Plan on three to five weeks without a working kitchen for a full remodel, and about a week if you are only changing counters and backsplash. The two longest gaps are waiting on the countertop template and waiting on inspections.
Roughly how the weeks fall
- Days 1–3 — demolition. Kitchen is gone. Water and power capped.
- Week 1–2 — rough-in. Any plumbing or electrical changes, then inspection. This is where a permit either helps or hurts your schedule.
- Week 2–3 — drywall, paint, flooring, cabinets set.
- The countertop gap. Templating only happens once cabinets are installed and level. Fabrication is then typically 7 to 14 days. You have no counters and no sink during that window, and it is the part people are least prepared for.
- Final week — counters in, sink and appliances connected, backsplash, trim, punch list.
The countertop gap is the one to plan around
Everything else can be worked around. That one to two weeks with base cabinets and no work surface and no sink is the genuinely hard part of a kitchen remodel, and no honest contractor can compress it much — stone has to be templated to what is actually built, then cut, then polished.
What helps: have the slab selected and the fabricator booked before demolition starts, not after.
Set up a temporary kitchen. Properly.
Do this before day one, not on day three when you are already irritated.
- Fridge relocated to the garage or dining room — check the outlet reaches and is not on the circuit being worked on
- Microwave, kettle, air fryer and a hotplate on a folding table
- Washing up in the laundry tub or the bathroom — decide which now
- Paper plates for the duration. Not glamorous, genuinely worth it.
- Box up everything you will not need. Every box you pack is a box the crew does not have to work around.
Starting in October for Christmas
It is a common ask and the honest answer is that it is achievable if you start early October, have selections finalised before demolition, and the job does not need a slab cut. It is not achievable if you start in November, and it is not achievable if you are still choosing tile in week two.
Permit review timelines matter here too. Florida tightened its review clocks in 2026, which helps, but a job that needs inspection sign-offs still has fixed waiting points that no amount of urgency removes.
What makes it drag
Late decisions, back-ordered appliances, and discovering something behind the wall. The first is entirely within your control and is the most common cause. Have everything chosen and on site before the first cabinet comes off the wall.