In short
- Most residential kitchens run six to ten weeks from approved drawings.
- The design stage is the one you control — revisions there cost time, not money.
- Countertops are templated after cabinets are installed, adding one to two weeks.
- Appliance availability is the most common cause of an unplanned delay.
People usually ask this question because they have a date in mind — a family event, a tenancy start, a baby arriving. The useful answer is not a single number but a breakdown, because the stages behave very differently: some are fixed, and one of them is entirely under your control.
| Stage | Typical duration | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Initial conversation | 20–30 minutes | Scheduling only |
| Site measurement visit | 45–90 minutes, usually within a week | Shared |
| Design, drawings and material selection | 1–3 weeks | Largely you |
| Manufacturing | 4–8 weeks | Fixed once approved |
| Delivery and installation | 1–4 days | Fixed |
| Countertop template and installation | 1–2 weeks after cabinets | External supplier |
| Deficiency items, if any | Within 2 weeks of installation | Us |
The stage you control
Design is the only stage whose length is genuinely up to you. Revisions at this point cost nothing but time — no material has been cut and no production slot has been booked. Take the time you need here, because a change after approval is a change order with a real cost attached.
What lengthens this stage, in our experience: appliances not yet chosen, an undecided countertop, and more than two decision-makers who have not spoken to each other. None of those are unreasonable, but all three are worth resolving before you ask for drawings.
The three most common delays
- Appliance availability. A back-ordered integrated fridge stops the cabinet opening being finalised. Confirm availability before drawings are approved, not after.
- Condo building logistics. Service-elevator bookings can be several days out, and a missed slot usually means rebooking rather than improvising. We handle this, but it needs lead time.
- Other trades running late. Cabinetry lands near the end of the sequence, so it absorbs every earlier delay. If electrical or flooring slips two weeks, the cabinetry date moves with it.
What "installation" actually involves
Installation of a kitchen is typically two to four days, and the kitchen is not usable at the end of day one. The sequence is: protect the route and the room, set and level the base units, set the uppers, fit tall units, scribe to the walls, fit doors and drawer fronts, adjust everything, and fit hardware.
The countertop is templated after all of that, because it has to be measured against the cabinets as they actually sit rather than as they were drawn. That is why the gap between "cabinets installed" and "kitchen finished" is usually one to two weeks, and it is the part of the timeline people most often forget to allow for.
Craft Mill Works
Design and project coordination
Written and reviewed by the Craft Mill Works design team, based on the cabinetry and millwork projects we coordinate across North York and the Greater Toronto Area. [Add a named author and a short professional biography before launch — see README § Adding articles.]
Last reviewed . We review this page when material or supplier conditions change, and update the date only when the content actually changes.