The sequence, start to finish
1. Design and select. Every appliance, the sink, the faucet, the cabinet configuration, the counter material. Not "we will pick tile later" — the rough-in positions depend on the actual appliance specs, and a range that turns out to be thirty-six inches in a thirty-inch opening is a cabinetry change after the fact.
2. Permits. Pulled before demolition where plumbing, gas, electrical or structure are involved. The permit number belongs on your contract.
3. Demolition. And the first honest look at what is behind the walls, which is where a schedule is either confirmed or revised.
4. Structural. Walls out, headers in, subfloor repaired. Everything after this depends on the shell being final.
5. Rough plumbing, gas and electrical. Supply, drain, vent, circuits and boxes positioned to the selections made in step one.
6. Inspection. Before anything is closed up. A rough inspection failed after the drywall is on is the most expensive sequencing mistake available.
7. Insulation and drywall, then tape, skim and sand.
8. Paint the ceiling and walls — the first coats, before cabinets go in, because cutting in around finished cabinetry is slower and worse.
9. Flooring, in most cases (see below).
10. Cabinets, set level and secured.
11. Countertop templating, then fabrication, then installation. Templating happens on the installed cabinets, not from a drawing, and there is a real gap between template and install.
Then backsplash, appliances, plumbing trim, final electrical, touch-up paint, and the punch list.
Mistake one: ordering cabinets too early
Cabinets get ordered off the design, and then demolition reveals that a wall is out of plumb by an inch, or the floor slopes, or a chase nobody knew about eats three inches. Order off final field measurements taken after demolition wherever the schedule allows it, and where lead times force an earlier order, order with the field risk understood and fillers specified.
Mistake two: templating the counter too early
A countertop is templated on installed, levelled cabinets. Template from a drawing and every deviation in the room becomes a gap at the wall or an overhang that is wrong.
Plan for the gap between templating and installation — the slab has to be cut and finished. That is the week most kitchens spend with a plywood counter, and knowing it in advance is the difference between a plan and a surprise.
Mistake three: backsplash before counter
The backsplash sits on the counter. Tile first and the bottom course has to be cut to whatever the counter turns out to be, with a caulk line doing work it should not.
Mistake four: flooring, which genuinely depends
Flooring before cabinets is the norm: the cabinets sit on a continuous floor, the dishwasher can be removed later without trapping it, and there is no threshold under the toe kick.
Flooring after cabinets is right for engineered or solid wood that needs acclimatising, for a floor at risk from cabinet installation, or where the existing floor is staying in the rest of the house and the transition is at the doorway.
It is a decision, not a default, and it should be made in step one with the flooring installer in the conversation.
What we do
One written scope, one crew sequence, one company accountable for the order — which is the practical argument for a general contractor over managing five trades yourself, because the order above is the part that is easy to get wrong and expensive to unwind.
Free walkthrough across Maryland and Northern Virginia. MHIC #111971, Virginia Class A #2705183185, family-owned since 2005.
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We inspect across Maryland — Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties. Free inspection, photo report within 24 hours, and the report is yours to keep whether or not you hire us.