The Realistic Range, and What Drives It
Kitchen renovation timelines get quoted anywhere from "a few days" to "a few months" online, and both can be true depending on scope. Here's the realistic range based on what's actually involved:
| Project type | What's involved | Realistic timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen refit | New units, worktop and appliances in the existing footprint — plumbing and electrics stay where they are | 1–2 weeks |
| Full kitchen renovation | Layout changes, new electrics and plumbing runs, replastering, new flooring | 3–5 weeks |
| Kitchen with extension | Full extension build (groundworks, steel, brickwork, roof) plus the kitchen fit-out | 11–17 weeks |
These are on-site build timelines once work starts. If your kitchen extension needs full planning permission rather than falling under Permitted Development, add a further 8–10 weeks for the council's determination period before any building work can begin, see our guide on side-return extension planning permission for how this typically applies to kitchen-extension projects.
The Phase-by-Phase Breakdown
A full kitchen renovation moves through the same core phases regardless of size. Here's what happens in each one:
Design & Survey
Free site survey, kitchen design and layout confirmed, units and worktop selected and ordered. This is the phase most people underestimate, bespoke or made-to-order units can take 3–6 weeks to arrive, so ordering early keeps the whole project on schedule. Your fixed-price quote is confirmed before any work starts.
Strip-Out
Old units, worktop, flooring and appliances removed and the room stripped back to bare walls and floor. Usually 1–2 days for a standard kitchen.
First Fix (Electrics & Plumbing)
New sockets, lighting circuits and pipework installed or moved to match the new layout. This only takes longer than a couple of days if the layout is changing significantly, moving a sink or hob to a new wall means new pipe and cable runs, which is the main reason a "full renovation" takes longer than a "refit."
Plastering
Walls skimmed where first fix has disturbed them. Plaster needs several days to fully dry before tiling or units can go in against it, this drying time is a hard constraint that can't be rushed without affecting the finish.
Second Fix
Units, worktop, splashback tiling, appliances, sockets and lighting all fitted. This is when the kitchen visibly comes together, and typically takes 5–8 working days depending on the extent of tiling and cabinetry.
Decorating & Snagging
Final painting, sealant, handles and trims fitted, and a full snagging walkthrough before we hand the kitchen back to you. Any snagging items are addressed before handover, not after.
Why Unit Lead Times Are the Real Bottleneck
Ask any kitchen fitter what actually delays a project and the answer is rarely the fitting itself, it's waiting for units and worktops to arrive from the supplier. Standard stock kitchens can sometimes be sourced within a week, but bespoke, painted-to-order or solid-wood-worktop kitchens routinely carry 3–6 week lead times. Ordering the moment your design is confirmed, well before strip-out begins, is the single most effective way to keep a kitchen renovation on schedule. See our kitchen renovation cost guide for how unit choice affects both price and lead time.
Can You Still Use Your Kitchen During the Work?
Not for most of the project. Once water and electrics are disconnected for first fix, you'll be without a working kitchen for roughly 2–3 weeks on a full renovation. Most clients set up a temporary kitchen elsewhere in the house, a kettle, microwave, and a table in a spare room or garage covers the gap. We agree the exact disruption window with you before work starts, so there are no surprises.
Kitchen Extension: Why It Roughly Doubles the Timeline
If your kitchen project includes extending the room, a rear extension, side-return, or open-plan knock-through, the extension build itself has to happen before the kitchen fit-out can even begin. Groundworks, structural steel, brickwork and roofing typically take 8–12 weeks on their own, on top of the 3–5 weeks for the kitchen fit-out that follows. See our house extension cost guide for a fuller breakdown of extension timelines and costs, or our comparison of loft conversion vs house extension if you're still weighing up the best route to more space.
What Can Extend the Timeline
- Unit and worktop lead times — the most common cause of delay; order as early as the design is confirmed
- Moving plumbing to a new wall — adds days to first fix compared with keeping the sink/hob in place
- Hidden issues once units are stripped out — older Manchester properties sometimes reveal outdated wiring or damp behind existing units that wasn't visible at survey stage
- Structural work for open-plan layouts — removing a wall between kitchen and dining room needs a structural engineer's calculation and sometimes a steel beam, adding time before first fix can start
A good contractor flags any of these immediately with a revised, costed timeline rather than letting the project drift. We provide a clear week-by-week programme before work starts. See our kitchen renovation service page for how we manage the full process, or browse completed kitchens on our projects page.