Kitchen extension starts at end of January - what do I need to do/order now

[Mercedes]

The builder's are arriving at end of January to start out kitchen extension. What I don't know is whether I need to choose our kitchen now to make the most of the sales or will there be sales later on that we can take advantage of. If I order now but don't need until April what happens to the units in the mean time?

Sorry this may be basic stuff but I can't quite get the order of stuff and would appreciate some practical advice.

Usually have an 8 week lead time but you can order earlier and postpone delivery. I wouldn't be in a rush as the building work may run over. I have just come out the other side and I would spend the next month throwing out stuff you don't need, declutter ing the rest of the house to make the next few months as pleasant as possible. Buy lots of wine....

Surely you must have something in mind before the builder starts??! Unless you're buying Ikea/off the shelf, then I'd check out the lead times of the kitchens you like, and start working backwards on a monthly planner!

Things like tiles too, do you know what you like/want? How long are those lead times? Same with taps, ovens, flooring etc - you need to know lead times for all the different bits ASAP, in my mind.....

and boring bits like rough location of sockets, light fittings (different types of lights can dictate roof construction), extractor fan, will all need to be thought of far sooner than you thought

I'd have planned and ordered before now tbh. delivery can always be postponed

Also get some advice from your builder about when they want things. Sometimes they want something earlier than it is fitted so they can get pipe work/drains in the right place. In my experience something saying 'in stock' on a website bears little relation to whether it is actually in stock. Definitely need a plan and delivery times for everything you are supplying. Check with your builder who is supplying what! i chose our kitchen and everything early just so I knew what it would all cost!!

I think I chose the kitchen etc just before our builder started, but our work was taking 4 months. I had had the kitchen fitter round before that though, as he needed to liaise with builder re services etc. how long is your work going to take?

Ps - does your gas meter need moving? Ours did bit no one had realised (not us, builder or architect). It was in the bit being demolished and nearly caused a serious delay to our plans.

Thank you for the responses. We know more or less what we want as we've been thinking about this for years. I am a bit of a last minute person so organising in advance feels unnatural and couldn't work out what was really immediate. It seems from your response that it ALL has to be NOW.

Better get my skates on by the sound of it.

If you design the layout before its but you can make sure the electrics and water etc are in the best places etc !

*Built - sorry - typing on phone in my lunch break !!