It feels like forever and should be much less, but it's only been since the very end of June. We waited until school let out to do demo so as not to disrupt routine too much for our 11yr old DS. We're DIYing so all delays are our own fault i.e. we keep leaving town. We just spent a marvelous 10 days in the 1000 islands and have just started back in our kitchen.

The scope of our project includes a new window and french doors, cabs, floors, counters, ceiling, appliances. So far we've done demo including ripping out soffits, doing some work on a load bearing wall, and taking out a zillion layers of floor. The french doors went in first so we could get all the stuff in and out easier. We've moved electric and plumbing, drywalled, and installed 7 cabinets.

Fingers crossed that we'll have running water by next weekend, but football season has started and that means we're at the field for 3 hrs every day M-Th. Another parent on the team is DIYing and he's been without a kitchen since May and isn't done with drywall yet.

I know our timetable compares favorably, but every time I do dishes in the laundry tub, I just want to scream. Good luck with the rest of the process.

Jeannie, We did about the same as you except we didn't add a deck or powder room. Instead, we swapped the locations of the kitchen and 1 bedroom. We started demo in mid-Dec.

We figured 3 months, but it actually took 4. I was the GC on the project and I think that helped on the timing and work flow and getting everything done.

Wow. and I thought my 4 weeks were long! Beginning on July 7, our GC gutted our 9 x 12 galley kitchen down to the studs, new sub floor and hardwood, upgraded electrical and plumbing, insulated, drywall and trim, installed cabs and appliances, and they were done by August 1. Fortunately, there were no surprises, and we did not change the footprint of our existing kitchen. Everything we ordered came in on time. We did not do the extensive work that you did (deck, windows, radiant heat, etc.), and we were very lucky that there were no delays.

I've been out of a kitchen for at least 6 months now! Just waiting on granite now though... "Luckily" I'm a 30 year old guy living on my own.

Wow! Ours was not a lot of work - no demo and no new spaces. Our time to remodel was only 1 month. But the last 2 1/2 - 3 weeks everything was in except sink and countertops and cooktop - so while it was an inconvenience, it wasn't super bad. The dishwasher worked again after 3 days - so that was a biggie.

The clutter everywhere did bother me but I have 2 DD (4&2) and there is clutter everywhere else so I was ready to have cleared up spaces.

I don't know if I would have been courageous enough to do such a big project that takes so much time! Hats off to y'all

We've been without a proper kitchen since Thanksgiving, but do have the sink, dishwasher, frig and microwave in the dining room. Storage is a nightmare! Our renovation included adding on a family room, game room, laundry room and back entry hall so we insisted on a decent temporary kitchen. We were thinking it would be 4 months, not 9, though.

Relatively big project: demo'd large kitchen down to studs and joists, knocked down a section of exterior wall, only to discover that our architect had somehow neglected to recognize that the wall column he removed held up the second floor master bed/bathroom. The solution involved two engineers, and ultimately a 24 foot long steel beam installed in our ceiling plus steel columns in the new exterior wall. The impact was about three extra weeks and close to $10K--all for about TEN square feet of extra space.

Otherwise it has been very quick. We're hopefully four weeks out from completion after a start date of June 15. This includes refinished floor, new coffered ceiling, all new appliances including integrated fridge, DW x 2, bev center, a single wall oven and a Lacanche range. Also involved a large island (countertops went in yesterday, fabricator's comment--"that's the biggest countertop we've ever installed in a non commercial project"), and all new custom cabs built locally. Our contractor has been heroic with the beam business and is a fanatic for getting things done.

the kitchen in our last project was down from june to november, but that was a mess with the company we hired going bankrupt the middle and our GC bolting with some of our cash.

our most recent project went much more smoothly. our kitchen was down for only about 3 and a half weeks.

i have great sympathy for those who have to deal with longer-term hassles.

Jeanie,

At this time last year I could have written the exact same post. The time frame you listed was exactly what occurred for our DIY kitchen remodel. Ordered cabinets in December.
Demoed in early February. Fully functional kitchen by mid September. (still not completely finished)

We demolished to the studs, moved an interior wall, added a new wall, reconfigured the entrances, new tile floor w/ radiant floor heating system, new custom windows (but with smaller window holes), replaced sliding door with single in-swing door.

The powder room was a separate project where the demo started at the same time as the kitchen but rebuilding it didn't start until December. The new back deck is coming soon.

The one big difference is that we tried to keep the kitchen minimally functional throughout the remodel, with a free-standing laundry sink and a running fridge, and either a operational range or at least a usuable microwave for most of the 9 months.

Oh I'm gonna make you feel SO GOOD! No fully functional kitchen for 18 months and counting!!!! I think we're down to the last 30 to 45 days...and if DH whines about the lack of a proper Big Green Egg to grill on again I'm gonna hit him with a webber...

Feel better now? :oP

i-chic - I always keep your experiences in mind to maintain perspective.

In our case, a "simple" 4-week project has kept expanding and expanding and getting delayed. We started demo December 22nd and while I had a small break where I had access to the kitchen sink and dishwasher, I've been without a kitchen since then.

What's done:
cabinet boxess stripped and re-stained.
walls cleaned and painted
lino ripped out and wood floor installed
granite countertop, new sink and faucet installed
cabinets over peninsula gone (!!!!), ceiling patched and new pendant lights installed
trim work done
backsplash painted and installed

Still to do:
re-strip wood floor to stain properly and seal
install toe kicks and quarter round
install stove
build cabinet doors and finish them
build new drawer boxes and fronts and install them with new full-extension glides
rebuild cabinet over stove and install my Velos
build and install new shelf unit
install water filtration/conditioning system

Still to do in the house:
install attic ladder, fans, etc.
install patio door off of MBR
re-do guest room and study
build out front of house, set up new office space and hall pantry
build new master suite (taking over one room, moving a few walls and installing a new bathroom)
build great room
build new deck
build outdoor kitchen
install hot tub
build Hubby his shop
laundry room

Well, bob cville, your project is very similar to mine with a similar time frame, so that makes me feel better.

We actually have a very nice temporary kitchen set up which is the only way we are surviving this. Our temp kitchen in on our second floor, which I like because it is away from the mess. We have our kitchen table, a small fridge, toaster, toaster oven, microwave and two burners. We have our full size fridge downstairs. The only thing that is really annoying is not having a full size sink. We mostly use paper, but I hate the occasional pot in my bathroom sink when I'm trying to brush my teeth in the morning.

And Igloochic, 18 months??? Wow, that's tough! But it must feel good to be close to the end.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ! (that is the sound of me laughing manically) ...

I bought my house (built in 1900 according to tax records) in June 2005. The last time it had changed hands was 1972. A couple had raised a family there, in what was previously a rather rough neighbourhood. The elderly couple passed away in 2001, and the house was left in a trust. SIX of their grandchildren moved in (this is a small, ~1100sqft, 2 bedroom house with an unfinished basement). They dealt drugs, stole cars, and ran a chop-shop in the basement. they had many pets who were apparently not able to eliminate outside. The backyard was a wall of solid, 5' high blackberry bushes.

Much to the relief of the neighbours (who had slowly been gentrifying the neighbourhood), I moved in with grand plans. I needed to work on the house for a month before I could move in, dealing with safety issues and the STENCH. The kitchen was so disgusting that I just ripped it out and it went straight into the dumpster. I slapped up some paint, installed a sink unit, and called it good. Here was my kitchen from July 2005 until Christmas 2007 ...

No range, and no oven for most of that time (this photo was taken at the end when I broke out the Advantium), minimal counterspace and storage. "Cooking" was limited to warming stuff in the microwave during that time, or maybe using the crockpot. I couldn't use the microwave at the same time as anything else.

I hired Jailbird Contractor at Thanksgiving 2007 (worst decision of my life), and the kitchen/bathroom/bedroom were demo'ed around Christmastime. So then the kitchen looked like this ...

How fun.

So then all the framing was done,

kitchen cabinets arrived and were installed in March '08, looking like this ...

And then ... Jailbird Contractor disappeared and ended up in jail. No electricity, no water, no gas in the kitchen. I doubt he could have timed it worse. Well, I suppose I had a roof, so it *could* have been worse.

After stringing me along with pathetic letters from his jail cell telling me that my project was the most important thing in the world and that he was going to get out any day now and finish it, I officially fired him in July. (He expected to get out last week, but he now has been given a release date ... in November.)

I hired new contractor (who works MUCH faster and actually *finishes* things rather than moving onto something else when he runs into problems) and had a functional kitchen by mid-July. So that makes it technically 3 years that I was using sink/microwave/kettle/crockpot for a kitchen.

Was it worth it ? Dunno. Maybe it will be like childbirth ... you forget the pain eventually ?

I demoed during the second week of January. Just got cabs last week. Still shooting for 90% done by the end of September. For the kitchen anyway....there is overflow work that affected other rooms. Who knows when I will get all of that done.

Just went and bought a very expensive fridge this morning and feeling a little -feh- about the whole thing. Maybe the excitement will return when the financial shock wears off.....

Oh man, flatcoat, you definitely win. But your kitchen looks beautiful.

We have also been sort of doing this for 3 years, though not as bad as you. We moved into our house in June of 2005. We had about a month to do work in the house before we started. The kitchen was ugly and small and dysfunctional. We took out a wall to combine the space with a small dysfunctional room adjacent. That was the only solid wall in the kitchen, and it is where the fridge and range were. It was a bearing wall so they had to put a steel beam in. We intended to do the kitchen right away so thought it wasn't so bad having a whole in the ceiling and the walls (things used to fall out of the ceiling, and mice moved in there for a while.)

We signed up with a cabinet maker/kd and gave them a deposit. They basically stole it. We had to find someone new, which took a while. It was a big mess.

So our kitchen was awful. The fridge was in front of a window, with no ice maker. The range was just standing in the middle of the room with no vent. There were pieces of plywood across the holes in the floor. We had the mice, etc. And the cabinet doors were broken. The humongous hood microwave was on a counter on an extension cord. We regularly blew fuses.

But everything worked. I had dishwasher and an oven and counters and sinks, and a big pantry.

I have to hand it to you. Whenever I feel bad about my kitchen, I remind myself that at least my contractor didn't go to jail!

Well, there are two answers...I had half a kitchen for about 14 months as we decided out of the goodness of our hearts in mid demolition to put off the kitchen remodel to finish our guest "house" quarters for a friend who had fallen on hard times. So, we lived with half a kitchen for that long...

Until mid March of this year when we tore the rest out. From there we were about 8 weeks without a functional kitchen. However, the stall on the major project allowed us to get all the wiring and drywall work done in the meantime.

Oh yeah, and the friend staying in the guest quarters only lasted 6 months because there was a reason they had fallen on hard times.....there's always a reason.

I am SO glad that I didn't read any of these posts before I started on my kitchen! I would never have even started it. I was irritated by the two-weeks-longer-than-expected wait for my cabinets. I would have gone nuts if it had dragged on as long as some of you have had to endure. We removed a wall and demoed down to the studs and, even with the cabinet delay, still had it all done in five weeks. Well, except for the backsplash, which may never get done.

When we finished our basement, it included a full working kitchen as part of DH's bar. What a relief it will be when our kitchen remodel gets underway to know that I have a functional replacement. Not big, not fancy but has everything except a dishwasher.

7 weeks and counting. Took longer than expected because i had to fire the first contractor when we realized that he didnt know squat about cabinets. We threw our hands up and went to France for 2 weeks, and upon our return we had contractor no. 2 install the cabinets - beautifully. We templated and immediately left for 2 weeks in florida while they made the countertop. Silestone was SUPPOSED to go in today but the installers halted everything when they saw a noticeable scratch near the sink hole. Silestone has PROMISED me delivery of new countertop next tuesday. WE are now all about the toaster oven. Luckily our parents live in nice places (see above) so we were able to cool our heels while we were waiting. Besides those two trips the smartest things we did during this reno was:
1 kept our old, full sized fridge plugged in in another room so that we at least FELT like we had access to food.
2 bought a charcoal grill and put it on the deck- between that and the toaster oven we have not starved. (yet)
3 that's it, everything else i did was very dumb!

LC

We will be gutting the kitchen the first weekend of Sep., and it doesn't look like we will have any $ for the cabs until at least tax time (or until the money tree blooms!). We have decided to go without a kitchen, so the rest of the house can be closer to finished. The only way to tile the house is to have a clean slate.
We removed a brick fireplace last weekend (thought it would only take one day- HA!) and although it was ALOT of work, it has brought us so much closer to a new kitchen! I'm thrilled and not even worried about not having a kitchen for a while.

I'm hoping that since this is a self-selecting forum, those who have chosen to post above with various horror stories are those that need to vent about the process, but don't really represent the norm. At least, that's what I'm hoping....

My GC doesn't want to begin the demo until we have a definite date for thee cabinet availability, so as to inconvenience us the least. The cab guy thinks our install will be 2 days tops, and has tentatively promised delivery by Labour Day, at the outside. The counter guy needs 3 wks from template to install. All our new appliances are in storage, supposedly available anytime. Our friends are telling us, "3-4 weeks? Double it! No, triple it!" Hmmmm, the GC hasn't heard from his electrician since the walk-through early last month. Supposedly, the e-guy has "family troubles". I hope GC has a Plan B.

I popped in last week on a few friends of mine who have new kitchens. One was in her temp kitchen in her laundry room for 12 weeks. The other has lived in a construction zone for 4-5 years, ever since her last kitchen fell off (it's a 1912 heritage house, whose kitchen was a poor 1940's add-on). Her new kitchen is a well-done DIY (she did a fab mosaic tile floor and matching backspash), but she ran out of money regularly during the interval. Both of these houses were much older than ours, which revealed "issues" during demo that required lots of work to bring things up to current code standards.

My kitchen, although a thorough re-do, will maintain the existing footprint and most of the layout. I don't anticipate similar issues, although the electrical capacity needs to be expanded, and the ventilation system requires MUCH more extensive work than those of you in warmer climes have to endure. My biggest fear is that the GC will be unable to assemble the required sub-trades, since my town has been experiencing an outrageous building boom over the last 3 years. They say things are cooling down now, but I fear that really means things are just maybe approaching a normal level of activity.

Anyway, pray for me, and I promise to post before-and-after shots.

I have a small kitchen. Tore out everything down to the studs but basically kept the same footprint of the cabs. Should have started in April but the cabs were delayed. So my GC didn't want to tear out until closer to the date the cabs were to be in so I wouldn't be without a kitchen.

Demo'd on the 19th of May. Functional kitchen late July 3rd. Most of the wait was on the appliances. I ordered them in March. Lowe's ordered the wrong ones. Went back. Ordered the right ones. Lowes' sent a hood that was smashed beyond belief, and the wrong range--sent a wall oven instead. So, while we straighted that out (sigh, AGAIN), everything became back ordered with delivery dates in the middle of July. Went with another company for the range and hood. Hood suddenly became backordered and decided to go with a different hood. Was supposed to be delivered, then the fateful call that it too was backordered. Well, got my hood delivered Saturday and installed yesterday. Hoping knobs and pulls will be put on soon and kitchen will be complete! Whoooo Hoooo!

Jeannie, our scenario was similar. Kitchen was gutted Jan. '07. Dining room door leading into kitchen was boarded shut. Took down one exterior wall in kitchen. Also added a bathroom, laundry room, closets, keeping room and screen porch, but all of that framing was done prior to the kitchen gut. We ran into problems with the GC's painters and finish carpenters. Finally hired someone else to come in and re-do their shoddy work.

I was without a kitchen for two weeks short of a year. Set up a temporary kitchen in a spare bedroom. Did dishes in bus bins in the bathtub. That was probably the worst part.

Here is a link that might be useful: temp kitchen pics

Well, it is good to be back and read about similar experiences in the realm of redos!!! Have missed the stories.
As of September 15, I will have been without a kitchen for 1 year. Starting last September, we began a major renovation of a 1940's kitchen, tearing out walls, including 2 exterior walls and the roof. Have walls and roof and have most everything in place, BUT, can't get the needed trades to come in and complete the job. (Had a 10 week interruption for medical reasons). Seems everyone has gone on to something else. Cabs are set, rangetop sitting in place-not hooked up, vent hood still in front bedroom, sink in place-not hooked up, no oven cab (can't make a decision on which one!!!), no counter tops, so forth and so on. Am so used to using microwave and George Foreman am questioning the need for this redo!!!! At least I have a utility room with a sink hooked up so can wash utensils used with paper plates.
Am really hoping to finish by 1 year anniversary, but doesn't look good!!!!

FlatCoat - you win!! You should submit your story with photos to magazines. It would surely be published! Mine is now at 3 months and though the end is in sight, could easily go for one more month. We took out everything but the kitchen floor but didn't move walls, etc. It is gorgeous - just can't wait to use it.

I had a pretty positive experience in this regard. We were completely out of our kitchen for about 7 weeks. Our project was very comprehensive - down the studs, new everything, moving windows & doors, new stairs to the backyard etc. We also had a few "surprises" which extended the project - he probably would have been done in 6 weeks otherwise. We are still waiting for the final 2 coats of polyurethane on the floor and need to install the fridge & some knobs/pulls, but I have been using the kitchen for a week now. I am waiting to put some stuff back until the last bits are done.

I never thought I could feel better about the kitchen remodel in my old condo but flatcoat helped me realize it could have been much worse :). Lowes told me app 6 weeks to do my small galley kitchen. It actually took 8 months with an additional 4 months before they resolved the last billing problem. 6 months without a kitchen sink.

flatcoat, looks like it was worth it for you - your kitchen is beautiful! LOVE that backsplash!!

It took a total of 7 weeks, although we moved into our temporary kitchen (in the dining room) one week before that. After reading some of the posts on this forum, I am eternally grateful for our awesome GC, KD, cabinet place and granite and Silestone place. They were wonderful to work with, reasonably priced, very organized, right on schedule for everything and right on budget, too (can you believe THAT ?!?). I'm still amazed. If anyone in the Santa Fe/Albuquerque area is ever in need of one, I would highly recommend any of these guys.
Lynn

We got extremely lucky when choosing a competent and talented contractor. Our kitchen (new cabs, appliances, granite, lighting plus new floors throughout the house) took three weeks with only one week without running water.

Our kitchen is at the center of all house traffic. In order to get from the living room and library to the bedrooms and bathrooms you must walk past the kitchen. There was never a time when we couldn't do that.

The before and after:

Jodi-

I'm going on 4 weeks and it looks like it will be at least another 2-3 weeks. Had it not been for the cabinet designer's (self proclaimed Kitchen Desinger, yea right?) screwup, we would have been finished today. I now have a working sink, grantie counters, dishwasher and stove in but I can't use the stove because the STUPID Quasi Kitchen Designer ordered a 36" hood over a Wolf 36" range. So we're waiting for the 42" hood. But crown moulding and some other finishes on the cabinets can't be done until the new hood arrives. The oak floors will be finshed next week. Was hoping to be done before Labor Day, but it's not going to happen. And I don't want to move any of my stuff back into the kitchen until it is 100% complete. I know in comparison to other people this isn't bad. But I just want this to be over with.

We've been remodeling (kitchen, moving exterior walls, adding on to master bed and bath) since the end of may. But luckily we're living with my in-laws who are extremely nice and hospitable, so I haven't had to worry about it. However, we're doing a lot of the work ourselves, so it's still gonna be a couple of weeks - maybe we'll be able to move back by september

I think I win. We moved to a new state and bought a house Sept 04 and had to completely gut it. We had mega problems with subs! The kitchen is the last room and I'm on the home stretch. Right now I'm trying to pick out counters, sink & faucet but I'm having a hard time making decisions. Maybe it's because I've really enjoyed not having to cook and wash dishes! I'm new to the site and hope I'll get inspired.

The contractor arrived Jul 14 (DH and I had previously removed hd floor in FM and 2 layers of linoleum in kitchen). Initial work involved installation of a fireplace wall so FP could be installed. We had "moved out" of both rooms completely, but could still use range and sink until July 28 when he could no longer work around them. As of yesterday...Sep 9, all the cabinets had been installed in the kitchen, all windows and doors have been moved/installed; all ductwork and electrical and plumbing moved, all recessed lighting installed in both rooms, drywalling and mudding completed. The remaining work is installation of cabinets in the butler pantry area (actually coffee bar and beer making bar), 2 undercabinet lights and puck light installation, crown molding at top of cabinets, installing sinks, handles, window and door trim, 2 new interior doors (just replace) granite fabrication and installation, back splash, and a remove and replace (incl tile floor) in the powder room. The last things will be sand and varnish floor and reinstall dw and fridge. I am figuring about another 3 weeks....which will make about 11-12 weeks total for a major kitchen redo, and major FR redo and powder room. The contractor is basically 2 people, with an occassional 3rd, but brought in subs for plumbing and drywall. Also the contractor himself had finger surgery in week 2. The work is meticulous and precise!!! The contractor a pleasure to work with.