Kitchen Remodel Scheduling

The Schedule Is the First Thing We Build

Thelanguagebear plans every kitchen remodel as a sequence of dated stages before any work starts in the house. The reason is simple. Most of the time a kitchen spends torn apart is not spent on work. It is spent waiting for a part, a slab, an inspector or a decision. Scheduling is how we move that waiting to before demolition, when you still have a kitchen to cook in.

What Goes Into the Plan

A useful schedule is more than a start date and a finish date. Ours is built from the pieces that actually control the calendar.

Selections

Every finish that changes a measurement or a rough in location has to be chosen first. That means the sink and whether it is undermount, farmhouse or drop in, the faucet, the range or cooktop, the hood, the dishwasher, the refrigerator width and depth, the cabinet door style and the countertop material. A farmhouse sink needs a different base cabinet. An induction range may need a larger circuit. A 36 inch range needs a different hood and possibly different ducting than a 30 inch one. If any of these are still open on demolition day, the electrician and plumber are guessing.

Lead Times

Semi custom cabinets commonly take six to twelve weeks from order to delivery, and custom cabinetry can take longer. Stock cabinets can arrive in days, but the selection of sizes and finishes is narrower. Appliances vary from in stock to months on backorder. Special order tile can take several weeks. We collect real lead times from suppliers for your specific items and work backward from them, rather than using a generic number.

Permits and Inspections

When a job adds circuits, moves plumbing or gas, or changes a wall, the City of Carlsbad reviews plans and inspects the work in stages. Plan review time varies with the city’s workload and the complexity of the job, so we ask for it early and treat the permit as a dependency, not an afterthought. Rough inspections have to pass before walls are closed, and the final inspection comes at the end. Each one is a dated line on your calendar.

HOA Review

Many planned communities in La Costa, Aviara, Calavera Hills and Rancho Carrillo want to hear about construction before it starts. A new exterior hood vent, a roll off bin in the driveway and crew parking are the usual topics. Approval timing depends on the association, so we submit early and build the time into the front of the plan.

A Typical Same Footprint Remodel, Stage by Stage

For a full remodel that keeps the sink, range and refrigerator in roughly the same places, the on site portion usually looks like this:

• Days one to four: protection, demolition and haul away.
• Week two: framing touch ups, rough plumbing and rough electrical.
• Week two or three: rough inspection, then insulation where needed and drywall.
• Week three to four: drywall finishing, primer and flooring if it is being replaced.
• Week four to five: cabinet installation.
• Week five: countertop template, followed by one to three weeks of fabrication.
• Week six to eight: countertop and sink install, backsplash tile, plumbing and electrical trim, appliances.
• Final week: hardware, adjustments, touch up paint and final inspection.

A layout change stretches several of these stages and adds an engineer’s review if a load bearing wall is involved.

When a Shorter Schedule Is the Right Call

If your cabinet boxes are plywood or solid particleboard in good condition and the layout already works, refacing the cabinets and replacing counters can bring most of the visual change in a fraction of the time. We would rather tell you that than sell you ten weeks you do not need.

Start With a Draft

Call (442) 419-3532. After a site visit and measurements, you get a draft week by week schedule you can compare against any other bid.