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The right time to start a bathroom or kitchen renovation is earlier than the calendar suggests. Most people begin to think about it a couple of months before they want the room: before guests arrive, before the holidays, before a baby. By then it is usually too late to finish a major project in time. It is not too late to make real improvements. This piece covers both: how to time a full renovation, and what can be done in a short window.
Count back from the day you need the room
On our schedules an average kitchen remodel takes 6 to 10 weeks of construction and an average bathroom 4 to 8, depending on scope and complexity. The stages are on our kitchen remodel timeline and bathroom remodel timeline. Construction is only the visible part. Before it come:
- Design and selections. The layout, the cabinets, the tile and the fixtures have to be chosen before anything can be ordered.
- Ordering. Kitchen cabinets, or a vanity and medicine cabinet, are ordered during preparation, before demolition.
- Approvals. A co-op or condo board reviews the plans first. Work that needs a Department of Buildings permit has to be filed and approved, and most kitchen and bathroom renovations beyond the cosmetic need one.
Add those together, then add a cushion of a few weeks at the end. That is your real starting date.
The building has a calendar too
City rules allow construction from 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays. Apartment buildings narrow that further. The model alteration agreement published by the New York City Bar Association allows work on weekdays only, never on weekends or holidays, within hours each building fills in for itself. Agreements can restrict the months of the year when renovation may happen and limit how many apartments may be under construction at once. The model form also sets a completion date, with a charge for each working day past it.
So ask the managing agent three things before you fix a schedule: which months and days the building allows work, which dates are blocked out, and whether another apartment is already booked ahead of yours.
What fits a short window in the kitchen
None of these needs the room to be taken apart, and together they can change a kitchen a great deal.
- Resurface, paint or stain the cabinets in place of replacing them.
- Replace the hardware on doors and drawers. It has a surprisingly large effect for the money.
- Resurface or replace worn or dated counters.
- Put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and ceiling.
- Replace old appliances with energy-efficient ones of the same size, so the existing connections serve.
- Install a new range hood and fan before the season of heavy cooking.
- Add a freestanding island or work table if the room has the space. An island with a sink or cooktop is a different, larger job.
The Department of Buildings lists painting, plastering, installing new cabinets and replacing plumbing fixtures among the work that needs no permit (Department of Buildings). Your building may still want to be told, so ask.
What fits a short window in the bathroom
- Repaint the walls and ceiling, with a paint made for damp rooms.
- Deep clean the tile, yourself or with professionals, and renew tired grout and caulk.
- Replace the vanity and the mirror.
- Add a textured wall covering for a warmer feel, away from the direct spray of the shower.
- Change the showerhead and faucet. A showerhead with the federal WaterSense label uses no more than 2.0 gallons a minute, against 2.5 for a standard one.
When the short list is not enough
Small updates are worth doing when the room underneath is sound. If the cabinet boxes are failing, the layout does not work or the tile is hiding a leak, a refresh is money spent twice. In that case use the weeks you have for the parts of a full renovation that do not need the room: design, the board package, permits and ordering. Then the work itself can start on the first day the building allows, and finish with time to spare.
What the full jobs involve is described under kitchen renovation in NYC and bathroom renovation in NYC. For small projects around a house that you can start yourself, see our home renovation ideas on a small budget.
Have a date in mind? Tell us what it is and which room. We will tell you honestly what can be finished by then.
Questions people ask
How long does a kitchen or bathroom renovation take?
Construction of an average kitchen takes 6 to 10 weeks on our schedule, and an average bathroom 4 to 8. Design, ordering and approvals come before that and add to the total.
Can I renovate during the holidays in a New York apartment building?
Often not. The model co-op alteration agreement allows work only on weekdays and excludes holidays, and individual buildings can restrict particular weeks or months. Ask your managing agent for the building’s dates before you plan around them.