How Long Does a Bespoke Kitchen Take to Make and Fit?
Fourteen to twenty four weeks from first enquiry to a finished room. Manufacture takes eight to twelve of those weeks. The installation itself takes two to three. The stone worktop then adds a gap in the middle that almost nobody plans for.
A bespoke kitchen takes fourteen to twenty four weeks from first enquiry to a finished room. Design and revisions take three to six weeks, workshop manufacture takes eight to twelve, then installation takes two to three weeks on site. A stone worktop adds a further ten to fifteen working days in the middle of the installation, because it can only be templated once the cabinets are physically in place. Add eight to sixteen weeks on top if an extension or structural work has to happen first.
Why bespoke takes longer than a retail kitchen
A retail kitchen is picked from stock and delivered. A bespoke kitchen does not exist when you order it. Every cabinet is drawn, machined, jointed, assembled, primed and painted after the order is placed, which is why the workshop stage alone is longer than most people expect the whole project to be.
That is also why the timeline is more predictable than a retail refit once it starts. There is nothing to be out of stock, no discontinued door to substitute, no missing part to wait on. The programme is a manufacturing schedule rather than a supply chain.
The full programme, week by week
This is a realistic timeline for a mid sized North London kitchen with no building work involved.
| Stage | Weeks | What happens | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry and first visit | Weeks 1 to 2 | Brief taken, room measured informally, budget discussed | Gather photographs, plans and a rough budget |
| Concept design | Weeks 2 to 5 | Layout options drawn and revised with you | Give feedback quickly, this is the usual bottleneck |
| Specification and quote | Weeks 5 to 6 | Materials, finishes and ironmongery fixed, itemised quotation issued | Compare properly rather than on headline price |
| Order and deposit | Week 6 | Drawings signed off, deposit paid, workshop slot booked | Sign off carefully, changes after this cost money |
| Technical survey | Week 7 | Final measurements taken in the finished room | Ensure any building work is genuinely complete |
| Workshop manufacture | Weeks 7 to 18 | Cutting, jointing, assembly, priming, hand painting | Choose worktop and appliances during this window |
| Delivery and installation | Weeks 18 to 20 | Cabinets fitted, levelled and scribed to the room | Arrange parking and access, expect noise |
| Worktop template and fit | Weeks 20 to 22 | Stone templated, fabricated off site, returned and installed | Kitchen is not usable during this gap |
| Second fix and snagging | Week 22 | Appliances connected, splashbacks, final adjustments | Walk the room and list everything |
Fourteen weeks is achievable when the design settles quickly and the workshop has capacity. Twenty four weeks is normal when the design goes through several rounds or the order lands in a busy period. Autumn is the busiest window in London, because everyone wants the kitchen finished before Christmas.
How long the fitting itself takes
The installation is the part people actually live through, so it is worth breaking down properly. This is the on site sequence for a straightforward replacement.
| Day | Stage | Trades on site |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Strip out the old kitchen, clear waste, inspect walls, floors and services | Fitters and a labourer |
| Days 2 to 3 | First fix plumbing, electrics and gas, plastering and making good | Electrician, plumber, Gas Safe engineer |
| Days 3 to 6 | Base and wall cabinets levelled, fixed and scribed, doors and drawers hung | Kitchen fitters |
| Day 6 | Worktop template taken once cabinets are level and final | Worktop templater |
| Days 7 to 16 | Stone fabricated off site, no work in the room | Nobody, this is the waiting gap |
| Day 17 | Worktop delivered and installed, sink and hob cutouts fitted | Worktop fitters |
| Days 18 to 19 | Second fix, appliances connected, electrics certified | Electrician, plumber, fitters |
| Days 20 to 21 | Splashbacks, flooring, decorating and snagging | Tiler and decorator |
Days seven to sixteen are the hard part. The cabinets are in, the old kitchen is gone and there is no worktop, no sink and no hob. Plan for two full weeks of washing up in a bathroom. Choosing a laminate or timber worktop removes this gap entirely, because both can be cut and fitted on the same visit.
A small galley kitchen with laminate worktops can be stripped and finished in five to seven working days. A large kitchen with stone, an island and a utility runs to four or five weeks on site. Choosing a Kitchen Worktop covers which materials add a templating gap and which do not.
A programme you can actually plan around
We give a written schedule at order stage with the survey date, the workshop window and the installation dates, then we tell you as soon as anything moves. Bespoke kitchens across Islington, Hackney, Barnet, Haringey, Enfield and Walthamstow.
What actually causes delays
In our experience the workshop is rarely the problem. Almost every overrun traces back to one of these.
The first two account for most lost time and both sit with the client rather than the maker. Design decisions that drift for a month push the workshop slot back by a month. Workshop slots are booked in sequence rather than held open.
Changes after sign off are the expensive kind of delay. Once a cabinet has been machined, altering it means remaking it. This is why the design stage deserves the time it takes, which is the argument made in full in How to Plan a Bespoke Kitchen.
If building work is involved
A side return extension, a knock through or a structural opening changes the arithmetic completely, because the kitchen cannot be surveyed until the room exists in its final form.
| Project type | Building work | Total from enquiry | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replacement in an existing room | None | 14 to 24 weeks | The standard programme |
| Knock through between two rooms | 3 to 5 weeks | 18 to 28 weeks | Structural calculations and building control needed |
| Rear or side return extension | 12 to 20 weeks | 30 to 46 weeks | Planning or permitted development first |
| Full remodel with new services | 8 to 16 weeks | 24 to 40 weeks | Rewiring and replumbing before first fix |
The sensible approach is to run the design in parallel with the building work rather than after it. Concept drawings can be produced from architect plans, so only the final technical survey has to wait for the room to be finished. That saves four to six weeks on almost every extension project.
Planning permission timescales sit outside all of this. If you are budgeting an extension alongside the kitchen, Kitchen Extension Costs covers the costs and the consents.
How to keep the project on time
- Decide the layout before anything else. Colour and handles can be settled during manufacture. Layout cannot.
- Turn drawings around quickly. A week of your time at design stage saves a month at the back end.
- Order appliances early. Some ranges carry lead times longer than the kitchen itself. Get model numbers fixed before the technical survey so cabinets are machined correctly.
- Finish the building work properly. Plastered, level and dry, not almost. A survey taken in an unfinished room produces cabinets that do not fit.
- Choose the worktop material early. It decides whether you lose two weeks in the middle of the installation.
- Sort parking and access. In a North London terrace with a controlled parking zone, a suspended bay or visitor permits are worth arranging weeks ahead.
- Do not change anything after sign off. The drawings are the contract. Changes cost weeks as well as money.
Point three catches people out more than any other. Appliance dimensions drive cabinet dimensions, so a late change of oven can mean a remade tall unit. Settle the specification alongside the layout, as set out in What Is a Bespoke Kitchen.
Plan the whole project properly
Timescales, budgets, layouts, worktops and materials, written for people commissioning a kitchen rather than buying one. Everything sits in our Bespoke Kitchen Guides library.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to fit a kitchen?
A straightforward replacement takes two to three weeks on site. A small galley with laminate worktops can be done in five to seven working days. A large kitchen with stone worktops, an island and a utility runs to four or five weeks, mostly because stone has to be templated after the cabinets are in and then fabricated off site.
How long does a bespoke kitchen take to make?
Workshop manufacture takes eight to twelve weeks from the technical survey. Every cabinet is machined, jointed, assembled, primed and hand painted to order, so nothing exists before you place the order. Total time from first enquiry to a finished room is fourteen to twenty four weeks.
Why is there a gap in the middle of a kitchen installation?
Stone and composite worktops can only be templated once the cabinets are physically installed and levelled, because the template has to match the real cabinets rather than the drawing. Fabrication off site then takes ten to fifteen working days. Laminate and timber worktops avoid this gap because they can be cut and fitted on the same visit.
How long does a kitchen renovation take with building work?
A knock through adds three to five weeks, taking the total to eighteen to twenty eight weeks. A rear or side return extension adds twelve to twenty weeks of construction, taking the total to thirty to forty six weeks from enquiry. Running the kitchen design in parallel with the building work saves four to six weeks.
Can you live in the house during a kitchen fit?
Most people do. Set up a temporary kitchen elsewhere with a kettle, microwave and fridge before day one. Expect no running water in the room for the whole installation. The hardest stretch is the worktop gap, when there is no sink or hob for around two weeks.
How long to fit a small kitchen?
Five to seven working days for a compact galley with laminate worktops and no structural change. Add ten to fifteen working days if you choose stone. The design and manufacture stages are barely shorter than for a large kitchen, because the survey, drawings and workshop setup take similar time whatever the room size.
Where to go next
The honest summary is six months from enquiry to a finished room, longer still with building work. Most of that is manufacture rather than disruption. Only two to three weeks of it happens in your house. Our Bespoke Kitchens North London page explains how we schedule and what we commit to in writing.
More from this guide series
- How to Plan a Bespoke Kitchen for the design stage that sets the timeline
- How Much Does a Bespoke Kitchen Cost for costs and payment stages
- Choosing a Kitchen Worktop for which materials add a templating gap
- Kitchen Extension Costs for the building work option
- What Is a Bespoke Kitchen for the process overall
- Bespoke Kitchen Guides for every guide in the series
Tell us when you need the room finished and we will work backwards from that date to tell you when the design has to start.