My GC plans to order the cabinets before he starts demo. (I'd probably be happiest to have them on site before demo starts just to be sure, but I'm relying on him. ). I think our cabinet lead time is about 10 weeks? Not sure. I know our GC has that timeline in mind. And we are going to have dimensions change a time bit here and there as we are taking down a wall and will also lose some plaster and lath. My GC doesn't seem worried about that and I imagine he will be ordering a bit extra on the fillers so he has a little wiggle room in the install. I'd rather have an extra two inches of filler than be without my kitchen for an extra two and a half months!

Order as early in the process as possible so the kitchen is not out of service for an impossibly long time. We try to order cabs about six weeks before we expect to start demolition.

However, if you can't get exact dimensions prior to demolition, then you may have to complete at least some of the demo before you can order the cabinets.

Order whenever you can give the kitchen designer the measurements, and be willing to take responsibility for those measurements, with all of the potential repurcussions. Most KDs will want to wait until the demo is done and new drywall is up, unless someone else will sign off on the numberS and be responsible when that immovable plumbing chase is uncovered, or an additional 6'' of ceiling height is found under that dropped ceiling.

The more changes are happening, the riskier and longer the project bcomes. That's unavoidable. Who's gonna sign off on the risk, and pay for the woops issues?

We ordered six weeks before demo and demo did not begin until the cabinets arrived and were inspected and approved.

I've ordered as much as 6 months out for a project with a GC that I've worked with several times. He thought it would save time. LOL! Renovation of a 7000 sq ft house still took 9 months, and he had to order some replacement cabinets because the customer changed their mind about some things once the wall was down. He and the customer owned the issues, and paid about 7K more than they would had they waited. Not a huge % on a 100K whole home cabinet budget, but a smaller budget might not have that % in a contingency fund.

I won't order for a DIYer or new contractor until the demo is done without them signing off and owning the potential issues completely. I've seen too many issues of ''we're gonna take down the soffit and the wall that isn't load bearing'' become, ''oh, crap, the second floor bathroom drain is in part of the soffit, and the city red tagged us for no permits and there's no money left!''.

I ordered my cabinets based on the KD design dimensions. I didn't let tear out begin until I had the cabinets on site and assembled. I was doing RTA. But, I wasn't moving walls. Although the house was older, the kitchen was 12 years old. I wasn't expecting too many unknown issues. I also have a kitchen design that ends in open runs in a number of places. That gives me a lot of fudge.

I think the answer might be, it depends. Everyone does it a little differently depending upon the circumstances.

You all are making good points. Indeed, I the homeowner would sign off and bear the responsibility. I guess I would do some exploratory demo before ordering, i.e. looking in that soffit and pipe chase.

Gotta say, I really have little interest in Ikea's lineup, but the ability to do returns alone is a little compelling.

But lemme as another question of the KDs. Is there a rule of thumb as to how much filler you'd tolerate, in say, your kitchen or one you'd be proud of? Maybe something like no more than x" per 10', or something like that? For example, my longest wall is 16' before demo. If I wanted to pre-order and leave a little margin for safety what would you recommend?

I ordered my cabinets when my plasterwork was complete because Conestoga was running only a 2 week lead time for unfinished cabinets.
Casey

Our cabinet maker wants the framing done before he starts so he can get accurate measurements. We are centering the sink on a new window so we need to be precise there.

This is a house from 1947 and the kitchen is currently plaster & lathe so I'm sure measurements might change a bit.

The cabinets will be what we are waiting on. 4-5 week lead time now.