How long should a Kitchen fit take?

Many questions are asked when having a new kitchen installed. A common one is “How long should a Kitchen fit take?”  To help you understand this question further, we have put together this post to answer this often asked question.

How Long Should A Kitchen Fit Take?

On average you should expect your Kitchen installation to take between 5-10 working days. This is a reasonable ballpark figure, but the complete fit will be dictated by the size and complexity of the room. This would normally include removal of the existing kitchen, tiles, appliances and any subsidiary items. Installation of the new cabinets, worktops, sink & taps and any appliances as well as additional items, sometimes referred to as “Additional” or “Specialist works”. There could also be other areas that may affect the overall duration. These are covered in more detail below.

An In-depth Look Into How long does it take to fit a kitchen?

If your Kitchen fitter is reputable, it is most likely they would have carried out a “Pre-fit survey”. This survey will capture the majority of almost all that will be needed to complete your installation. Based on this survey, they should be able to give you a reasonable expectation on the fit duration. However, it’s most likely this will have been a “Non-obtrusive survey”. This means that no existing furniture will be removed during the survey, which can sometimes mean that there are items or issues that could not be foreseen. It’s these unforeseen areas that are most likely to have the biggest impact on exceeding the expected duration of your fit.

It’s not uncommon that the real issues occur with older buildings and very often relate to the condition of the existing walls, electrics, plumbing or gas supplies. Each of these areas can have a knock-on impact. Extensive electrical works for example is likely to need a significant amount of repair works to the walls or even a replaster. As nearly all plastering would need drying time before the cabinets could be fitted, this would delay the effective start date in fitting the Kitchen.

No fitter wants to over-run on any fit and they would most likely have allowed some provision for unforeseen circumstances within the time frame that they have quoted you. There are though sometimes areas that are outside of their control so please be patient under these circumstances and listen to their professional advice.

Outside of unforeseen issues and under normal circumstances, electrical, plumbing and gas works are built into the equation, and this would normally include making good or plastering to some degree. So, these should all be expected within the quoted time frame.

Likewise, if you’re having new flooring fitted, any self-levelling would normally be included along with the fitting of your new floor. The only caveat here is with removal of tiled flooring. Normally this is fairly consistent to budget time wise however, removal of travertine, mosaic or porcelain floor tiles can be somewhat painful, especially when laid on timber floor. In fact, we’d go far as to say if it’s a timber floor, expect this to take a minimum of 5-6 times longer to remove than anticipated, sometimes even longer.

Wall tiling, by and large, is pretty consistent in the length of time these take to install so rarely would you expect an over-run in this area. There can be issues here though, particularly if there are a lot of socket cut outs. One to really watch for though is hot weather. Tiling always takes significantly longer in higher-than-average temperatures.

To Conclude – How Long Should A Kitchen Fit Take?

That really covers just about everything needed in your Kitchen installation. Yes, there are some potential pitfalls timewise, but overall, there is normally some provision allowed for these by your fitter and as a result, it’s reasonable to allow 5-10 working days from start to finish. Don’t forget to allow for decorating on top of this though. Fitters rarely include this in their quote so do build this into the equation.

Additional Resources

We hope you have enjoyed reading this post entitled How Long Should A Kitchen Fit Take?, and we also hope it has helped you in your understanding as to how long you can expect it take and potential causes in changes to the timescale.

We have some other posts, which you may find useful also, so before you go, please do check them out.

How Much Does A Kitchen Fitter Charge?

How Much Will My Kitchen Installation Cost? 

What Should I Ask A Kitchen Fitter?

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