When Do You Choose Appliances During an ADU Build?

By Buz Artiano, BuildX | October 2026

Watch: The Future of Home Appliances, Energy, Design and AI with Crane Appliance (BuildX Podcast #33)

You've thought of a move in date and maybe already told a parent when their ADU would be ready to move in, or gave notice on a rental. Then somebody starts talking about appliances and you realize that no one has told you when you need to make a decision, or who makes it, and what happens if the range you pick takes eight weeks to get there. It's one of the smallest line items in an ADU budget, but it can become the reason everyone waits.

My name is Buz Artiano, founder of BuildX. We have built dozens of ADUs across Massachusetts, with most of that work concentrated on the South Shore and in Plymouth County, and we do the design, permits and construction under one roof. So we see every phase of a project from the first site visit up until you move in. We evaluate septic constraints, zoning issues, utility connections and the requirements for a permit from the city. We also keep track of the construction calendar and are responsible for making sure that a back ordered appliance doesn't stand between the family and keys to their ADU.

Appliances aren't a decorating decision. They're a decision about the schedule, and if things are done in the correct order the appliance issue takes about two appointments and then is solved. If it's done in the wrong order it can mean you have to change your cabinet order and then the move in date is delayed.

When Does the Appliance Decision Actually Come Due?

The choice of appliances has to be done in pre-construction, before the contract is signed and well before any cabinets are ordered. In our pre-construction process we'll work on your plans and your choices together, so that by the time we're ready to sign that contract, you know exactly what that house is going to be, and where it's going to be on the property, and you have a final price before you begin. Appliances are part of that work of selections. They aren't a loose end to deal with later.

Selections is the term in the trade for every product choice that has to be decided on before construction starts: flooring, tile, plumbing fixtures, lighting, cabinetry, and appliances. It isn't like a design exercise that you do for fun on a weekend. It's a schedule for purchasing things with actual dates attached to it.

The reason for that scheduling is math. We guarantee a 100-day construction cycle from the day we start digging. An appliance that's ordered during the pre-construction phase has that whole time to arrive, and while you're waiting for them, the foundation work, framing and rough-ins are being done. But if ordering the appliances gets delayed, the entire project can also be delayed.

What Should I Bring to the Appliance Appointment?

Book your appointment first. When asked if the homeowner should call beforehand, Bianca Brummerloh, who has spent 11 years working for Crane Appliance on Cape Cod, said it is "generally best." In our Massachusetts projects, the families who schedule ahead get a working session at a desk. The families who just walk in on a Saturday get a tour of the showroom floor and go home with nothing decided.

Bring pictures instead of a spreadsheet. Brummerloh will work from a written list if that's what you have but she says, "generally show and tell works better." Pictures of kitchens you like, a or of a range you saw online, and the model number from an appliance you already own will work better than just a description. If you show up with nothing, it's not a failure either. That first visit just becomes a teaching session instead of a selection session, so you will need one extra trip.

The appointment starts with measurements and function, not brands. "Usually we'll start at my desk and I try to get at least an idea of the sizes, the features, the functionality," she said. Sizes come first because the space in your cabinetry has to match the appliances, and your cabinetry is drawn and built before they ever arrive.

Three things are worth having with you when you sit down:

• Pictures of kitchens and appliances you like, on your phone, that you can show
• Rough dimensions from your plan, including any wall that can't move
• Names and contact information for your builder and your cabinet company

That third thing is the one homeowners forget to bring with them, and it's the one that decides if the order can be placed at all.

The Two-Appointment Sequence, Start to Order

Most homeowners think that selecting an appliance is a single trip. It's more like two, with price quotes in between, so you're comparing choices on paper instead of from memory. "Usually only two," Brummerloh said, though she says some homeowners "come in four or five times." The difference isn't the store, it's how much you've decided before you come in.

Here's the correct sequence below.

Notice where you are in that sequence and where you aren't. Your part is over after approval of the quote. Everything after that is dealt with between trades, which is exactly where it belongs.

Who Signs Off Before Anything Gets Ordered?

Your builder and your cabinet company do, in writing, before a single appliance is purchased. When a homeowner approves a quote, Brummerloh sends the specifications to the trade partners on the job and then waits for them to confirm that the appliances chosen will work with the cabinetry. Only then will she place the order. A spec sheet has the dimensions and clearance for one specific model number, and it's the only version of an appliance that a cabinet shop can build to.

Here's why that confirmation is more important than it sounds. An appliance isn't a box you just slide in a hole at the end of the job. It's a set of dimensions, door swings, clearance requirements, and utility connections that the cabinet shop had to plan around weeks ago. Cabinet boxes are built around a drawing, and the drawing is built around whatever appliance was drawn for. When the delivered appliance and the drawing don't match, the appliance isn't what changes. The cabinet is what gets changed and changing it can cost days because it has to either be changed in the shop or in the ADU after it's installed which can damage the finish. In our experience the difference between those two things is one email that was either sent out before the purchase or wasn't.

A change order is a written change to a signed construction contract. In simple terms, it's paying twice for the same square foot of kitchen. The sign-off is there to keep one certain type of change order and it's the cheapest insurance in the whole selections process.

The part that surprises homeowners most is what happens next. Once the sign-offs are in, you're finished. Brummerloh says, from that point "the homeowner is not involved. They don't need to be." Delivery dates are decided by the dealer, your builder, and your cabinet company. We called that role quarterbacking during the conversation, and that's a good description of it: you approved a quote and the three trades carry the rest.

What Happens to My Move-In Date If an Appliance Is Back Ordered?

There are two definitions to know first. Lead time is the time between placing an order and when the appliance gets there. A back order is a lead time that no one plans on because the appliance wasn't in the warehouse when you bought it. Neither one is a problem by itself, but both become a problem when they are on the critical path, and that's the order of tasks that determine the finish date.

At the time of that conversation, Brummerloh said that the stock was available with some back orders showing up "here and there," and indicated that the longest wait her team was seeing was about two months. We called that a reasonable period of time, and it is, if the order went in early. Think of that time period as a possibility instead of a standing rule. Appliance lead times can change when there are model changeovers, freight, and tariffs, so check the current wait on your specific model number when you go to the appointment and get it written on the quote before you approve it.

Now compare two months against a 100-day construction period. Any order that's placed during the pre-construction period has the whole foundation, framing, and rough-in period to arrive, and the two-month wait doesn't cost you anything. The same two-month wait on an order placed after framing comes at the end of the construction where there's no other work left. So same appliance, same delay but there are two completely different outcomes that were decided months earlier.

Three things will keep appliances from having critical delays:

• Deciding on your selections during pre-construction, before the contract is signed
• Ordering right after the sign-off on the cabinets instead of after a framing inspection
• Confirming the quoted lead time on each unit in writing, before approving the quote

Delivery Day and Who Takes the Boxes

Delivery is a separate issue from selection, and it is based on the information that someone provided months earlier. This record starts at the sales desk. Brendan Crane, Vice President of Crane Appliance, described the practical detail a delivery crew needs before the truck gets loaded, including "how many stairs are going up" at the destination. An ADU with one level that sits flat on the lot, and an ADU above a garage are two different types of deliveries with two different crews and two different amounts of time required on site.

The other thing that can change things is who signs for it. A homeowner receiving appliances and a builder receiving appliances are different jobs, because a builder needs them on site and deals with it from there. Ask your builder which of those applies to your ADU, and make sure the dealer's delivery record says so in writing. That one thing can prevent a loaded truck from being sent to a locked jobsite.

It's also a good idea to ask who is driving. Crane described delivery as running on "a mix of contractors" and in-house teams, which is common. Whoever shows up needs the number of stairs, how to access the ADU and who the correct receiving person is before the appliances leave the warehouse.

When Does Buying Your Own Appliances Make Sense?

You'd think that a builder would tell you that every appliance should go through the build process. That's not always the right answer, and pretending otherwise wouldn't help you decide anything.

Buying appliances independently makes sense in these three situations: if you already have appliances you love and are moving them into the ADU, or you found a floor model or a closeout at a very good price, or the ADU is a rental so you want dependable basics instead of a coordinated package. In any of those cases, buying outside the process is a reasonable choice.

If you buy outside the process, you give up the checkpoints: nobody is checking your model numbers with the cabinet drawing because the dealer who would normally do that isn't involved in the transaction. If you do it that way, then you have to do things yourself: send the spec sheets to your builder and your cabinet company, ask for the same written confirmation, and wait for it before you pay.

Ready to Put a Date on Your Appliance Appointment?

The appliance stage is short and it's something you can do. The selections need to be done in pre-construction. You need to have two appointments that deal with showroom work. Nothing will be ordered until your builder and your cabinet company make sure the appliances will fit the plans. After getting that approval the rest of the schedule goes to the people who deal with it for a living.

Homeowners who do their part early can stop thinking about appliances completely. Homeowners who leave it to the end think about very little else.