How to Plan a Remodel Around the Holidays in Phoenix

A Phoenix kitchen remodel can take roughly four to seven months from the first call to moving back in, depending on scope, approvals, selections, and scheduling. For a project first discussed in late fall, the holidays are usually better used for design than demolition. Permit review can add several weeks when permits are required. A substantial kitchen remodel first discussed in late fall is unlikely to finish by that Thanksgiving. What you can do is use November and December to make decisions, so permitting and ordering can begin in the new year, with construction potentially starting in spring. To host next year's holidays in a finished kitchen, make the first call by spring.

For a substantial kitchen remodel first discussed in late fall, finishing before the same year's holidays is generally unrealistic. The reason is not crew speed. It is the order the work has to happen in, and most of the waiting happens before anyone touches your house.

• Design and planning, 3 to 6 weeks on average. Layout, structure, every finish and fixture, and anything that needs an engineer.
• The Firm Proposal, about 1 week. One fixed number built off a finished plan set.
• Permit review, 6 to 10 weeks in Phoenix. The city takes 4 to 6 weeks for the initial review, then comes back with corrections. Answering those and going through a second review fills the rest.
• Ordering, alongside permitting. Cabinets typically take 6 to 8 weeks, so they are ordered while the city reviews the plans.
• Construction. 8 to 12 weeks for a kitchen, 4 to 8 weeks for a bathroom.

Add those up from late October and the earliest a kitchen could realistically finish is spring.

Not every project needs a permit. Structural changes, plumbing or gas alterations, electrical work, and additions may require permits depending on the scope. Some cosmetic work does not, which is why it can move faster. Confirm requirements with the local building department before scheduling work. The City of Phoenix residential building page lists remodels and additions among the work that requires a construction permit.

If someone promises a new kitchen by Thanksgiving starting today, ask which of those steps they are skipping.

For every phase in detail, including the job where we ran long, see How Long Does a Remodel Take in Phoenix.

Look at where the holidays fall. They land inside design, where a slower week costs you very little, and nowhere near demolition. That is the whole idea.

The ranges move for real reasons. A complete plan set keeps permit review near the short end, because incomplete drawings get sent back and the clock starts over. A selection changed after it is ordered is the single most common reason a schedule moves, because the replacement starts its own lead time from zero.

Sometimes, but go in knowing what it costs. A pause costs schedule. Trades are booked in sequence, so time off rarely costs only the days you took. A crew that misses its window may not have another opening for more than a week.

The better move is usually to plan around the holidays rather than stop for them:

• Still in design? There is nothing to pause. Keep deciding, and the holidays cost you almost nothing.
• Demolition about to land in mid December? Consider starting after New Year's instead. Opening up a kitchen the week before you host is the version of this nobody enjoys.
• Already well into construction? Keep going, and give your contractor the specific days that matter so the schedule bends around them.

If you are weighing whether to do everything at once or split the work around your calendar, read Should You Remodel Multiple Rooms at Once or One Room at a Time? Our process page also explains the steps from the first conversation to the punch list.

In much of the country, winter is when exterior work stops. Here, it is the most comfortable stretch of the year to build. Phoenix's normal January high sits in the upper 60s, according to National Weather Service climate data. That makes a winter start a good fit for additions, casitas, and outdoor living, where crews spend their days outside.

The flip side is that hosting season in the Valley does not end on January 1. Many Phoenix homes welcome visiting family well into the cooler months. So "after the holidays" can still mean working around guests. Put every planned visit on the calendar you share with your contractor, not just the big days.