How Long Does a Cabinet Project Actually Take?
Camarillo Custom Cabinets puts dated milestones in writing before starting any job, including the specific days you will be without a kitchen sink, because vague timelines are how cabinet projects go wrong for homeowners even when the work itself is good.
Here is what each type of project actually takes, where the waiting really happens, and what causes the delays nobody warns you about.
The Short Version
- Refinishing: 3 to 5 working days, kitchen usable throughout
- Refacing: 2 to 4 weeks lead time, then 4 to 7 days on site
- New semi-custom: 4 to 8 weeks lead time, then 2 to 4 days install
- Full custom: 4 to 8 weeks from approved drawings, then 3 to 6 days install
- Countertops: add 1 to 2 weeks after cabinets are set, for template and fabrication
- Single bathroom vanity: 2 to 4 weeks to build, 1 day to fit
The number that surprises people is that most of the elapsed time is not work happening in your house. It is shop build and finish time.
Where the Time Actually Goes
Design and measure: 1 to 2 weeks. Consultation, drawings, revisions and your selections. This moves at whatever pace you decide at, which is the one phase you control entirely.
Shop build: 3 to 6 weeks for custom. Boxes, doors and drawers built and finished. Catalyzed coatings need real cure time and rushing this is the single most common cause of a finish that fails early.
Install: days, not weeks. This is the disruptive part and it is short. A straightforward kitchen replacement is two to four days.
Countertop template and fabrication: 1 to 2 weeks. This is the gap people forget. The template can only be taken once cabinets are installed, level and permanently secured, and then the fabricator needs their own lead time. You will have cabinets with no counters during this window.
The countertop gap is the phase homeowners most often forget to plan for.
How Long You Are Actually Without a Kitchen
This is what people really want to know, and it is much shorter than the total project length.
For refinishing, essentially never. Your doors leave, you have open shelving for a few days, and the sink, range and dishwasher work the whole time.
For refacing, also essentially never. Countertops, sink and appliances stay in place throughout.
For replacement, plan on two to four days with no sink or dishwasher during demolition and install, then a further one to two weeks with cabinets but no countertops, which means no sink. Most households set up a temporary station with the microwave and kettle elsewhere and eat out more than usual for that stretch.
What Actually Causes Delays
- Selection changes after the shop has started, which resets the build
- Supplied-cabinet orders arriving incomplete or damaged, found on demolition day
- Soffits that turn out to contain ducting or wiring nobody checked first
- Countertop template failing because cabinets were not fully secured
- Permit and inspection sequencing on projects touching plumbing or electrical
- Water damage discovered once the old cabinets come out
Most of these are avoidable with a proper measure and an honest scope. The last one is not, which is why we quote repair as a possible line item rather than acting surprised.
How to Prepare So Nothing Waits on You
A meaningful share of delays are not the contractor's and not the supplier's. They are decisions that had not been made yet.
- Make all selections before the shop starts: door style, colour, interior finish, hardware
- Choose your appliances early and provide model numbers, since openings are built to actual dimensions
- Decide on the countertop material before cabinets are installed, because it affects support requirements
- Empty the cabinets completely, including the tops, before demolition day
- Agree access and parking, particularly in condo buildings with permitted work hours
- Set up a temporary kitchen somewhere else in the house before the sink goes out
The appliance one causes more trouble than any of the others. A cabinet run built for a 36-inch range does not accept a 30-inch one without visible filler, and panel-ready dishwashers and refrigerators have specific panel dimensions that vary by manufacturer.
Booking Around Holidays
If you want the kitchen finished for Thanksgiving, start the conversation in August, not October. Shop schedules in this trade fill through autumn and finish cure times do not compress. A project that would comfortably make a date in normal conditions will not make it if it starts six weeks out and anything at all goes wrong.
Related reading on our site: kitchen cabinet installation, refinishing, the fastest option and book a free measure.
Talk It Through With Us
Every Camarillo Custom Cabinets project starts with dated milestones in writing, including exactly which days the sink is out, and changes to that schedule come in writing too. Call (805) 793-0835 to talk through timing.