open and the sink cutout off center. Cutting and polishing then take about two more weeks in the shop, which is the figure Cambria puts on its own process.

Permits affect that middle section. Santa Clarita exempts countertops and cabinets under eight feet from a building permit, then says in the same section of its amended code that plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits are still required unless otherwise exempted, and the city's Building and Safety office puts the duty to obtain them on the property owner. Inspection dates are outside anyone's control. More in permits and inspections.

Demolition looks like the worst of it and is over quickly. The room empties, the work is visible, and the disruption looks like progress.

The most difficult stretch is the stone gap. The cabinets are in, the paint is done, and the room looks nearly finished from the doorway, and then nothing happens for about two weeks. There is no sink and no counter, and no work can be done in the room until the slab comes off the saw. We tell you that stretch is coming before you sign anything, because it is easier to plan around when you expect it.

Do this the weekend before demolition, while you still have running water. Pick a room with an outlet on a circuit the kitchen does not already use, and set up a folding table in it. Move the microwave and the coffee maker there. An electric kettle covers most of what the stove was used for. Place the refrigerator where its door still swings open and the cord reaches without an extension.

The loss of the sink is the one you notice most. A laundry sink or a bathtub becomes the dish station, so keep the dish pan, the drying rack and the soap in one place rather than three. Pack one box of what you use daily and send the rest to storage, so nothing has to be moved from room to room for three months.