How Long Does a Brooklyn Renovation Take?
SERIES #02, ARTICLE #03
My least favorite answer to this question is also the correct one:
It depends.
But “it depends” is not particularly helpful when you are trying to figure out where you will be living six months from now. So I prefer to think about a renovation as several timelines stacked together.
First, You Have to Design It
There is a temptation to treat design as the soft, frivolous part before the real work begins.
Definitely disagree.
Design is both foundation (the bible,the contract, the vision) and in constant through all phases. From initial sketches to construction and on site problem solving.
The beginning of the project is where we test layouts, establish priorities, select materials, investigate existing conditions, and make the decisions that allow the later phases to move more smoothly.
Not every decision needs to be made immediately…
But the important ones probably should be.
Editorial concept visualization by From David Designs
Then Other People Get Involved
Depending on the project, there may be DOB filings, a co-op or condo board, a managing agent, a building architect, Landmarks, consultants, contractors, or some enjoyable combination of the above.
Approvals are therefore part of the project schedule.
They are not a strange pause between design and construction.
NYC's own project guidance treats permitting, construction, inspections, sign-offs, and closeout as separate parts of completing a project, and DOB notes that plan-review timing varies with project complexity and any objections that need to be resolved.
And Then We Build
Construction itself has a sequence. Demolition comes before framing. Framing comes before closing walls. The cabinets cannot magically arrive before someone has decided their dimensions.
At least they should not.
The exact duration changes dramatically between a bathroom renovation and a full brownstone, but the larger lesson is the same:
A renovation takes longer than the period when you can physically see someone building it.
There is design before construction.
There are approvals before construction.
There are decisions during construction.
And there is closeout after it.
I would rather give a client a realistic sequence than a wonderfully precise completion date based on information we do not have yet. A renovation already contains enough surprises.
The calendar does not need to be one of them.
