How Long Does a Kitchen Remodel Take?

It's one of the first questions every homeowner asks us, and it's a fair one—your kitchen is the heart of the house, and living without it for months isn't something anyone signs up for lightly. The honest answer is: it depends on the scope of the project, but most full kitchen remodels on the North Shore take somewhere between 8 and 14 weeks of actual construction, with the total project timeline—from first design conversation to final walkthrough—often running 3 to 6 months. Here's how that breaks down and what actually drives the schedule.

The Quick Answer, With Context

A cosmetic refresh (new cabinet fronts, countertops, backsplash, paint, maybe new appliances) can sometimes be done in 3 to 5 weeks. A mid-range remodel that involves new cabinets, layout tweaks, updated plumbing and electrical, and full finishes typically runs 8 to 12 weeks. A full gut renovation—moving walls, relocating plumbing and gas lines, opening up a kitchen to a dining or family room—can take 12 to 16 weeks or more, especially in the older homes we see a lot of in Highland Park, Wilmette, Winnetka, and Lake Forest.

That construction window is just part of the picture, though. Before a single cabinet comes out, there's design, product selection, and permitting, all of which add real time upfront.

What Actually Determines the Timeline

Scope of work. Are we keeping the existing footprint, or moving the sink, range, or a load-bearing wall? Every time plumbing or electrical needs to relocate, or a wall comes down, you add design, engineering, and inspection steps.

The age and condition of the house. Many North Shore homes were built well before 1960, and once walls are open, it's common to find outdated wiring, galvanized plumbing, or framing that doesn't match the original drawings. We build a reasonable contingency into every schedule for this reason—not because we expect problems, but because on a 70-year-old house, surprises are the rule rather than the exception.

Permitting. Every municipality we work in—Highland Park, Deerfield, Lincolnshire, Glenview, Evanston, and the rest—has its own building department, its own submittal requirements, and its own review timeline. Some villages turn around straightforward permits in a couple of weeks; others take longer, especially if the scope touches structural, electrical, or plumbing systems. We handle these submittals directly, but it's worth building the wait into your expectations rather than assuming work can start the day after a design is finalized.

Product lead times. This is the piece homeowners underestimate most. Semi-custom and custom cabinetry frequently takes 6 to 10 weeks to arrive after the order is placed, and that clock doesn't start until finishes and specs are locked in. Specialty appliances, certain countertop materials, and made-to-order fixtures can add similar lead time. We always encourage clients to finalize selections early, because ordering delays are the single most common reason a project's start date slips.

Availability of trades. A kitchen remodel touches nearly every trade—demo, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, tile, cabinetry, countertops, flooring, painting. Projects move faster when those trades are coordinated in-house and scheduled back-to-back, rather than juggled between several independent subcontractors on different calendars.

A Rough Phase-by-Phase Breakdown

• Design and planning: 2 to 6 weeks, depending on how much layout work is involved
• Permitting: 2 to 4 weeks, varies by village
• Selections and ordering: 4 to 10 weeks, running partly in parallel with permitting
• Demolition and rough-in (plumbing, electrical, framing): 1 to 3 weeks
• Inspections, drywall, and finishes (cabinets, countertops, tile, flooring): 4 to 8 weeks
• Punch list and final walkthrough: about 1 week

Some of these phases overlap, which is where an experienced contractor earns their keep—ordering cabinets while permits are being reviewed, for instance, rather than waiting for one to finish before starting the next.

Timing It Around Chicago's Seasons

Weather matters more than people expect, even for interior work. Winter can slow material deliveries and make it harder to keep a house comfortable with exterior walls open, particularly on additions or projects that involve exterior work alongside the kitchen. Spring and fall tend to be the busiest seasons for remodelers across the North Shore, which means booking further ahead if you're aiming for a specific start date. If your goal is to be finished before the holidays, the planning conversation really needs to start by mid-summer—by the time design, permitting, and ordering are accounted for, "starting in October" often isn't realistic for a full remodel.

How We Keep Projects on Schedule

We run kitchen remodels with our own in-house trades wherever possible, which cuts down on the scheduling gaps that happen when a project depends on five different subcontractors' calendars. You also work with one point of contact from start to finish—usually Janusz himself in the early stages—so decisions don't get lost between the office, the field, and the trades. It won't make a custom cabinet order arrive faster, but it does mean the weeks you can control stay tight and predictable.

If you want a general sense of what different scopes of k