How long a kitchen renovation takes depends on scope, trades and lead times. Here is a realistic week-by-week timeline from a licensed Sydney contractor, plus what actually causes the delays.
TL;DR: A straightforward kitchen renovation in Sydney typically takes 3–5 weeks from cabinet installation to completion. Full gut renovations including structural work run 5–8 weeks. The planning and approval stage adds 2–4 weeks before any work starts.
Most Sydney kitchen renovations take three to five weeks on site for a straightforward job, and five to eight weeks where structural work, plumbing relocation or custom stone is involved. Before any of that starts, allow two to four weeks for planning, design sign-off and ordering. Here is how the on-site time breaks down. Planning and design sits at the front and runs two to four weeks while we confirm the layout, finishes and order materials. Demolition of the old kitchen takes one to two days. The rough-in trades — electrical and plumbing — need two to three days to move points and run services before the cabinetry goes in. Cabinet installation itself is one to three days depending on the size of the kitchen. Benchtop templating and installation is the part most people underestimate: the templater measures once the cabinets are in, then the benchtop is fabricated and returned for install, which adds one to two weeks. Splashback and finishing take one to two days, and appliances plus final fit-off are usually a single day. Add those together and you can see why three to five weeks is realistic, not pessimistic.
Scope is the biggest factor. Replacing cabinetry and benchtops in the same layout is quick. Moving walls, relocating the sink or reconfiguring the whole room adds trades, inspections and time. Structural changes stretch the timeline most. Removing a wall means a structural engineer, possibly a steel beam, and an inspection before anything else continues. Council approval, where it is needed, adds weeks on its own — most internal kitchens do not need it, but altering load-bearing walls can. Material lead times are the quiet killer. Stone and porcelain benchtops run ten to fourteen days from template to install, and that is sequential — it cannot start until the cabinets are in. Appliances ordered late can take two to four weeks to arrive, and a kitchen cannot be finished without them. The number of trades and how they are coordinated matters enormously. A kitchen needs a demolisher, electrician, plumber, cabinetmaker, stonemason, tiler and painter. When five separate contractors are each booking their own slot, the gaps between them blow the timeline out. When one team schedules them all in the right order, the dead time disappears. Custom cabinetry built to the exact room avoids the on-site fiddling and filler panels that slow a flat-pack install, so it often goes in faster despite being made to measure.
Here is a realistic timeline for a mid-range Sydney kitchen renovation with no structural work. <strong>Weeks 1–3 (before site):</strong> We confirm the layout, you sign off the design, and we order cabinetry, benchtop, splashback and appliances. Nothing visible happens at your house yet, but this is where a renovation is won or lost. Lock the decisions here and the rest runs smoothly. <strong>Week 4, days 1–2:</strong> Demolition. The old kitchen comes out, rubbish is removed, and the room is stripped back ready for services. <strong>Week 4, days 3–5:</strong> Rough-in. The electrician moves power points and lighting, the plumber adjusts water and waste for the sink and dishwasher. Any patching and prep happens now. <strong>Week 5, days 1–3:</strong> Cabinet installation. The custom cabinetry goes in, levelled and fixed to the walls. The kitchen suddenly looks like a kitchen. <strong>Week 5, day 3:</strong> Benchtop templating. The stonemason measures the installed cabinets exactly. Fabrication then takes around ten days. <strong>Week 6–7:</strong> Benchtop install, then splashback, then appliances and final fit-off — taps, handles, doors adjusted. We clean up and hand it back. Total: roughly five to six weeks including the lead time you cannot compress.
The single most common cause of overrun is the benchtop. It cannot be measured until the cabinets are installed, and stone takes ten to fourteen days to fabricate and return. There is no way around that gap — but you can plan for it instead of being surprised by it. Appliance delays are next. A back-ordered oven or integrated fridge can hold up the final fit-off by weeks. Ordering early, and sourcing appliances as part of the job rather than chasing retail stock yourself, avoids it. Trades availability causes dead time when contractors are booked separately. If the tiler cannot come until ten days after the cabinets are in, the kitchen just sits there. Because we run one team covering every trade, we schedule them back to back and the handovers happen without the waiting. That is the main reason our jobs come in around the three-week mark on site rather than dragging. The rest is scope creep and variations — changing the tile halfway, adding a cabinet after demolition — and waterproofing or render cure times where wet trades are involved. Decisions made late always cost time.
Have every decision made before work starts. Cabinet finish, benchtop colour, splashback, tapware, handles, appliances — all of it. A renovation that begins with the selections locked in runs to schedule. One that begins with "we'll decide the tiles later" does not. Choose in-stock materials where timing matters. A beautiful imported tile with a six-week lead time will hold up the whole job. If the deadline is tight, we will tell you honestly which finishes are available now and which will cost you weeks. Use a contractor who manages all the trades. This is the biggest lever you have. When one team books the electrician, plumber, stonemason and tiler in sequence, the gaps vanish. It is the reason a typical InsideOut kitchen turns around in about three weeks on site rather than the two months a poorly coordinated job can take. Finally, avoid changes mid-project. Every variation after work starts means re-ordering, re-scheduling and waiting. Get it right on paper — review the design properly, ask every question early — and then let the team build it. For a sense of what your scope might cost alongside the timeline, read our <a href="/blog/kitchen-renovation-cost-sydney">kitchen renovation cost guide</a>, or see how we work on our <a href="/kitchens">kitchens</a> page.
Yes, most people do. You will be without a functioning kitchen for the on-site weeks — typically three to five — so it pays to set up a temporary kitchen before demolition starts. A microwave, kettle, toaster and the fridge relocated to another room covers most households. The messiest stages are demolition and benchtop install, which are short. If you have young kids or work from home, talk to us early and we will sequence the noisier work so it causes the least disruption.
Send us a few photos of the existing kitchen, a rough floor plan and a description of what you want, and we can usually come back with a realistic budget range within a day. A detailed fixed quote takes longer because it needs a site visit to measure up and confirm the scope, finishes and any plumbing or electrical changes. We do not give ballpark numbers over the phone without seeing the room — the difference between a $25,000 and a $55,000 kitchen is rarely obvious from a photo alone.
The benchtop. It cannot be templated until the cabinetry is installed, and stone or porcelain then takes ten to fourteen days to fabricate before it comes back for installation. That sequential gap is the single longest fixed step in most kitchen renovations and it cannot be compressed. The next longest is appliance lead times, which can run two to four weeks if anything is back-ordered. This is why ordering early and locking selections in before work starts makes such a difference to the total timeline.
Most internal kitchen renovations do not need council approval, because you are working within the existing footprint and not touching the structure. Approval comes into play if you remove or alter a load-bearing wall, change the building's external footprint, or work on a heritage-listed or strata property where extra rules apply. Removing a structural wall needs an engineer's report and may require a development application, which adds weeks. We will tell you upfront whether your specific job needs approval before any work begins.
A realistic timeline accounts for the benchtop lead time. If a contractor promises a finished stone kitchen in a week, be cautious — the fabrication alone takes around ten days after the cabinets go in. A genuine timeline also names the stages: demolition, rough-in, cabinetry, templating, benchtop, splashback and fit-off, with the planning and ordering period shown separately at the front. Vague timelines with no stages, or ones that ignore material lead times, usually slip. Ask who is coordinating the trades — that answer tells you whether the schedule will hold.
InsideOut Joinery & Renos is a family-run custom joinery and renovation business based in Liverpool, Sydney NSW 2170, serving homeowners Sydney-wide. Call 02 5000 0402 or email info@insideoutjoinery.au. One team covers every trade, with a typical 3-week turnaround, trade-cost appliances and 12 years of experience. Licensed contractor — licence 383725C, ABN 62 912 909 739.