Dublin Kitchens
How Long Does a Kitchen Fitting Take in Dublin? A Realistic Day-by-Day Timeline
This is the second question almost every Dublin homeowner asks us, straight after price, and it gets the vaguest answers across the trade. People need to book time off work, warn the neighbours about a skip, and decide whether the family is eating takeaway for one week or three. So here is the honest version, before anything else.
Short answer: the fitting itself takes 3 to 10 working days on site for a typical Dublin kitchen, and 6 to 12 weeks from order to a fully finished kitchen once you include design sign-off, cabinet lead time and worktop fabrication. A small galley with a laminate worktop is done inside a week. A large island kitchen with quartz runs closer to three weeks of site activity, split across two visits.
Contents
- How long by size and layout
- Day by day on site
- Why stone adds one to two weeks
- Dublin-specific variables
- What makes a fitting run long
- Living in the house meanwhile
- Busy season in Ireland
- FAQ
How long by kitchen size and layout
Layout matters more than floor area. The day count is driven by unit count, corner joints in the worktop, and how many services move, so twelve units along one open wall beat nine in a cramped U-shape. The table below comes from our own recent Dublin fits, and assumes a cleared room and no structural work.
| Layout | On-site fitting days | Order to completion | A real Dublin example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galley (two facing runs) | 3 – 5 days | 5 – 8 weeks | The compact denim galley in Raheny — laminate worktop, four days |
| One-wall | 3 – 4 days | 5 – 8 weeks | The white Shaker one-wall kitchen in Swords — three days plus a return |
| L-shaped | 4 – 7 days | 6 – 10 weeks | The handleless L-shape in Lucan — rails add half a day of setting out |
| U-shaped | 5 – 8 days | 7 – 11 weeks | The light grey U-shape in Swords — two internal joints, six days |
| Island or peninsula | 7 – 12 days | 8 – 12 weeks | The two-tone Shaker island kitchen in Malahide — services under the floor |
| Open-plan, island plus tall bank | 10 – 15 days | 10 – 14 weeks | The graphite handleless island kitchen in Rathfarnham |
An island always costs days, because power and often water and waste must be routed to a point in the middle of the floor before it can be made good. A tall bank of larder and oven housings, like the run in the taupe U-shaped renovation in Portmarnock, eats levelling and scribing time that base units don’t. Our kitchen projects gallery has over fifty recent Dublin installations.
Day by day: what actually happens on site
The sequence for a mid-size Dublin kitchen: two fitters, an L-shape or small U-shape, old kitchen coming out, quartz worktop. Days compress or stretch; the order rarely changes.
| Day | Work | What you’ll notice at home |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Strip out — old units, worktop, sink, tiles and appliances out, services capped, skip loaded | Noisiest day. Water off for a few hours |
| Day 2 | First fix — electrician and plumber move sockets, waste, feeds and any island services; walls patched, floor levelled | Looks like nothing is happening. Decides the job |
| Day 3 | Base units set out, levelled, joined and fixed back to the wall; plinth legs adjusted | First day it resembles a kitchen |
| Day 4 | Wall units and tall housings hung and levelled; doors and drawers hung roughly | Reads as finished. It isn’t |
| Day 5 | Worktop templating — the stone fabricator measures the fitted cabinets and confirms cut-outs | A one-hour visit, then a wait. Temporary boards go down |
| Days 6–15 | Off site — slab cut, edges polished, cut-outs machined at the factory | Nothing happens at your house. The gap nobody warns you about |
| Day 16 | Worktop delivered and installed, joints bonded and polished, upstands fitted | Heavy and careful. Worth being out of the way |
| Day 17 | Second fix — sink and tap connected, hob and oven wired, extractor ducted, appliances tested | Water back on. First working tap in a fortnight |
| Day 18 | Cornice, pelmet, plinths, end panels and fillers; doors and drawers set to final alignment; silicone at sink, hob and upstand | The fussy day. It separates a good fit from an average one |
| Day 19 | Clean down, snag walk, handover of manuals and warranties | You get your room back |
Count the working days and you get eight or nine. The calendar span is nearly four weeks, and every extra day is the worktop. Our what to expect on installation day guide covers each visit, and Kitchen Installation Ireland sets out how the trades are scheduled.
Why a stone worktop adds one to two weeks
Most people only learn this after they’ve committed to a date.
A quartz or granite worktop cannot be measured from drawings. It has to be templated from the installed cabinets, because 3mm of cumulative error across a run of base units becomes a visible gap against a wall on a solid slab. So the fabricator only comes out after day four. They template, go back to the factory, cut the slab on a CNC bridge saw, machine the cut-outs and polish the exposed edges. Realistically 7 to 12 working days in Dublin, longer in October and November.
Laminate has none of that. It’s cut on site from stock lengths, jointed with worktop bolts and fitted the same day the cabinets go in. The same kitchen in laminate is genuinely a week shorter, and we’d rather say so plainly: if the date matters more than the material, laminate is the answer. Our laminate worktop guide and quartz buying guide compare the two, and how worktop installation works covers templating in detail.
A templater will not come out to a kitchen where the units aren’t fully fixed and levelled, and they’re right not to. We’ve watched homeowners push for an early template to save a week and lose two — the slab comes back wrong at the wall, and a recut is a full fabrication cycle again. The wait is annoying. It’s much less annoying than a €2,000 slab with a 6mm gap behind it.
One practical fix: ask for a laminate offcut on the sink run so the tap can be connected during the stone wait. We do it often for families with small children. It costs a little labour and buys back a week of normal life.
Dublin-specific things that move the dates
Fitting a kitchen in Rathfarnham and fitting one off Fitzwilliam Square are not the same job, and the difference is logistics, not joinery.
- City centre parking and unloading — no driveway means a van on a loading bay and units carried in. Around Rathmines, Ranelagh and Portobello, allow half a day extra on delivery day, and check whether the skip needs a permit.
- Apartment lifts — a 2150mm tall larder housing won’t stand up in most residential lifts. If it doesn’t fit it goes up the stairs, a two-person carry per unit, which is why flat-pack is often the pragmatic choice in a flat.
- Georgian and Victorian staircases — narrow, turned stairs limit what can reach a first-floor or basement kitchen. Measure the tightest turn before ordering tall units.
- Walls that aren’t straight — the big one. In older Dublin stock a wall can be 15–25mm out over three metres. That’s absorbed with packing, scribing and wider fillers, and adds half a day to a full day. The light grey L-shaped Shaker in Glasnevin needed real scribing at the end wall.
- Chimney breasts and old flues — common in Victorian and Edwardian terraces, forcing a bespoke filler or a redesign of the run. Fine if caught at survey; a delay if found on day one.
- Old wiring with no RCD protection — a circuit below current standards must be upgraded before an electrician will certify it. A day, sometimes two.
None of this is a reason to be wary of a period property. It’s a reason to insist on a site survey rather than a phone-call quote. Our Dublin kitchens page covers how we survey across the county, and the Dublin kitchen renovation page covers the wider project.
What makes a fitting run long
- Changing the design after ordering — the worst one. Moving a sink or swapping a unit size once cabinets are in production means a fresh lead time on that item. Adds 2–4 weeks.
- Appliances arriving late — a housing can’t be finished around a missing integrated fridge or extractor, so second fix stalls. Adds 3 days to 3 weeks.
- Wall or floor problems found on strip-out — damp behind old units, a failed screed, plaster off with the tiles. Adds 1–3 days.
- Electrical upgrade required — too few circuits, no dedicated hob supply, board work before certification. Adds 1–2 days.
- Plumbing that doesn’t suit the new layout — moving a waste run a few metres, especially on a solid floor. Adds 1–2 days.
- Worktop recut or transit damage — rare, but a full fabrication cycle again. Adds 1–2 weeks.
- Tiling or flooring by your own contractor — their availability sets the finish date, not ours. Adds 2 days to 2 weeks.
Roughly one Dublin kitchen in four runs past its date, and it’s usually one of the first two above. Our guide to common kitchen renovation mistakes in Ireland covers the design-change trap. Time has a cash cost too:
| Time-related cost | Typical Dublin range (2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Additional fitter day, 2-person team | €350 – €480 per day | Where extra days come from site conditions |
| Electrician call-out, circuit upgrade | €300 – €700 | Depends on board work and cable runs |
| Skip hire, 6-yard, Dublin | €280 – €400 | Plus a permit on a public road |
| Temporary board on the sink run | €90 – €180 | Buys a working sink during the stone wait |
| Stone recut after a template error | €400 – €1,200+ | Why nobody should rush a template |
| Eating out, 2 adults, 2 weeks | €300 – €600 | The cost nobody budgets for |
For the overall budget rather than these edge costs, see our Kitchen Cost Guide.
Living in the house while the kitchen is out
Most Dublin families stay put, and it’s manageable if you set up the weekend before day one.
- Move the fridge and microwave to another room before strip-out. A fridge, kettle, microwave and toaster on a folding table covers a fortnight.
- Expect no kitchen sink for the middle stretch. That’s 2–4 days on a laminate job, 10–14 on a stone job unless you take the temporary board. Washing up in a bathroom sink is what people find hardest.
- Box everything you won’t use. Four plates, four bowls, four sets of cutlery and two pans stay out; the rest goes away before day one, dust-free.
- Plan for the washing machine. If it’s in the kitchen run it’s out of action from day one until second fix.
- Seal the doorway. Ask for a dust sheet or zip screen at the kitchen door. Strip-out dust travels through a whole house, and it’s the complaint we hear most.
Compact kitchens are easiest to live through because they’re quickest. The marine blue galley in Glasnevin and the light grey one-wall Shaker in Blackrock were both done inside a working week, sink included, on laminate worktops fitted the same day as the cabinets.
Busy season in Ireland
Kitchen demand here is seasonal, and it hits lead times far harder than fitting speed. Two peaks: February to May for spring renovations, and September to mid-November, when everyone wants a kitchen in before Christmas. The autumn peak is sharper, and it congests stone fabricators worse than fitters.
A quartz worktop that templates and installs in eight working days in June can take twelve to fifteen in late October, with cabinet lead times stretching a week or two alongside it. Order by end of August and a pre-Christmas kitchen is comfortable; order in October and you’re relying on nothing going wrong. The quiet windows are January and mid-June through August, often a fortnight saved.
Getting a date you can actually plan around
Ask for a timeline in writing before you pay a deposit, with three separate numbers: cabinet lead time, on-site fitting days, and worktop fabrication. One blended figure means the supplier is either unsure or hoping you won’t notice the gap in the middle. Then ask: on what date does the templater come, and how many working days after that does the worktop go in? That answer tells you more about a company than anything else.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a kitchen fitting take?
Three to ten working days on site. A galley or one-wall kitchen is three to five days; an island kitchen seven to twelve. Order to finished kitchen is six to twelve weeks.
How long does a kitchen installation take in Dublin from start to finish?
Six to twelve weeks. Design and survey one to two weeks, cabinet lead time three to six weeks, fitting three to ten days, and a stone worktop adds one to two weeks in the middle.
Why is there a gap in the middle of my kitchen fitting?
A quartz or granite worktop can only be templated once the cabinets are fitted and levelled. The fabricator then cuts and polishes the slab off site, which takes seven to twelve working days.
Can a kitchen be fitted in one week?
Yes, if it’s a galley, one-wall or small L-shape with a laminate worktop and no services being moved. Laminate is cut and fitted the same day as the cabinets, removing the fabrication wait.
How long will I be without a kitchen sink?
Two to four days on a laminate job, ten to fourteen on a stone job unless a temporary board goes on the sink run so the tap and waste can be connected during the wait.
How many days does it take to fit an island kitchen?
Seven to twelve days on site, plus the worktop wait. Islands take longer because power, and often water and waste, must reach a point in the middle of the floor before it’s made good.
Do older Dublin houses take longer to fit?
Usually by half a day to a day. Out-of-plumb walls need scribing and packing, chimney breasts need fillers, and older wiring sometimes needs upgrading before certification.
Can I stay in the house during a kitchen fitting?
Most people do. Set up a fridge, kettle and microwave in another room before day one, box away what you won’t need, and ask for a dust screen at the kitchen door.
When is the busiest time for kitchen fitting in Ireland, and when should I order for Christmas?
February to May and September to mid-November. The autumn peak lengthens stone fabrication by up to a week, so for a kitchen finished before Christmas, order by the end of August.
What is the most common cause of a kitchen fitting overrunning?
Changing the design after ordering, followed by late appliance deliveries. Between them they account for most Dublin kitchens that miss their date, and both are avoidable at planning stage.
Related Kitchen Projects & Guides
- Kitchen Installation in Dublin: What to Expect
- Kitchen Worktop Installation Explained
- Kitchen Renovation in Dublin: Full Guide
- White Shaker U-Shaped Kitchen with Peninsula, Dundrum
- All Kitchens4U Dublin Kitchen Projects
Want a fitting date you can plan around? Book a free design consultation and we’ll survey your room, confirm cabinet and worktop lead times in writing, and give you the templating date up front.
