Kitchen Renovations Adelaide — A 90-Day Project Walk-Through

A typical Adelaide kitchen renovation runs about 90 days from first brief to final sign-off. The pattern is consistent across most Kitchen Fox jobs: three weeks of design and finalisation, four to six weeks of cabinetry build and trade coordination, and one to three weeks of on-site install. This article walks the full sequence week-by-week, including what slows projects down, what speeds them up, and how to live through a kitchen renovation without losing your sanity.

The 90-day route at a glance

Phase	Duration	What happens
Phase 1 — Brief, design, measure	Weeks 1-3	Free consultation, 3D plan, finishes board, fixed-price quote, deposit
Phase 2 — Cabinetry build, benchtop template, trades coordination	Weeks 4-7	Cabinetry built in workshop, stone selected, trades booked, demolition scheduled
Phase 3 — Demo, install, commissioning	Weeks 8-12	On-site demolition, install, snag, final walk-through
Phase 4 — Snag and warranty hand-over	Week 13	Final touch-ups, written warranty, project close

The actual duration varies with scope. Smaller refresh jobs (band 1) compress to 6-8 weeks. Premium custom builds with structural change and council consent stretch to 16-22 weeks once consent is in.

Phase 1 — Brief, design, measure (weeks 1-3)

Week 1 — Consultation and brief

The first week is the consultation and rough cost band. Sixty minutes on-site or in the showroom with a Kitchen Fox designer. The designer takes the brief, measures the existing space, photographs the constraints, and asks the questions that matter — your weekday cooking pattern, weekend entertaining pattern, kids and pets, storage gaps, what’s working in the existing kitchen, what isn’t.

Before the designer leaves, you have a verbal cost band — the band the project most likely lands in. No deposit at this stage. No obligation to proceed.

Week 2 — 3D design plan

The designer returns to the workshop and produces a 3D plan. This isn’t a sketch — it’s a CAD-rendered plan you can walk through, with cabinetry sized to the millimetre, appliance niches set to your specifications, services routes (water, gas, electrical, ventilation) identified.

We also produce a finishes board — door colour, hardware, benchtop slab sample, splashback materials, sink, tap. The board is physical, not digital — you handle the materials and see the colours together.

Week 3 — Fixed-price quote and signing

The fixed-price written quote lands by the end of week 3. Line-by-line. Cabinetry, benchtop, splashback, sink and tap, appliances, trades, council fees if applicable, project management. No “extras” tucked into the bottom line.

If everything checks out, you sign and pay the deposit. The project moves to phase 2. If anything needs revising — a cabinetry change, a finish swap, a budget adjustment — we revise and re-quote. There’s no pressure to sign on the spot.

Phase 1 — what slows projects down

• Brief uncertainty. Couples who don’t agree on style, layout or budget. We can’t design what we can’t brief; the consultation often surfaces this and we wait until both parties are aligned.
• Council consent unknowns. If the project might need development plan consent (heritage character zone, rear extension), we can’t finalise the quote without confirmation from council on the consent path. Adds 1-2 weeks if we need to lodge a pre-DPC enquiry.
• Material lead-time uncertainty. Premium imported slabs, specific timber-veneer doors, custom-machined hardware — if it’s special-order with long lead time we flag at quote stage so the timeline is honest.

Phase 2 — Cabinetry build, benchtop template, trades coordination (weeks 4-7)

Weeks 4-5 — Cabinetry build kicks off

Cabinetry production starts the week after the deposit clears. The carcass board (Australian-made E0) is cut to the shop drawing, doors and drawer fronts are veneered or painted, hardware (Hettich or Blum) is fitted. A typical kitchen has 8-14 linear metres of cabinetry; production runs about 2 weeks for a mid-tier kitchen, 3-4 weeks for a premium custom build.

You’re welcome to visit the workshop during this phase — most homeowners take us up on it. Seeing your cabinetry built is one of the moments that makes the project feel real.

Week 6 — Trades booked, council consent (if applicable)

While cabinetry is in production we book the trades — electrician, plumber, tiler, plasterer — for the install windows. Most metro Adelaide trades book 4-8 weeks ahead, so we lock the dates early.

If the project needs council consent (development plan consent or building rules consent for structural work), we lodge during this window. DPC turnaround in metro Adelaide councils is typically 4-8 weeks; we work it into the schedule.

Week 7 — Demolition scheduled, temporary kitchen briefed

Toward the end of phase 2 we confirm the demolition date with you. Most homeowners want a 2-3 day notice so they can prep — clear out the existing kitchen contents, pre-cook some meals to freeze, set up a temporary kitchen in the dining or living room.

The temporary kitchen brief: kettle, microwave, electric frypan or single induction hot plate, fridge moved to the dining room, sink access via the laundry or bathroom for dishwashing.

Phase 2 — what slows projects down

• Council consent lead times. DPC processes can stretch beyond 8 weeks if the council has questions. We respond promptly to information requests but the council clock is council’s.
• Stone slab selection. Premium imported slabs are sometimes out of stock and need to be re-sourced. We confirm slab availability before quoting but supply chains shift.
• Trade availability. Peak season (October to December) can stretch trade lead times. Booking early is the fix.

Phase 3 — Demo, install, commissioning (weeks 8-12)

Week 8 — Demolition

Demolition day. The existing kitchen comes out — cabinetry, bench, splashback, appliances if not retained. Demo typically runs 1-2 days for a standard kitchen, 2-3 days where structural work or a butler’s pantry conversion is involved.

Skip bin on the front lawn. Plastic dust sheeting on adjacent rooms. Power and water isolation managed by the electrician and plumber. The kitchen space goes from “working but tired” to “empty room with services hanging out of the wall” in 36 hours.

Weeks 9-10 — Install begins

Cabinetry is delivered and installed. The carcasses go in first — base cabinets levelled to the laser line, wall cabinets fixed to studs, kicker installed, panels and trims fitted. Drawers and doors are hung last.

Mid-week, the stone fabricator templates the bench. Templating uses a digital laser system or a hardboard physical template — every dimension to within 1mm. Fabrication runs 5-10 working days from template; the bench typically arrives during week 10.

Trades work in sequence — electrician for power, plumbing rough-in for sink and dishwasher, tiler for splashback after the bench is in. We coordinate so trades aren’t tripping over each other.

Week 11 — Bench install, splashback, appliances

Bench arrives on a frame and is lifted onto cabinetry by the stonemason crew. Sink and tap fitted by the plumber. Cooktop dropped in. Wall oven installed. Dishwasher plumbed. Rangehood ducted to outside. Splashback templated, fabricated and installed (1-2 weeks separate window for some materials).

By the end of week 11 the kitchen is functional — you can use it for cooking, dishwashing, basic operations.

Week 12 — Snag and final commissioning

The snag list. Every drawer is opened and closed. Every door is tested. Every cabinet is checked for level, plumb and finish quality. Hardware tightened. Touch-ups on paint where install caused micro-scuffs. Splashback grout sealed. Sink and tap final-checked for leaks.

We walk the kitchen with you. You point out anything that doesn’t read right. We fix on the spot or schedule a return visit.

Phase 3 — what slows projects down

• Discovery work. Demolition sometimes uncovers surprises — old asbestos backing in pre-1990s kitchens, water damage in concealed cavities, structural framing that’s worse than expected. We’ve seen most of it; the schedule absorbs typical surprises.
• Trade coordination misses. A plumber running late on rough-in pushes the tiler back which pushes the bench install back. We manage the schedule actively but some slippage is normal.
• Premium appliance availability. Premium integrated appliances (Sub-Zero, Wolf, Miele) sometimes have 8-12 week lead times. We order at signing for premium projects to avoid this.

Phase 4 — Snag and warranty hand-over (week 13)

Final walk-through and warranty

Once the snag list is closed we do the final walk-through. Every item ticked off, every finish accepted, every appliance commissioned. We hand over the written warranty pack — seven years on cabinetry, manufacturer warranties on hardware (Hettich, Blum), benchtop fabricator warranty, electrical and plumbing trade warranties.

Final invoice is settled. Project closes. We schedule a 6-week post-install follow-up — most cabinetry-and-stone installations need a small adjustment as wood and stone settle into the home’s humidity cycle.

Living through a kitchen renovation — the practical bits

Practical advice from running hundreds of Adelaide kitchen renovations:

• The fridge moves to the dining room. Plan for it. 4-week minimum displacement.
• Set up a temporary kitchen. Kettle, microwave, electric frypan, single induction hot plate, fridge access. Most meals can be made on this kit.
• Use the BBQ. Most Adelaide homes have an outdoor BBQ; install week is when it earns its keep.
• Eat out twice a week minimum. Renovation fatigue is real; the meal-out keeps morale up.
• Pre-cook and freeze. Casseroles, soups, slow-cooker meals — easy to reheat in the microwave.
• Coffee plan. Stovetop espresso pot or French press if you can’t survive without coffee. Plumbed-in espresso machine is offline for the duration.
• Dishwashing. Laundry sink or bathroom basin works. Disposable plates for the worst weeks if you don’t mind.
• Dust management. Plastic sheeting on adjacent rooms, doors closed, air-purifier helpful for asthma and dust sensitivity.
• Pet considerations. Dogs are often happier off-site for demo and install days. Cats usually find a corner to hide in.

What slows the whole project down — and how Kitchen Fox prevents it

Three things slow most Adelaide kitchen renovations: trade coordination misses, supply-chain surprises, and council consent friction. The Kitchen Fox approach to each:

• Trade coordination — one operator owns the schedule. Cabinet maker, stonemason, electrician, plumber, tiler all booked through Kitchen Fox, all reporting to the same project manager, all working from the same schedule.
• Supply-chain surprises — early ordering. Premium appliances, special-order doors and imported slabs ordered at deposit signing, not mid-job. Lead times built into the schedule, not assumed away.
• Council consent — early lodgement. Where DPC or BRC applies, we lodge in week 4-5 alongside cabinetry production. Council clock runs in parallel with cabinetry build, not after.

The pattern matters. Most kitchen renovation horror stories trace to one of these three failure modes; managing them upstream prevents most of the pain.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a typical Adelaide kitchen renovation take?

About 90 days from first brief to final sign-off for a mid-tier renovation. Refresh jobs compress to 6-8 weeks. Premium custom with structural change runs 16-22 weeks. We give you the realistic timeline in the written quote at week 3.

Can I live through the renovation?

Yes — most Adelaide kitchen renovations are liveable through. You’ll lose the kitchen for 2-3 weeks of install. Set up a temporary kitchen in the dining room and the rest of the home stays operational.

What’s the longest pause-point?

The 4-week cabinetry build (phase 2) is the longest single block of time, but you’re not living without a kitchen during this — your existing kitchen is still in place. The actual disruption window (kitchen offline) is the 2-3 weeks of phase 3.

Can the project finish faster?

Refresh jobs can land in 6 weeks. Mid-tier full renovations rarely beat 10 weeks honestly. The cabinetry build is the rate-limiting step; we run multiple jobs through the workshop in parallel but each kitchen has its own production window.

What happens if there’s a surprise during demolition?

Most surprises are minor (rotten skirting, hidden plumbing, framing variations). We absorb them in the project budget. Major surprises (asbestos, structural damage, services failure) are flagged immediately, briefed honestly, and re-quoted before any extra work proceeds. We don’t ambush homeowners with mid-job invoices.

How do I prepare for the start?

Clear out the existing kitchen contents 1 week before demo. Move appliances you’re keeping to a safe storage area. Set up the temporary kitchen. Brief the kids and the pets. We walk through a pre-demo checklist with you in week 7.