Average 1000 sq ft condo takes 4-6 weeks to renovate with complete upgrade. This includes entire work process with deliveries and installation of materials. Time to prepare for condo renovation and agree on specific time with building management is not included.

Although may seem like a simple job, condo renovation takes a long time to complete. Biggest time consuming steps in remodeling apartment or condo unit in high rise building is dealing with management and arranging deliveries for all items. At best they will give you one day per week to use elevator for taking out trash and brining in tons of materials for renovation.

Here is a table of how long does it take to renovate a condo or an apartment 1000 sq ft size:

	Bathroom Project	Kitchen Remodeling	Full Condo/Apartment Renovation
Preparation	1 Day	1 Day	1 Day
Demolition	1 Day	1 Day	3-4 Days
Framing & Moving Walls	–	1 Day	3 Days
Rough ins	1-2 Days	2-3 Days	7-8 Days
Installation of Finishes	4-5 Days	6 Days	3-4 Weeks
Total Time	7-9 Days	11-12 Days	29-36 Days

There will be condo renovation companies that can complete this work much faster. Its because they have mostly inhouse crew that can work on several tasks at once. Unexperienced contractors can take longer for the same amount of work involved.

Permits and documents/drawings

This step of work is completely not necessary. Permits are almost never required to work in condo because building owner or manager would never agree on structural changes anyways. What you are allowed to do is upgrade of all materials, such as doors, floor, tiles, kitchen, tubs, trims, paint and all fixtures.

Inspections for electrical and plumbing work are mandatory, but it does not take time to schedule and you should not lose more than a day if even that.

The only home owners or contractors decide to do the drawings for condo renovation are for visualization purposes or making sure the contract for this job is detailed and confirmed with drawings. Visualization is great tool to prepare for remodeling and select exact products that match together. With drawings we can estimate exactly how long does it take to renovate a condo unit. Remodel on Point provides custom 3d designs for all renovation projects.

Preordering Materials

To continue working fast and finish project relatively fast, you have to preorder most of the materials. While most of items can be available the same day or within a week to arrive, some take much longer to deliver or manufacture.

Bathroom does not have that many exclusive items that take weeks to ship, unless your remodeling is extremely luxurious with Japanese toilets and Italian tubs that sold overseas. Our suggestion is to start shopping 1-2 weeks before remodeling starts.

Kitchen is one of the areas in condo apartment that needs precise preparation at least a month before job starts. Yes basic Ikea cabinets or similar can be purchased same day, but in reality condo owners like custom kitchens that take 4 weeks to manufacture from measuring. New appliances can take same time. We think 6 weeks is adequate time to prepare and select everything for kitchen renovation in condo.

Full condo project has many more items than just bathroom or kitchen, but because cabinets take longest to manufacture and prepare for, the time to prepare is the same. There are instances when unique floors or custom doors get there in month, but normally everything is equal or less than kitchen cabinets with appliances.

Required Time for Site Preparation before Work Begins

When the actual work starts, timing will vary from one contractor to another. It depends on their experience and ability to transition from one trade to another. Remodel on Point prepared average time with explanation how long does it take to renovate a condo or an apartment. It may not be exactly the same for all condo and apartment renovation companies, but it will give you an idea what to compare to.

In the beginning it all looks the same. Condo building has requirements to protect elevator and hallway floor towards the unit. Safety covers installed inside the apartment to protect windows or rooms that are not being touched. This takes several hours to do but we will calculate it as one day.

How Long Does Demolition Take in Condo Renovation Project

This work is fun, but very dangerous and tiring. Apartment and condo owners may at first think they want to do it on their own, but we recommend leaving it to professionals. In condo unit demolition is only of interior materials and wall separations. Agreeing with building management to arrange elevator for disposal and parking for garbage pickup is essential.

Bathroom needs only half a day to destroy and clean up. It includes ripping out tiles, removing tub with vanity and all faucets. Taking out drywall and studs can be done as well within same time.

Kitchen is slightly harder to demolish but good team of three or four people can do it in one day. We recommend disassembling cabinets instead of breaking them to carefully bring downstairs. For removal of appliances use dollies and protection material.

When work spreads for entire condo unit, demolition may take up to 3-4 days. This is simply due to short work hours and ability to use elevator. Normally company would tear out everything inside and place debris in garbage bags for first several days, and then dedicate one full day to carry it all out.

Framing and Moving Walls Around in Details

Some projects don’t even require movement of walls or additional framing and only in rare cases clients want to change layout. Remember that only nonstructural partition walls without utility lines to other units can be removed.

Bathroom work almost never requires moving any walls. Adjacent walls may have rusted or rotten existing wall frame that can be adjusted with new pieces, but we ill not count this time at all.

Same goes for the kitchen with several exceptions. When removing cabinets, frame is often damaged and it needs new strength to hold kitchen that will be installed. Also condo with apartments modernize layout with removing wall separation to make open concept kitchen and dining area. All these take 1 day to do.

Full gut project is obviously more time consuming and can take up to 4 days to complete. We understand that some jobs don’t need additional framing and to average it out our team decided to give this step 3 days with delivering material, competing the job and cleaning up with removing waste.

Rough Ins Schedule and How Long Does it Take to Renovate an Apartment

In this work category we talk about electrical, heating and plumbing lines that run behind the walls. They are often moved and upgraded during renovation in condo. Even though room positioning can be changed, hvac ducts may not be allowed to move.

In bathroom plumbing includes water lines as well as drains for tub, vanity and toilet. Licensed and knowledgeable plumber can finish work in one day. To change a light, exhaust fan, install outlet and switch, electrician needs half a day and can work together with plumber. Often trades are scheduled on separate dates and our timeline prediction for bathroom rough ins is 1-2 days.

There is more work during kitchen upgrade in condo for electrician, but slightly less for plumber. This is due to number of potlights and appliances that later will be installed. Together it should be completed in 2-3 days.

The rest of the house has tons of other electrical work and nothing that involves plumbing or drain rough ins. We estimated complete remodeling condo rough ins to be completed in 7-8 working days.

How Long Interior Finishes Should Take in Condo

Visible and attractive part of any condo or apartment unit comes from finishing details. Tiles, flooring, doors, trims and paint are things everyone pays attention to when looking at remodeled condo.

Average 3 piece bathroom in condo has close to 90-120 sq ft of tiles, some trim work and painting that can be completed in 4-5 days. It starts with drywall or purging walls and ends with coat of paint. To speed up process many contractors use portable fans that help drying mud and paint.

You would be surprised, but kitchen renovation process in apartment does not take much longer. Cabinets can be assembled in one day and everything else completed during the same week. Our estimate for completing kitchen condo finishes during upgrade is 6 days.

Estimating exact timeline for finishing stage in 1000 sq ft condo apartment is harder. There could be luxury walk in closet cabinets, installation of fireplace, tv units and many more items. Without including extra ordinary Remodel on Point suggest giving it 3-4 weeks for last stage.