Whole-Home Remodeling
Updated September 2026
Two clocks run on every remodel: the months of design, selections, and permits before the first hammer, and the 9 to 16 weeks of construction BBD’s recorded projects took. Here’s what happens in each phase, what can overlap, and why BBD’s whole-home projects start at $400,000.
9 min read
Written by Mike Schwartz, Built by Design | Published May 4, 2026
"How long will it take?" has two honest answers, and a remodeler who gives you one number is skipping one of them. The first clock is preparation: design, selections, permit review, and product lead times. The second is construction: the weeks your house is a job site. On Built by Design's recorded projects, construction ran 9 to 16 weeks depending on scope. Preparation depends on how fast decisions get made and how long the cabinets take to arrive.
This guide walks both clocks phase by phase, shows which phases can overlap and which ones gate the next, and uses BBD's documented projects, including two that spanned two floors, as the evidence.
For the reasons a schedule moves after it’s set, read why remodels take longer than planned. For whether to do it all at once, read remodel in phases or all at once.
Preparation runs from the first conversation to the first day of demolition. It includes the in-home visit, design and the written scope, selections (every cabinet, tile, fixture, and finish), the permit application and the city's review, and ordering anything with a lead time. Construction runs from demolition to the final inspection and walkthrough. The two clocks are different because they're governed by different things. Preparation moves at the speed of decisions and deliveries. Construction moves at the speed of trades and inspections. A project can sit in preparation for months because a household can't choose tile, then build in ten weeks. Ask any remodeler which clock a quoted duration measures. BBD's case studies record the construction clock; the preparation clock varies too much between households to publish as one number.
The table lists the phases in order, what happens in each, and whether the next phase can start before it finishes. "Gates" means the next step cannot start until this one is done; "overlaps" means they can run together.
| Phase | What happens | Overlaps or gates |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brief and in-home visit | Rooms walked, priorities and constraints written down, jurisdiction confirmed | Gates design |
| 2. Design and written scope | Layout, structure, systems, and a priced scope; feasibility checked with the builder | Overlaps early selections |
| 3. Selections | Cabinets, tile, fixtures, appliances, lighting chosen and priced into the scope | Overlaps permit drawings; gates ordering |
| 4. Permit application and review | Drawings submitted; city plan review; revisions if asked | Overlaps ordering; gates construction |
| 5. Ordering long-lead items | Custom cabinetry, windows, doors, special-order appliances | Overlaps permit review; gates the phases that install them |
| 6. Construction | Protection, demolition, framing, rough-ins, inspections, drywall, finishes, fixtures | Inspections gate the next trade inside this phase |
| 7. Closeout | Final inspection, punch list, cleaning, walkthrough, turnover | Gates the end date |
Nine of Built by Design's published case studies record a construction timeline, and several publish the week-by-week order of work. They are the honest range for the construction clock: 9 to 16 weeks depending on scope. They are also construction only. Design, permitting, and lead times came before each one.
| Project | Scope | Recorded construction |
|---|---|---|
| Leawood kitchen | Kitchen remodel with a flooring update | 9 weeks |
| Overland Park basement, two serving zones | Kitchen-style wet bar, beverage station, theater wall, bathroom | 9 weeks |
| Lenexa basement | Wet bar with island, movie lounge, fireplace, pool table area | 11 weeks |
| Olathe basement, glass gym | Gym, theater wall, pool table, wet bar, powder bath, bedroom | 11 weeks |
| Overland Park primary and basement baths | Primary bath opened with a glass slider, tub, and shower; basement bath remodeled | 12 weeks |
| Olathe basement plus upstairs guest suite | Projector theater, pool table, wet bar, gym, bathroom, and an upstairs guest suite | 12 weeks |
| Leawood basement plus upstairs kitchen | Custom wet bar, fireplace lounge, game area, and a kitchen update on the main floor | 13 weeks |
| Parkville basement | Open lower level with theater, games, two bars, and dining | 13 weeks |
| Shawnee basement | Theater lounge, wet bar, bathroom, game room, office | 14 weeks |
| Overland Park basement, family weekend space | Theater wall, wet bar, drink cellar, glass gym, kids area, bathroom | 14 weeks |
| Overland Park basement, wine cellar | Walk-in wine cellar, wet bar, theater lounge, pool and arcade, gym, office, bathroom | 16 weeks |
| Overland Park room addition | About 1,000 square feet: kitchen, living room, mudroom-laundry | 16 weeks |
See also: All BBD case studies, with their recorded timelines
The Shawnee basement's published schedule is a clean example of how the weeks divide. Weeks 1 to 2: site protection, demolition, and layout confirmation. Weeks 3 to 5: framing, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC rough-ins, with inspections. Weeks 6 to 8: drywall, ceilings, recessed lighting, waterproofing, flooring prep. Weeks 9 to 11: cabinetry, counters, appliances, tile, flooring, trim. Weeks 12 to 14: doors, fixtures, final lighting, hardware, paint touch-ups, punch list, and turnover. Two things in that sequence explain most schedule movement. Inspections sit between weeks 5 and 6; if one fails or the reinspection is a week out, everything after it slides. And cabinetry lands in week 9; if it was ordered late, the crew waits. That's why long-lead items are ordered during permit review, not after demolition.
See also: Shawnee basement case study, with the week-by-week schedule
"Whole-home" rarely means every room at once; it usually means work on more than one floor that has to be sequenced together. Two BBD projects show what that does to the clock. The Leawood project remodeled the basement (a custom bar, fireplace lounge, and game area) and updated the upstairs kitchen in one 13-week construction window. The Olathe project built a projector theater, pool table area, wet bar, gym, and bathroom downstairs and refreshed a guest suite upstairs in 12 weeks. Neither took twice as long as a single-floor project, because the trades moved between floors while inspections and drying times ran on the other. That's the argument for doing connected work at once rather than in phases: the second floor rides the same schedule instead of starting a new one.
Most BBD projects are built with the family living in the house. That changes the sequence more than the total. The rooms that must stay usable (one bathroom, one place to cook, the route to bed) get decided before the schedule is written, and the work is ordered so they stay open in every phase. The Olathe kitchen-and-two-baths project is the clearest case: the kitchen, the primary bath, and a second bathroom were remodeled in one scope, sequenced so one bathroom and one place to cook stayed open throughout. Protection, dust control, and the daily clean-up add time to each day but not weeks to the project. What adds weeks is discovering in week 4 that the only bathroom is now closed.
See also: Remodel in phases or all at once: the occupied-home tradeoffs
Built by Design's whole-home remodels start at $400,000, and there is no fixed ceiling, because a whole home isn't one project. It's a kitchen, one or more bathrooms, living spaces, sometimes a basement or an addition, and the systems, floors, and trim that run between them, sequenced as one build with one crew. Each of those pieces has its own published range on this site (kitchens $100,000 to $300,000, bathrooms $80,000 to $250,000, basements $80,000 to $550,000, additions $150,000 to $550,000), and a whole-home number is roughly the sum of the rooms it includes, less the setup, permit, protection, and mobilization costs that are paid once instead of once per room. That's also why the timeline in this guide matters to the budget: the one-window approach that keeps the construction clock at 9 to 16 weeks is the same thing that keeps the whole-home number below the sum of the parts. A project-specific number follows an in-home visit, the scope decision, and selections; BBD prices the designed plan with the selections in it.
| What moves a whole-home number | Why |
|---|---|
| How many rooms, and which | A kitchen and a primary bath carry the most cost per room; bedrooms and living spaces the least |
| Structure | Opened walls, beams, and engineering across the main level |
| Systems | A panel upgrade, new HVAC zones, a water heater, or a sewer line that every later room depends on |
| Floors and trim | Continuous flooring and matching trim through connected rooms, the part that makes it read as one house |
| Basement or addition in the same scope | Adds that project’s own range to the total |
| Selections | Cabinetry grade, stone, appliances, tile, and glass, chosen before the price so the number holds |
See also: Remodel in phases or all at once: what one window saves
A useful schedule has definitions. Ask what starts the construction clock (demolition? material delivery?), what stops it (final inspection? your walkthrough?), where the inspections sit, when each long-lead item is ordered and due, and which weeks the rooms you need are closed. Ask what the schedule assumes about your decisions: a selection deadline you miss moves the end date, and a good remodeler tells you which ones. Then ask for the update rhythm. On BBD projects the schedule is the document the homeowner sees, with inspection dates and deliveries on it, and it changes in writing when something moves.
Built by Design meets homeowners at the home, writes one scope before finishes are chosen, and builds with the same trade partners named in the case studies above.
FAQAnswers, by design
The timeline questions homeowners ask, answered with the construction weeks BBD recorded on its published projects and the phases every remodel goes through. Your schedule is written for your scope.
Construction on Built by Design’s recorded projects ran 9 to 16 weeks: 9 for a kitchen or a basement with two serving zones, 12 to 13 for projects that spanned two floors, and 16 for a roughly 1,000 square foot addition or a basement with a wine cellar, gym, and theater. Design, selections, permit review, and lead times come before that and depend on how quickly decisions get made.
Built by Design whole-home remodels start at $400,000 and have no fixed ceiling, because the scope is the sum of the rooms and systems it touches. A kitchen and a primary bath carry the most per room; structure, systems, and continuous flooring and trim add across the house; a basement or addition in the same scope adds its own range. A project-specific number follows an in-home visit and selections.
It depends on the number of decisions and how fast the household makes them. A kitchen with a new layout has hundreds of selections; a bathroom that keeps its fixtures in place has far fewer. Plan for weeks to a few months, and expect the cabinet lead time, not the drawing, to set the earliest start date.
Yes, and they should. Permit drawings can go to the city while selections are finished, and long-lead items can be ordered while the city reviews the plans. What cannot overlap: construction and permit approval, drywall and the rough inspection, tile and the waterproofing inspection.
Usually, if the rooms that must stay usable are decided first and the work is sequenced around them. BBD’s Olathe kitchen-and-two-baths project kept one bathroom and one place to cook open in every phase. An addition that removes a roof or a project that closes the only bathroom may mean moving out for part of the work.
Often because they are measuring different clocks. One quotes construction weeks; another quotes the whole process including design and permits; a third quotes a best case with no lead times. Ask each what starts and stops their number, and compare the same clock.
No. The weeks in BBD’s case studies are construction, from demolition to turnover. They don’t include design, selections, the city’s plan review, or the time cabinets and windows took to arrive, and they aren’t a promise for a different house.
Keep planning with these related guides.
Remodel Planning
Late selections, a failed inspection, a cabinet order placed after demolition, a wall that hides rot. Each one costs a predictable number of days, and most are preventable before construction starts. Here are the eight causes, ranked, with the fix for each.
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Remodel Phasing
Phasing protects cash flow and keeps the house livable. It also repeats demolition, protection, permits, and trade mobilization, and finishes drift between phases. Here's how to tell which one your project is.
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Johnson County Guides
Walls, wiring, plumbing, structure, additions, decks, and egress windows need a permit almost everywhere in Johnson County. Paint, flooring, and cabinet swaps usually don’t. Here’s the line, city by city, and what happens on the schedule.
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