The Stages of a Kitchen Renovation Demolition This is the stage where you have coffee in your kitchen before work, like usual, and then when you come home from work that evening, your kitchen is gone!  Once this happens there is definitely no turning back.  Demolition is basically the removal of everything that is being replaced - cabinets, appliances, plumbing fixtures, and flooring.  Sometimes, but not always, the room gets taken down to the studs at this point.  If your ceiling has soffits that the old cabinets butted up to and your design calls for their removal, they will be taken out at this stage as well.  The demolition stage can be a bit exciting for you as the homeowner because after a long process of planning and decision making work is finally commencing on your project.  But this can be a stressful stage as well because, not only do you no longer have a working kitchen, but any possible hidden contingencies will be uncovered in the demolition.    Rough Plumbing, Electrical, and Carpentry After the carpenters have finished the demolition, the electrician, plumber, and carpenter will come in to do the rough stages of their work.  The rough stage is where the behind the scenes work gets done, i.e., the stuff you eventually won't see once the walls get covered with drywall.  The electricians will put in the boxes where the new outlets and light fixtures are going to go and then run wires to those boxes from the service panel or other existing circuits.  If there were any wires left hanging from the demolition, they will reroute them through the walls.  The plumber will come in and remove the old plumbing at the sink.  If new plumbing locations are going in, for example, the sink is being moved to a different area or a new island sink in being installed, then the plumber may run his piping to these locations at this time.  Sometimes, if the plumber has access in the basement, he may wait to run his pipes until the cabinets are installed.  Any plumbing that needs to be run through the walls before the drywall goes on will be done at this time as well. If the new design calls for changes to the layout of existing walls then the carpenter will do this now.  For example, a wall between the old kitchen and dining room or family room might be taken out to open up the space.   Any plumbing or electrical that is in a wall that is being removed will need to be rerouted.  The carpenter will take out walls and frame in for any new walls and get the room ready for new drywall. Drywall Once the rough stages are complete then the walls are ready to be covered back up with drywall.   This is a rather messy stage because the seams in the drywall get covered with joint compound and then sanded to a smooth finish.  The sanding creates quite a bit of dust and the room should be sealed off to prevent too much dust from escaping.  The good news is that the room starts to look like it is being put back together rather than taken apart. Flooring If you are installing a new floor it will probably be installed next.  It is easier for the flooring installer to work in an empty room rather than try to work around cabinets.  Also, the cabinets need to be installed on top of the new floor in order to maintain their proper height.  If the cabinets need to be installed first then the floor underneath should be built up with shims or plywood so that the counter top height ends up at close to 36 inches above the finished floor.  The exception is when a vinyl floor is being installed rather than wood or ceramic tile.  This can be installed around the cabinets but in my opinion it would still be better to have the vinyl installed beforehand over the entire floor and the cabinets installed afterward. Cabinet Installation and Finish Carpentry This is where things start to come together and you can really see how your new kitchen is going to look.  Your new cabinets will be installed as well as any trim such as crown molding.  If the old base molding and door casings are being replaced they can be done at this time. Counter installation If you are having granite or solid surface counter tops installed then the company will come out to the job site after the cabinets are installed to make templates for the new tops.  If you are going with laminate tops, sometimes the company will template and other times they may make the tops up beforehand and can be fitted on site.  After the templating is complete, everything is pretty much on hold until the new tops are fabricated and installed.   Finish plumbing and electrical The plumber and electrician can come back now to do their final work.  The electrician will install outlets and switches in the electrical boxes and put in any new light fixtures including any under cabinet lighting.  If recessed light cans were installed in the ceiling prior to drywall then he will put in the trim for these.  Now that the counter is in place, the plumber will install the new sink and faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher Appliance installation The remaining appliances such as the oven, microwave, cooktop, refrigerator typically go in last.   There will likely be some odds and ends that need to be finished or addressed when all else is done and these are called punch list items.  After that you're kitchen is complete!