· Michael Blair
Cabinetry is the long-lead item in almost every kitchen, and it sits in the middle of the sequence — after rough-in and before worktops. A delay there stops everything behind it.
Order before demolition
Cabinets should be ordered, confirmed and ideally delivered before anything is torn out. Starting demolition against an unconfirmed delivery date is how a six-week kitchen becomes a four-month one.
Delivered cabinetry also lets you confirm nothing is damaged or wrong before the room is unusable.
Worktops come after
Stone worktops are templated on the installed cabinets, not from drawings, and fabrication then takes one to three weeks. That gap is unavoidable and routinely omitted from schedules.
Plan for a period with cabinets in and no worktop, and confirm whether a temporary surface is provided.
- Order and confirm cabinetry before demolition
- Inspect on delivery, before the room is stripped
- Templating happens on installed cabinets
- Worktop fabrication is one to three weeks after template
- Appliances on site before cabinets are made
Appliances first
Cabinetry is built to appliance dimensions. Have the actual models on site and inspected before manufacture, because a substitution after the cabinets are made is expensive.
This catches people out most often with refrigerators and range hoods.
Building the wait into the plan
A realistic Nashville kitchen runs six to ten weeks from demolition, with the sink and range among the last things connected.
Set up a temporary kitchen for the whole duration rather than the optimistic version, and move the refrigerator rather than living out of a cooler.