Why a kitchen remodel is taking so long in Marietta: the sequence
- Design and selections — including choosing appliances before cabinets are designed
- Cabinet lead time — the long pole; demolition before a confirmed delivery date is a self-inflicted wound
- Permits and rough inspections for moved plumbing/electrical (City SagesGov or County by parcel)
- Cabinet install → countertop templating → fabrication wait → install → backsplash → finals
Published Marietta timelines put construction at roughly 6–8 weeks; the calendar total is longer once design and lead times are honest. Our kitchen page covers living through it, including the temporary-kitchen setup that makes it bearable.
The delays that are actually red flags
Silence is one: no schedule in writing, no next date, no photo updates. Our bathroom reviewers specifically praised updates during the project and daily cleanup — that is the communication standard to demand from any contractor, in writing, before demo.
Breaking the 6–8 construction weeks into their real stages
The published Marietta construction figure of roughly 6–8 weeks is not six weeks of continuous visible progress — it is a chain of stages, several of which look quiet from the kitchen doorway. Demolition and rough-in plumbing and electrical come first, followed by the rough inspections for any moved services; a failed or rescheduled inspection pauses every trade behind it. Cabinet installation follows, and only a level, complete cabinet run can be templated for countertops, so templating day — not demolition day — starts the fabrication clock. Backsplash tile waits on the counters, final plumbing and electrical trim wait on the tile, and the final inspection closes the chain. One late link moves every date after it, which is why a written schedule names stages and dependencies rather than a single finish promise.
Three delays you can prevent before demo starts
- Choosing appliances late: cabinet design depends on appliance dimensions, so selections made after cabinets are ordered force redesigns or filler compromises — choose appliances before cabinets, as Marietta kitchen guides consistently advise
- Expanding scope mid-project: the Houzz 2026 findings in our research put expanded scope among the top drivers of the 37% of homeowners who overran budget, and every addition restarts part of the sequence
- Demolishing before the cabinet delivery date is confirmed: the old kitchen is gone, the new one is on a truck somewhere, and no schedule survives that gap