Apartment renovation across New York City

An apartment renovation in New York is a job with two clients: you, and the building. The second one is the reason two identical apartments in two different buildings do not cost or take the same.

How far back it goes

A partial renovation keeps the walls and the services where they are and changes what you touch: finishes, cabinetry, a bathroom, the floor. It is quicker, it is cheaper, and in a sound apartment it is often the right answer.

A gut renovation takes it back to the studs. Everything comes out, the services are re run, and the layout can change. It costs more and it takes longer, and it is the right answer when the plumbing and wiring are original, when the layout genuinely does not work, or when what is behind the walls is unknown enough that opening them up is the only way to price the rest honestly.

Plenty of apartments sit somewhere between the two, and the visit is where we work out where yours does.

Remodel or renovation

People use the two words for the same job, and the trades use them loosely too. Where a line is drawn, a remodel changes how a room looks and works without changing its footprint: new finishes, new cabinetry, new fittings in the same positions. A renovation goes further and can change the room itself: walls moved, services re run, a layout altered. A gut renovation is the far end of that scale.

The word on your quote matters less than the scope behind it. What you should know is which side of the line your job falls on, because moving a wall or a sink is what turns a remodel into a renovation, and it is also what brings a filing, a longer approval and more days. We work that out with you at the visit rather than letting the label decide it.

What the building controls

The approval. In a co op, work runs under an alteration agreement between you and the corporation. Every building writes its own, so the first thing we read is yours. In a condo it is usually a shorter approval and a certificate of insurance. In a rental it is your landlord's decision entirely.

The hours. New York City allows construction on weekdays between 7am and 6pm. Buildings routinely allow less, and the hours your building gives you are the ones we plan against, because promising a schedule the building will not permit is how a job runs late from day one.

The access. A walk up means every cabinet goes up on somebody's back and every bag of debris comes down the same way. A service elevator means booked windows and a queue. Either way it decides how material is staged, how big the crew should be, and how many days the messy phases take.

The neighbours. Dust and noise are not only your problem. We seal the work area, protect the route in and out, and clean the common parts at the end of the day, because a complaint can stop a job faster than anything on the schedule.

What drives the cost

In rough order: how much comes out before anything goes in, whether plumbing or electrical positions move, the finishes you pick, and how much of the work is squeezed into restricted hours. The first two are structural to the job. The third is yours to control, and we price it in parts so you can. What a home renovation costs in New York City takes each of these in turn.

Questions people ask