How long do kitchen cabinets take to arrive?
Stock cabinets arrive in about 1 to 3 weeks. Semi-custom runs 4 to 8 weeks. Fully custom cabinetry takes 8 to 16 weeks, and that is the number that decides when you get your kitchen back. Cabinets are the critical-path item on almost every kitchen remodel — nothing downstream can happen until they are set. They should be ordered during design, before demolition, not after. One more 2026 number worth knowing, a 25% Section 232 tariff has applied to imported kitchen cabinets and vanities since October 14, 2025, and is currently scheduled to rise to 50% on January 1, 2027, so quotes older than a few months should be re-confirmed with the supplier.
The number that actually runs your kitchen remodel
Homeowners ask how long a kitchen remodel takes. The honest answer is that the cabinets decide it. Demolition is a few days. Rough plumbing and electrical is a week or two. Cabinets are eight to sixteen weeks, and almost nothing that makes a kitchen a kitchen can happen until they are standing.
| Cabinet type | Typical lead time |
|---|---|
| Stock (in-stock, standard sizes) | 1 – 3 weeks |
| Semi-custom | 4 – 8 weeks |
| Fully custom | 8 – 16 weeks |
These are typical market ranges as of mid-2026, not a quote. Any specific manufacturer can be faster or slower depending on their backlog, and a single unusual finish or a non-standard door style can add weeks to an otherwise ordinary order.
Where the time actually goes
The lead time clock does not start when you pick a door style. It starts when the order is released — meaning the final measurements, appliance specs, hardware, finish, and layout are locked and signed. Anything unresolved holds the whole order.
The usual culprits:
- Appliances not selected. Cabinet openings are built to specific appliance dimensions. If the range is undecided, the cabinets around it cannot be built.
- Field measurements taken too early. Final measure happens after demo, once the real walls are exposed. In an older LA house, the walls are rarely where the drawing says they are.
- One changed door style. A change after release usually restarts the fabrication queue, not just that one cabinet.
The 2026 tariff situation, plainly
Since October 14, 2025, a 25% Section 232 tariff has applied to imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and their component parts. A scheduled increase to 50% was pushed to January 1, 2027. Chinese-origin cabinets can face considerably higher combined rates where antidumping and countervailing duties stack on top of the Section 232 duty.
What this means practically for a homeowner in Los Angeles:
- Old quotes are not reliable. A cabinet allowance from 2024 does not survive contact with 2026 pricing.
- Ask for country of origin in writing. It is a fair question and a legitimate contractor will answer it.
- Ask for a written lead time, not a verbal one. "About six weeks" is not a commitment. A dated acknowledgment from the manufacturer is.
How this changes the sequence
The right sequence puts the long lead item first:
Design and selections → cabinets ordered → permits and plan check → demolition → rough-in → cabinets arrive and install → countertop template → countertops → finishes.
Notice that the cabinet order comes near the beginning. On a Burbank or Valley remodel, plan check for a kitchen typically runs a few weeks — that is time the cabinets should be spending in fabrication, not time spent deciding on them. Run those in parallel and a twelve-week cabinet lead time costs you almost nothing in calendar days. Run them in sequence and it costs you three months of living without a kitchen.
For the wider schedule, see our post on how long a whole-home renovation takes in Los Angeles, and for what the rest of the budget looks like, how much a kitchen remodel costs in Burbank.
What to ask before you sign
- What is the written lead time, and is it from order date or from release date?
- Where are these cabinets manufactured?
- What happens to my schedule if the order is damaged in transit or arrives short?
- Are the appliances specified and ordered on the same timeline?
The last one catches more projects than anything else. A kitchen where the cabinets showed up on time and the range is eleven weeks out is still a kitchen you cannot cook in.
DN Builders Group Inc is a licensed, bonded general contractor based in Burbank (CA Lic. #1139710). We schedule long-lead items up front on kitchen remodeling projects across Burbank and Greater Los Angeles. Lead times and tariff figures reflect typical market conditions in mid-2026 and are not a quote — confirm current pricing and delivery with the supplier before ordering.
Questions
Why can't the cabinets be ordered after demolition starts?
Because the cabinet lead time then gets added to the end of your schedule instead of running underneath it. If a fully custom order takes 12 weeks and it is placed the week demo begins, you have a torn-open kitchen sitting idle for roughly three months. Ordering during design means the cabinets are being built while permits are in plan check and demolition is happening — the same 12 weeks, but invisible to you.
What happens to the countertops while I wait?
Stone countertops cannot be templated until the cabinets are physically installed and level, because the template is cut to the boxes as built, not to the drawing. After template, fabrication typically adds another one to two weeks before installation. So the countertop is not a parallel task — it is a queue behind the cabinets, and it is why the sink and the stove come back later than people expect.
Are appliances a bigger risk than cabinets?
Sometimes, yes. Panel-ready refrigeration, professional ranges, and specialty ventilation can carry multi-month lead times, and cabinet fabrication often cannot be finalized until the exact appliance specifications are locked, since the openings are built around them. Appliances should be selected during design alongside the cabinets, not shopped for later.
Do the 2026 tariffs mean I should buy domestic cabinets?
Not automatically — it means you should ask where the cabinets are made before you compare two bids. A 25% Section 232 duty applies to imported cabinets and vanities, and Chinese-origin product can carry substantially more once antidumping and countervailing duties stack on top. Two quotes that look similar can behave very differently once duty and current lead times are applied, so ask for country of origin and a written lead time in the bid.