Planning a kitchen renovation: the order things happen in

A kitchen is the most complicated room in the house to renovate. In a few square metres you have plumbing, drainage, electrical, gas, extraction, joinery, stone and tiling, and each trade depends on the one before it. Knowing the order helps you plan, make decisions at the right time and understand why your builder keeps asking about the hob.

1. Design and decisions

Everything starts with a layout. Work with a kitchen designer or architect to settle where the sink, hob, oven, fridge and dishwasher will go. These positions decide where the plumbing, drainage, power points and extraction go.

Choose your appliances now, not later. Built-in ovens, integrated fridges and extractors have exact cut-out sizes and power requirements. The joinery is designed around them, and the electrician needs to know what to wire for.

2. Measuring and joinery lead time

Once the layout is fixed, the kitchen manufacturer measures and starts production. Custom joinery commonly takes several weeks to manufacture, so order it early and plan the building work around the delivery date rather than the other way round.

3. Strip-out

The old kitchen, tiles and sometimes the ceiling come out. This is when surprises appear: old galvanised pipes, rotten floor boards, wiring that does not meet current standards, or a wall that is not where the drawings said it was. Leave room in the budget for this.

4. Building work

If walls are moving, windows are being enlarged or a new opening is going through to the dining room, this happens now. Any structural work needs an engineer’s design and, where required, approved plans.

5. First fix: services

Plumbers, electricians and gas fitters run the new pipes, drains, cables and ducts to the positions in the design, before walls and floors are closed up. This is the most important stage to get right. Moving a power point after tiling is expensive; moving it now costs very little. Walk the room with your builder at this stage and check every position.

6. Plaster, ceilings and floors

Walls are plastered or patched, ceilings are closed and the floor is laid, or at least prepared. Whether the floor goes in before or after the cabinets depends on the floor type and the kitchen design. Discuss this early.

7. Installation of the kitchen

The cabinets are installed, levelled and fixed. Then the worktop is templated. Stone and engineered surfaces are measured off the installed cabinets, not from drawings, and fabrication usually takes one to two weeks after templating. This gap is the most common cause of a kitchen standing “nearly finished”.

8. Worktops, splashback and second fix

Once the worktops are in, the splashback is tiled or fitted. The plumber connects the sink, taps and dishwasher. The electrician fits the plates, lights and appliances. The gas fitter connects the hob and issues a certificate of compliance.

9. Snagging and handover

Doors are adjusted, silicone is finished, and everything is cleaned and tested. Check every drawer, door and appliance before signing off (see our snagging guide).

How long does it take?

The building side of a typical kitchen renovation is often four to eight weeks, depending on how much structural work is involved. The real driver is lead time on joinery and worktops, and decisions made late.

Living without a kitchen

Set up a temporary kitchen elsewhere in the house with a fridge, a kettle, a microwave and a basin if possible. It makes a big difference to living through the work. We wrote more about living in your home during a renovation.

We coordinate kitchen renovations with your kitchen designer, from strip-out to the final splashback. If you are planning one, talk to us early so we can help with the sequence.