Go Far®The short answer
Once construction starts, a cosmetic refresh (counters, paint, hardware, lighting, backsplash) typically runs two to three weeks on site. A full remodel — new cabinets, counters, tile, and appliances in the existing layout — usually runs six to ten weeks. A layout-change remodel that moves walls, plumbing, or gas typically runs ten to fourteen weeks or more. Door to door, though, a full kitchen project is realistically a four-to-six-month calendar once design, ordering, and permits are counted — and starting that clock early is free.
Before demo: the part nobody sees
- Design and selections: four to eight weeks. Layout, cabinets, stone, tile, fixtures, appliances. This phase moves exactly as fast as decisions do.
- Cabinet lead time: six to twelve weeks. Semi-custom and custom cabinetry is the long pole in nearly every kitchen. It should be ordered — and received — before demolition, never after.
- Permits: two to eight weeks. Cosmetic work usually needs none; moving electrical, plumbing, or walls does. Review times vary by city across Snohomish and King County, and we run this in parallel with ordering so it costs no extra calendar.
Week by week, once the crew shows up
A typical full remodel runs: demolition (week one) → framing, plumbing, and electrical rough-in with inspections (weeks two to three) → drywall, paint, and flooring (weeks four to five) → cabinet installation (week six) → countertop template, then fabrication — the counters are measured off the installed cabinets and take one to two weeks to cut, during which tile and trim continue (weeks seven to eight) → backsplash, appliances, plumbing and electrical trim-out, and punch list (weeks nine to ten). The stretch without a sink is real but bounded: from demo to running water again is usually the middle six or seven of those weeks.
What blows up a kitchen schedule
Four things, in order of frequency: late decisions and change orders (the only one fully in the homeowner’s control), material lead times (a backordered faucet can idle a plumber), surprises behind the walls — older Puget Sound homes hide knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines, and past leaks — and inspection queues in busy season. A contingency of time, like a contingency of budget, is part of an honest plan.
How we keep kitchens on schedule
Go Far Construction runs kitchens on a simple discipline: every selection made and every long-lead item ordered before demolition; rough-in inspections booked the day framing starts; and one crew accountable for the whole sequence — the owners walk every site. It is the least glamorous part of kitchen remodeling, and it is why our schedules hold. If you want the calendar for your kitchen — and the number that goes with it — the estimate is free, itemized, and in writing.