My experience from 2013:

I think I first contacted the local cabinet maker in January; finalized plans, signed a contract, and made a down payment (to get on the schedule) in the spring (perhaps March). We were scheduled for early June, but just as they were about to start "slicing and dicing" our project, their CNC software crashed, which delayed us by a week. Cabinets were installed the end of July; counters installed the second week in August. So 7 months or so total; 2 months without a fully functioning kitchen.

Typically, the cabinet lead time is 9-18 months, for an in demand high end custom maker.

And it should be said, for a cabinet company that is mid-range, semi-custom, the cabinet lead time is 10-16 weeks.

@purpleplume your post did not provide information regarding what kind of delays, whether they are design delays or materials delays, are the delays specific to e.g. the floors? the cabinets? other renovations in your home?

In my experience there are two causes of delays. One is that a structural change (such as taking down a wall, or adding an addition) uncovers problems in say, foundation, or electrical, or termites, or who knows what. That is usually out of your control and out of the design/build firm's control.

The second cause of delays is indecision and the resulting change orders. It is best if you can have your decisions made, lined up and ready like the proverbial "all ducks in a row". If the design is still being tweaked, then the cabinets are delayed, which then delays the counters, which then delays the plumbing, and so on.

Can you provide information as to the type of delays you are experiencing that are frustrating you?

Construction delays are almost always about power and leverage. Unfortunately for homeowners, most contractors won't sign a contract with a penalty clause. As a contractor, I never would; plenty of other work available. Homeowners have little leverage.

I've seen contractors turn a used car lot into a state-of-the-art Chase bank in 90 days. Contractors at General Motors must be finished at the end of the 2-week Christmas shutdown; no excuses. Chase and GM have leverage and power.

^^way melodramatic. And generalization. And Chase and GM retail locations have nothing to do with the OP. The OP has not even said the issue, and you are talking about a power struggle like they are living the Game of Thrones.

Depending on the work being done and the area in which the home is located, getting permits and waiting for inspections can also cause delays. We moved walls, raised ceilings, added windows, and moved electric and plumbing. Permits and inspections were required for all of those, as far as I know. A remodel that is replacing cabinets and counters, but not moving structural things around, won't have the same delays. But you may still have delays waiting for appliances etc.

We did a whole house remodel. Closed in January 2023, got permits in March/April, and moved in in October, so 10 months after closing but about 8 months after permits. We weren't living there which made things much easier. I switched my choice of DW brand and also my custom cabinet source due to delays. I did a ton of research, worked closely with my designer, and told my builder to let me know in advance when he needed a decision. I didn't want to be the cause of any delays if I could help it.

@Miranda33 My apologies. I'm still finding my way around these forums. I thought I had answered you last weekend, but it appears my comment did not post. I also uploaded drawings per your request but they did not post either. I am trying again here.

We ordered Wolf SubZero appliances in February 2023 and were told the fridge/freezer would be the last to arrive and quoted an ETA of December 2023. Drawings were begun and we are still refining them.

INTERIOR DESIGNER

I also have an interior designer in LA. We are in FL. She does not sign off on every kitchen detail, just materials and the overall look and feel so we may maintain color flow throughout the residence.

PROJECT SCOPE

We have no other construction going on during the kitchen and laundry room rebuild. No walls are being moved or added, but an existing bar stool-height wall that separated the kitchen from an open waterfront DR/LR is being shortened to counter height to open up a view to the water. A bank of floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side of the kitchen floods the kitchen with natural light showcasing deep covered 550 SF waterfront terraces for outdoor dining, entertainment and relaxation spaces.

FLOORING CONSTRAINT

The existing footprint of the U-shaped kitchen remains since we have existing Saturnia marble flooring flowing throughout the entire main floor where the kitchen is located. Unfortunately, we have no extra floor tiles from the prior owner. While the kitchen layout is changing, its footprint remains unchanged to allow use of existing marble flooring.

CABINETRY

Kitchen custom cabinetry is slab with Ben Moore Chantilly Lace used on all cabinetry for the 3 sides of the U-shaped layout; center island cabinetry color is Blissful Blue from SW. Cabinetry pulls are brushed silver tubular style like the Wolf Transitional style handles. Counters and backsplash are from Opustone in color Diamond Blue Polished Calcite, bookmatched behind induction cooktop and down one short side of the island.

APPLIANCES

I'm excited about our appliances, especially the induction cooktop; the gorgeous cobalt interior and full-extension racks in the Wolf convection wall oven; a Wolf vacuum seal drawer used in conjunction with their convection steam oven for cooking sous vide; and a 32"or 33" or 36" workstation sink TBD (by Ruvati, Kohler or Create Good Sinks) over a 36" base U-shaped cabinet that functions and appears as a 3-drawer bank (the top one being a faux panel). Our existing Miele Futura Diamond DW remains and is slotted to the right of the sink (fronted to appear as a 3-drawer bank), while left of sink also appears as a 3-drawer bank with the bottom two opening as one and concealing a roll-out 2-bin trash receptacle. Top left drawer is for dish towels and hot pads.

DESIGN DILEMMA

My biggest design challenge is getting the existing Saturnian marble flooring throughout to play nicely with my preferred cool toned color palette throughout the residence. This is particularly tricky in the kitchen, which has some 3" x 3" bronze metal diamond-shaped accent tiles inserted between some 4-way intersections of the Saturnia.

I am not fond of brown family colors or warm palettes in general. This same flooring works fine in our adjacent LR/DR with custom millwork cabinetry painted in BenMoore Chantilly Lace and some bold cool accents on the fireplace wall (BenMoore Big City Blue and Cabana Green in a pair of LR niches flanking the fireplace).

It's the bronze diamonds that throw me for a loop in the kitchen flooring (see attached LR photo and one sample photo of the kitchen flooring with diamond inserts). Our interior designer has advised we handle it by bringing the eye upwards to view various features above floor level.

LAUNDRY ROOM

An adjacent Laundry Room is also being renovated to utilize the same slab white cabinetry style and features a custom raised-height washer/dryer wall that is flush-front and integrates dual tilt-out clothing hampers below dual roll-out platforms for ease of transferring laundry from washer to dryer. Moving to the right, two full-height columns containing multiple roll-outs provide storage for laundry products; and a third column comprises a tall pantry-style cabinet that conceals a waist-high locking roll-out platform to contain a vintage seamstress Elnapress for efficient hot-plate pressing of laundry, including heirloom bed linens.

Beneath the pantry pressing cabinet is a thee-drawer bank for cleaning supply storage. The top level of the laundry wall provides divided open cubbies for beach towel storage above the washer/dryer; adjustable open shelving above the two columns and also above the enclosed tall pantry cabinet concealing the Elnapress. The bottom levels of the columns have integrated drawer banks that store pet food and related supplies, while the far right drawer bank at the bottom level of the Elnapress cabinet stores household cleaning supplies.

This unusual layout solves several challenges for me as it is kind to my delicate spinal injuries by moving up the appliances and utilizing drawers instead of cabinets to eliminate the need to bend, reach, and lift that is required by what I regard as the trifecta of "cabinet diving." We are incorporating many Aging in Place features into this renovation project.

DELAYS
Some of the delays have been due to distance between us and our interior designer in LA. The kitchen design firm sent sample finishes to our interior designer in LA. Some took months to reach her, notably the cabinetry sample, which took a month for our kitchen design firm to receive from their cabinetry maker. Then more transit time to get that cabinetry sample to LA. It was ultimately not approved by our interior designer, so we had to go with another color option.

Then the kitchen design firm changed us to a different cabinetry line as the design had become more complex than their entry-level custom brand could accommodate.

Our request for sending the interior designer a calcite stone material sample took months to go from local stone company to kitchen designer, then to interior designer due to a com-puter data hack at the stone company.

Some delays were on my end, too, notably due to two unexpected surgeries with combined recovery times of 8 weeks and pre-booked international travel of 5 weeks. Nothing progressed during those intervals.

KITCHEN DESIGN FIRM

Our kitchen design firm does not handle construction. They sell the appliances, do the drawings, order the custom cabinetry, and install those items. We needed to arrange for our own architect (done), GC (done) and subs. They will be opening drywall to replace plumbing and update electrical since our building is 40 years old.

PALETTE CHALLENGE

My biggest design challenge is getting the existing Saturnia marble flooring to play nicely with my preferred cool toned color palette throughout the residence. This is particularly tricky in the kitchen, which has some 3" x 3" bronze metal diamond-shaped tiles inserted between some 4-way intersections of Saturnia. I am not fond of brown family colors or warm palettes in general.

This same flooring works fine in the adjacent LR/DR with custom millwork cabinetry painted in BenMoore Chantilly Lace and some bold cool accents on the fireplace wall (in BenMoore Big City Blue and Cabana Green for a pair of LR niches flanking the fireplace). It's the bronze diamonds that throw me for a loop in the kitchen flooring (see attached LR photo and one sample photo of the kitchen flooring with diamond inserts). Our interior designer has advised we handle it by bringing the eye upwards to view various features above floor level.

TIMELINE
Our community does not allow any workers on property between Thanksgiving and New Year's. We are now approaching that blackout period for 2024. We entertain during those dates and don't want to be in the midst of this messy project then, as caterers need a functional kitchen. So we either need all installations complete before Thanksgiving or we will have to delay demo until next January, which no one wants to do.

SWITCH OF CABINETRY LINE
The kitchen designer represents multiple cabinetry lines. Late in the design plan process, they upscaled our job from one cabinetry line to another as our design had become more complex and required more customized features.

We have yet to finalize the drawings. Every time there is a tweak, we seem to go to the back of the CAD line and weeks pass with no progress.

Last week the kitchen design firm informed me that most all of the drawer accessories/ insert organizers we had specified in earlier rounds of drawings are now not available because they changed us to the higher custom cabinetry line that does not offer many white interior options. I had requested white interiors from the start and I am just now :hearing many of these long-ago agreed upon interior storage features are now not available in the white interiors in the new cabinetry line they switched us to.

DISHWASHER
I also asked to be invoiced for the Miele cabinetry-ready panel that would be used on our existing Miele DW to replace the existing S/S front with a matching cabinetry front. We communicated this upfront too, but the panel for our model was not ordered and now it appears to be sunsetted. The kitchen design firm just told me that our Miele DW is too old and they can no longer get us a panel-ready door to swap with our original stainless steel door. If the DW needs to remain in s/s that will ruin the beauty of the consistent finish of the island cabinetry they had designed for us. This is my latest disappointment since they had originally confirmed the door front could be swapped out to allow us to keep a DW we enjoy

STUCK
We have yet to sign the cabinetry order as it's stuck in this design phase. I am mindful that once the cabinetry order goes in any subsequent changes will entail change order fees, so I'm striving to have it as well flushed out as possible before we sign and they submit it to be built.

A couple weeks ago we needed to add another $9k in a second appliance order from the kitchen design firm to provide for new features in the design plan. We've now paid up to $40k in appliances. That did not quicken the pace.

It seems we were so close to agreeing on drawings and signing a cabinetry order but now it's 1 step forward, many steps backwards with respect to the cabinetry design process. The long-awaited cabinetry samples we and our interior designer were provided earlier are no longer relevant so our interior designer has now only seen and approved the calcite.

SPOUSE
This is where my spouse is losing it. The kitchen design firm has known all along we have to complete the install by Thanksgiving because no workers are allowed in our community between then and New Year's. With all these recent delays and no-can-do surprises, an hour-long CAD tweak is taking a week or more. And I'm quite disappointed about them stating basic features like my spice drawer, pot lid organizer, pan organizer, cutlery and cooking tool organizers, etc., as these severely decrease the ergonomic storage features I need.

We hired an architect long ago, paid in full, gave him original blueprints. He made a site visit, and the kitchen design firm recently sent him the drawing iteration du jour as of then.

We have a GC waiting in the wings, a stone fabricator, too. And we still must allow architect time to stamp plans and GC time to obtain city permits. Kitchen Design firm says if we place cabinetry order next week (late April) they will arrive late June/early July. Appliances and stone will be here before then, but who knows what GC may find once drywall is demoed to update plumbing and electrical.

I did the Houzz forum survey to see if these time delays are to be expected or are unreasonable. I'm attaching some layouts although a few tweaks are yet to come.

More drawings:

Laundry Room drawings:

LR/DR bold accent colors in adjacent DR/LR.

I see why it’s taking so long. War and Peace with token paragraph breaks is going to get ignored by everyone. No contractor wants a half of a day devoted to client communication every time they feel the need to email. Try a single sentence thesis statement like you are n Composition 101.

@HU-0228123141598721 You're right. No clue why most of the paragraph breaks I inserted didn't post as displayed to me prior to tapping Reply.

I was just as annoyed to see that as you were. My apologies. I would have used subheads in bold to make it more readable, but I'm not seeing an option for that either.

I've searched Houzz to determine how to edit posts. Search results said:
Profile avatar > Activity > Recent Activity
would display a pencil icon for editing. That failed to show. Happy to fix if you know how. 🧐

@Miranda33 I see you were able to italicize some text. I'm not seeing a way to do that.

Are you posting on a laptop or desktop? Perhaps it's because I'm using the Houzz iPhone app. Sometimes mobile software versions aren't as robust.

I've searched within and outside of Houzz for a solution, but to no avail. I welcome any suggestions for cleaning up my comment format. ~ Thanks

UPDATE: Confirmed: It was the iPhone app version of Houzz that was limiting my ability to insert paragraph breaks, opt for italics or bold font, and edit posts. Tonight I used my iPad and it offers icons while posting that allow all of those things the iPhone app does not :)

My custom kitchen remodel in Los Angeles had this timeline:

Sept 2017 - interviewed and selected kitchen designer

Jan 2019 - everything finished.

This timeline included:

- finding termite damage behind sink cabinet and having to rip out stucco and steps outside to get rid of all damaged wood.

- once all new products had been installed the house was tented/fumigated for termites. Termite company found some other dry rot on the pergola over the patio, so those beams were also replaced before tenting.

- had an issues with installation of marble backsplash, so needed to source new custom backsplash.

I think your one major mistake was working with a design firm in Los Angeles when your project was in FL. Did the designer or anyone from the firm actually visit the project site?

We used an architect from LA when we designed our FL house, BUT we were still living in LA and it made more sense to work with an architect in person. Everybody else we worked with was based in FL.

We built a whole custom house in FL during 2021 with all the covid delays and that took 14 months from clearing the lot to getting a COO, but we still had a few more months of loose ends after we moved in. We had to move in because the owner of the house we rented while building would not extend our lease. Would have been much better if we had been able to get a 3 months extension, so timeline would have been more like 17 months to build a large custom home, including pool.

It looks like you are not anyone's priority ...

a custom kitchen renovation with a high-end design firm can typically take between 8 to 16 weeks from the initial consultation to completion. Factors such as the design complexity, material selection, and any structural changes can influence the timeline. It's essential to communicate your timeline expectations clearly with the design firm to ensure a smooth and efficient renovation process. While challenges may arise during the renovation, maintaining open communication and trust with the design firm can help address any concerns and ensure a successful outcome within a reasonable timeframe.

I'm not sure I want a cabinet maker who can complete the job in 8 weeks - in our case, my down payment put us on the calendar, which was 4 months out (after a few weeks of finalizing the plans). I don't mind waiting for a contractor who is busy, because they are in high demand.

If someone has time to do my project in a few weeks, why don't they have more clients?

@purpleplume I came here from a comment on another post where you were talking about sinks. With as much as this renovation is already costing and with the fact you dislike your current flooring color, I don't know why you wouldn't just switch out the flooring at this time. It would offer you more flexibility with your cabinetry layout and allow you to have a larger sink. You cannot really experience the workstation concept with as small a sink as you are planning. With all this pressure, I would recommend delaying the commencement of demolition to January 2025. Double the time you think this renovation will take, and then you might be close.

The OP has private messaged me about a few more aspects of this renovation but has said that some of my replies were missed, so I want to cross-post on this main thread that I have confirmed the slab doors and drawer fronts from the chosen manufacturer for this remodel are MDF or have MDF centers, as would be the case with any reputable manufacturer. Wood doors and drawers in a slab style are prone to warping, which is why MDF is utilized instead. The OP may verify this by looking on the manufacturer's website or by calling the dealer.

Slab doors and drawer fronts can present with moisture damage over time if the MDF is not appropriately sealed. Paint or veneer alone isn't a sealant, and laminate isn't a sealant if the edges have not been completely fused. In my research, few North American cabinet companies seal laminate around MDF well enough to be moisture proof.

As expensive of a remodel as this is, I recommend the OP switch to solid wood, 5-piece doors if it isn't too late. Either that, or confirm with the company that the MDF is sealed with state-of-the-art processes. It would be wise to also have an attorney check the company's warranty for the MDF components. If the MDF doors aren't warrantied for a lifetime but rather two or three years, then that tells you all you need to know about how long to expect them to last.

Thank you, @glitter. I will check on the cabinetry material and the warranty. I appreciate all these specifics. Yes, it's a 6-figure cabinetry project, so thank you very much for being specific about the specs of the cabinetry materials.