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The work that decides whether a renovation goes well is done before anyone lifts a tool. A good plan has four parts: what you are doing, what you can spend, when it has to be finished and how you will live in the meantime. Here is how we would put each together for a home in New York City.
See the big picture first
Before you decide how far to go, know where you are going. Is the goal a complete renovation or changes to certain rooms? Write it down room by room: what stays, what goes and what moves. That page is the most useful document of the whole job. Every estimate is priced against it and every drawing starts from it, and it gives your contractor a clear picture of the home you want.
Sort the list into what you must have, what you would like and what can wait. If the work will be done in stages, plan all of it now. The wiring and pipes for a bathroom you will build in three years cost little to run while a wall is already open and a great deal once it is closed.
Build the budget with a cushion
Set a clear budget, then add two things people leave out: a contingency fund and the incidental costs. In New York City the incidentals are real money.
- Drawings by an architect or engineer, and the filing, where the work needs a permit.
- In a co-op or condo, the building’s review fees and its security deposit.
- An asbestos assessment, required before a permit in buildings put up before April 1987.
- Storage for furniture, and somewhere to stay if you move out.
- Meals out for the weeks the kitchen is gone.
The contingency is for what nobody can see until demolition: old wiring, a pipe at the end of its life, a floor that is not level. Projects have a way of growing along the way. Tell your designer the true budget at the start, so the plan is drawn to fit it.
Work the calendar backward
Start from the date you want to be finished and count back. Leave a few weeks to a month of room at the end, so that a delay does not become a crisis. Then subtract, in this order:
- Construction. On our schedules an average kitchen takes 6 to 10 weeks and an average bathroom 4 to 8. A whole home takes longer, and the working relationship with your builder can last as long as six months.
- Made-to-order items. Cabinets are ordered during preparation, before demolition, and custom millwork needs time for design as well.
- Approvals. A co-op or condo board reviews the plans before work may start. The Department of Buildings must approve work that needs a permit, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission must issue its own permit for such work in a landmark building or historic district.
Remember that the working week is short. City rules allow construction from 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays, and many buildings allow fewer hours and no work on holidays. Count back through all of that and the real starting date is usually the day you begin planning.
Know what living through it involves
Ask family and friends who have renovated what it was like. We want the process to be easy on you, and we also want you to know the basic facts of it. You will store valuables away. You will eat out, or cook on a hot plate in another room, while the kitchen is being built. There will be dust, however well it is contained, and strangers in your home at eight in the morning. Decide early whether you will stay or move out for the worst of it, and if you stay, which bathroom remains in service.
Put it in writing
New York City requires a home improvement contractor to give you a written contract that both of you sign, with the dates, a description of the work and materials and the schedule of payments. Before you sign, the contractor must also tell you in writing which permits the job needs and who will obtain them (Department of Consumer and Worker Protection). Keep the scope page with it. During the job we report changes as they arise in an itemized report, including any change orders you approved.
For how we run a whole-home job, see home renovation in NYC and our design and build process. The stages of the two rooms that take longest are on the kitchen remodel timeline and the bathroom remodel timeline. For the last weeks before work starts, read how to prepare for your NYC apartment renovation.
Have a goal and an end date in mind? Bring them to us, and we will work out with you what has to happen, and by when, to meet them.
Questions people ask
How far ahead should I start planning a home renovation?
Count back from the date you want to be finished: a cushion of a few weeks, then construction, then delivery of cabinets and other made-to-order items, then board and permit approvals. For most New York projects that puts the start of planning months before the first day of work.
What costs do people forget in a renovation budget?
The incidentals: design and filing, a co-op or condo’s review fees and deposit, an asbestos assessment in older buildings, storage, a place to stay and meals out. Add a contingency fund on top for what demolition uncovers.