A new kitchen in Fulham typically takes 4–7 weeks from strip-out to sign-off. Anyone promising two weeks is either lying or doing a flat-pack refresh on the existing layout. Here's the realistic 2026 timeline, based on 20+ years of kitchens installed across SW6.
The honest 2026 timeline for a new kitchen in Fulham
Before day one (8–14 weeks of lead time):
- Design approval: 1–2 weeks.
- Bespoke or in-frame cabinetry: 8–12 weeks from order.
- Imported stone worktops (quartz, marble): 4–8 weeks.
- Appliances: 1–4 weeks; longer for integrated Miele or Gaggenau.
Most kitchen overruns aren't the fit — they're waiting on something that should have been ordered sooner.
On site:
- Week 1 — strip-out and first fix. Old kitchen out, walls opened where electrics and plumbing reroute. Side-return extensions include structural works and RSJ this week.
- Week 2 — plaster, screed, floor prep. Plaster needs drying time. Underfloor heating goes in now if used.
- Week 3 — cabinets arrive, dry-fit installed. Worktop templating happens at the end of this week. Stone worktops can't be measured from drawings on most jobs.
- Week 4 — waiting on worktops. 7–14 days template-to-fit. Not much happens on site unless other trades are scheduled.
- Week 5 — worktop fit, splashback, second-fix electrics and plumbing, appliances. It starts looking like a kitchen.
- Week 6 — snagging, flooring finished, paintwork, final clean.
- Week 7 (if needed) — carpentry snags, handles, anything rescheduled.
What makes a Fulham kitchen take longer
Local housing stock pushes timelines in specific ways:
- Side returns. Two-thirds of kitchen projects in Fulham come with a side-return extension. Adds 4–6 weeks and triggers a party wall agreement.
- Concrete floors on lower-ground conversions. Can't chase easily. You're running services in a boxed-in plinth or lifting and re-screeding the whole floor.
- Conservation areas. Hurlingham, Moore Park, parts of Bishop's Park. Original features need to stay, which changes the carpentry brief.
- Access. Mansion blocks without a service lift — everything goes up by hand. Adds labour days.
Four rules that keep projects on schedule
- Order cabinetry before you break ground, not after. The single biggest cause of delay is cabinets ordered in week two of the fit.
- Pick appliances first. Every cabinet dimension depends on them. Switching an oven brand in week four means re-making the cabinet.
- Approve worktop templating on site, not from drawings. Drawings are close, not exact. Walls are never square.
- Resist spec changes after week one. Every change costs a day.
Booking a new kitchen in Fulham
If you want a realistic schedule from someone who won't wave timelines around to win the job, see our kitchen work and request a fixed quote. 20+ years in Fulham, FMB and Chas accredited, no subcontractors.
