You live without a working kitchen for a shorter stretch than most people fear, provided the sequence is right. From design sign-off, the cabinets take about 4 weeks to manufacture, and during those weeks your old kitchen stays exactly where it is. It comes out when the new one is ready to go in. The trades do their work in the gap, the cabinets go in over a few days, and the counters follow after templating. Here is what each week looks like, and how to eat while it happens.
The week the design is signed is the week the clock starts. Layout, door style, finishes, and interior storage are locked, and the appliance package is chosen, because the fridge, range, and dishwasher dimensions set the cabinet sizes around them. We measure the room against the design so the boxes are built to the space you have. Nothing has been removed. You are cooking in your old kitchen and will be for a while.
Our standard is about 4 weeks to build a kitchen. This is the part of the project that feels like nothing is happening at home, and it is the most useful month you will get. Order the appliances now so they are on site before install, not after. Choose the counter material and confirm the fabricator, because the slab needs to be reserved even though it is cut later. If your layout moves plumbing or electrical, this is when the trades get booked and permits get sorted. Clear a room to stage the cabinets when they arrive. And plan the temporary kitchen, which is the section after next.
When the cabinets are ready, the old kitchen comes out. Removal is a day or two. Then the trades move in: plumbing and electrical rough-in if anything is moving, drywall patching, flooring if it runs under the cabinets, and paint while the walls are open and clear. For a straight cabinet swap this stretch is a few days. For a layout change it is longer, and inspections happen here, before anything is closed up. This is the first week without a sink.
The cabinets arrive pre-assembled, built and squared in the shop rather than on your floor. Our team or your own contractor sets the boxes, levels them, hangs the fronts, and dials in the alignment so every gap is even. Because the measurements were confirmed before manufacturing, a typical install is measured in days. By the end of it the kitchen looks finished. It is not quite, because of what comes next.
Counters are templated after the cabinets are in, because the fabricator measures the real boxes, not the drawing. Fabrication then runs on the fabricator's schedule, not ours, and it is usually a week or two. This is the part of the timeline people forget, and it is why you plan a plywood or old-counter stopgap rather than assuming the sink works the day the cabinets do. Once the counters land, the plumber returns to connect the sink, faucet, and dishwasher, the backsplash goes on, and the kitchen is fully working.
The gap without a sink is often two to three weeks for a straight swap, most of it waiting on counters, and longer if walls or services move. A little planning makes it manageable.
From sign-off: about 4 weeks of manufacturing while your kitchen still works, then a few days of removal and trades, a few days of install, and a week or two waiting on counters. A kitchen that keeps its layout lands close to that. A kitchen that moves walls or services adds the trades' time and inspections on top, whoever builds your cabinets. Either way, you know your dates before anything is ordered, and you know which weeks you will be eating in the dining room.
For a rough band on the cost side, the Vancouver Kitchen Cost Calculator takes size, finish tier, and appliance package and returns a price band. It is an estimate, not a quote. For the steps before sign-off, read how long a custom kitchen takes, start to finish, and for the full picture on price, start with how much a custom kitchen costs in Vancouver. When you are planning backward from a date, book a free consultation and we will tell you honestly whether the math works.