DON'T MISS A THING

Renovating a home, even room by room, is a significant task. That’s not only because the design, renewal and planning associated with each project takes time and energy, but also because the space itself will be unusable while undergoing changes.

As such, it’s important to balance renovations alongside our lifestyle. If we have guests arriving for a few weeks, then perhaps we should delay that full-scale kitchen remodel until later this year.

However, as we can accommodate even the most interruptive home upgrades if neatly implemented into our schedule, it’s good to know the various forecasts for how long certain renovations may take.

If you have this understanding, then you can begin to make alternative arrangements, from replacing certain functions of the household in other spaces, to moving accommodations temporarily instead.

With that in mind, let us explore several examples of impactful renovations to give you an idea of the timeline of each one:

Kitchen Renovations & Remodels

The kitchen is arguably one of the most involved and time-consuming rooms to renovate, especially if you’re doing a full overhaul. That is likely to include replacing cabinets, countertops, appliances, flooring and potentially even plumbing or electrical systems.

Expect a lighter facelift in which you’re just changing some of the surface elements, like repainting cabinets or replacing countertops, to take around 204 weeks. Any bigger jobs, like layout changes or complete rebuilds, can stretch to 8-12 weeks depending on the availability of materials, your contractor’s workload, and how smooth the application process is in your area or if you even need to apply to begin with. If the kitchen is in an old listed property, that may be an issue, or you may need to work around old character traits, which should be preserved.

According to SW Build, a specialist construction company from Bristol, understanding these constraints ahead of time is key to planning realistically and avoiding unnecessary delays during kitchen renovations.

Many people think that going without a kitchen is a tough ask, but it’s easy than you imagined. After all, you can always move refrigerators to different rooms, and you can use air fryers, hot plates, and slow cookers to create meals. 

Bathroom Renovations

Impactful bathroom renovations can often be quicker than you may have expected, but that doesn’t mean they’re simple. Because there is a lot of water, plumbing, and fixture work involved, the smaller bathrooms can take a couple of weeks to fully renovate, provided your contractor works diligently and shows up each day.

If you’re replacing a vanity, retiling a shower or installing a new toilet, you’ll likely be looking at the 1-3 week range. Full bathroom remodels involving plumbing reroutes or structural changes could take closer to 4 or 5 weeks, or perhaps even longer, depending on any issues that are found. Extensive damp problems may require more work, for example.

Of course, you have to make sure you have a backup bathroom during this time, especially if you’re working with the only one in the house. If you only have one major bathroom, you may have to wash differently or come to an arrangement with a neighbor or friend.

Bedroom Renovations

Bedrooms, as ornate or beautiful as yours may be, can often become the fastest and most flexible to renovate. If you’re just updating paint, trim, or swapping out furniture, that can be wrapped up within a week or less. Add flooring replacement, closet upgrades, or new light fixtures, and you might push into the 2-3 week range.

Thankfully, as bedrooms don’t usually require complex infrastructure work, they’re also easier to pause and pick up again if life gets in the way. You can always bring your bed to other rooms, such as sleeping in a spare space or your home office, if for a little while. A fold-out or air bed can always be positioned elsewhere in the meantime. This makes bedrooms a nice starter project or one to tuck in between the larger jobs.

Living Room Renovation

Living rooms usually sit somewhere in the middle in terms of renovation time, depending on how wide, open, and trimmed your space is. Like with any room, cosmetic upgrades like paint, trim, and flooring can be done in two weeks for the most part, but if you add in custom shelving, a fireplace update, or wiring for new entertainment setups, you could be looking at three to four weeks, perhaps more.

Since the living room is often where people relax and spend time together, think about where your downtime will shift during this window. This can be the easiest to deal with out of anything in this list. If you have a den or even just some cozy outdoor seating, that could serve as a good temporary lounge space to watch the sunset with your family.

Home Office Renovation

Home office projects are usually very easy and are more about furniture than any major upgrades to the spare room itself. This means swapping out the desk, updating lighting, adding shelving or painting the room can all be done quickly. Even if you’re building in custom features like soundproofing or tech upgrades, the entire process is still quick and will rarely last over three weeks.

Because a home office is so important for remote work or study, you might want to stage a temporary setup in another quiet spot, but in a nice house, there are many different areas for this, even just sitting outside at your garden table can be good enough. Just make sure your household WiFi router and its correct functioning aren’t impeded by such renovations. A dining table or spare bedroom can usually do the trick.

Furnace Repair

This is more of a structural upgrade to the house that can improve the comfort of all the rooms here, and as such, it does impact your comfort. If your furnace is acting up or has been close to a decade since it was installed, you may wish for a replacement.

A simple furnace repair might take a single day, depending on how complex the issue is and how easy it is to access. If you’re going for a full replacement, most jobs take 1-2 days max, especially if you’re not changing the ductwork or setup much. Either way, furnace repair and replacement is absolutely a worthwhile project, and given its fundamental nature, is appropriate to prepare for.

Dining Room Renovation

Impactful dining room renovations are another relatively simple project, but because this is a hosting space, you may have curated a fairly ornate area over time. It’s important that repainting, upgrading lighting, and swapping furniture account for this, and it will affect the timeline. If you’re adding built-ins, changing flooring, or opening up walls to other rooms, you’re looking at two or three weeks on top of whatever upgrades you already had planned.

Some families use the dining room less than other areas, so it might be easier to do this project while another larger room is also in progress.

Laundry Room Renovation

Laundry rooms are generally quite compact but can be surprisingly fussy when it comes to plumbing, ventilation, and cabinetry because of. Re-orienting the space might not be as possible as you already have larger units like a washer and dryer to keep there. A basic refresh might take a week, with that in mind. However, you may find that a bigger overhaul, especially one involving new washer/dryer connections or storage upgrades, could stretch out closer to three weeks.

Because doing laundry is such a routine part of life, make sure you have access to a laundromat or a family member’s machine while yours is out of commission. Even if you wash everything before, you’ll no doubt want a refresh here and there.

Basement Renovation

Basements are a big undertaking, especially if you’re changing them from “unused space” to a brand new renovated room in the household, you may use as a game room or other refuge. This is because they often require waterproofing, insulation, plastering, flooring, and sometimes plumbing or electrical changes if you’re adding a bathroom or kitchenette. Because basement projects often involve waterproofing, insulation, structural adjustments, and ventilation upgrades, many homeowners choose to work with basement remodeling contractors near you who can assess hidden issues early and plan the renovation realistically from start to finish.

For that reason, a full basement renovation can take up to three months, and it’s wise to plan for that at least. If the space is already somewhat protected in this way and you’re just freshening up prior work or turning it into a home gym or playroom, you might be able to wrap up in four to six weeks.

Just remember that basements are also prone to surprise issues, like hidden moisture problems or poor air circulation, which may require new ventilation, so keep some budget and time wiggle room in mind.

Wrapping Up

Any home renovation is going to have an impact on your life, and it’s an investment in time, money and focus we’re only too happy to give. If you vet your contractors, work with a home designer or architect to get the most out of your floor space, and keep a worthwhile budget (with a buffer handy) the process will be much shorter than usual.

If you’re stuck for inspiration and looking for truly impactful renovations to inspire you, please continue to view the design pages on our website and explore some of our interviews, as they may help you curate the house of your dreams, one room at a time!

Feature Image by Curtis Adams

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