How Long Does it Take to Renovate a House?

Whether you’re upgrading your kitchen or remodeling your entire house, it’s important to understand the ins and outs of the home renovation process. One of the most important aspects of home renovation is the timeline - how long does it take to actually renovate a house? In this guide, we’ll provide a comprehensive breakdown of how long it takes to renovate a house as well as some crucial factors that will impact that timeline.

How Long to Renovate a House: Quick Answer

The timeline to renovate a house can vary drastically depending on the size and complexity of the renovation project. If you’re renovating one room of your home, it may take only a few weeks. However, even single-room renovations can take much longer depending on what you’re actually renovating. Are you remodeling the structural components of the room or is it purely cosmetic?

If you’re remodeling your entire home, it can take well over a year for the remodel to be finished. Factors that impact the timeline include planning, permits, and obviously the time it takes for the construction crew to complete the job.

In Depth Look at How Long it Takes to Renovate a House

Renovating a house is a major commitment, with multiple project stages that each take time. Here’s an in-depth look at the process of renovating your home, step by step.

Design & Planning: 2 - 6 Months

The first step in renovating your home is the design and planning phase. Depending on the size and complexity of your renovation project, this can generally take anywhere from two to six months. This involves brainstorming ideas, creating designs, and finalizing your plans. 

Here’s what you can expect during the design and planning stage:

• Consultations: You’ll want to consult with architects and designers to get a good understanding of what the final product will look like. This will give you a chance to document what you want and get a sense of the overall cost before you commit to the project. Expect this step to take up to two months.
• Drafting Plans: In this step, you’ll work with your contractors to draft detailed plans for the renovation. This includes detailed floorplans and layouts. Expect edits and changes to the plans as multiple versions may be required. This step can take upwards of two months or longer.
• Material Selection: Finally, you’ll start to choose your fixtures, finishes, and materials for your renovation. This step may take the longest as you’ll want to take your time when choosing. Materials and finishes will impact the final cost of the renovation, so it’s important not to rush through your decision. Again, this step can take upwards of two months.

Bidding, Permits & HOA: 1 - 3 Months

Once you’ve completed the design and planning phase, it’s time for bidding, permits, and HOA approvals. This involves securing your contractors to complete the work, getting approval from the local government, and if applicable, obtaining approval from your HOA. Expect these steps to take one to three months depending on the complexity of your renovation.

Here’s what you can expect during the bidding, permits, and HOA stage:

• Request Bids from Contractors: You’ll want to request bids from multiple contractors to get a sense of the final price for the renovation project. It’s important to provide as much detail as possible when requesting a bid, including any plans that were drawn out previously. The more detail included, the more accurate the quote will be. It’s important to do your homework when choosing your contractor - it’s tempting to always go with the lowest cost, but that may not end up with the best result for your renovation. Gathering estimates can generally take two to four weeks.
• Obtaining Permits: Once you’ve secured your contractor, it’s time to obtain permits. Typically, the contractor can assist with submitting permits and obtaining them from your local government. This involves submitting plans (again, as much detail as possible to prevent delays) and obtaining a final permit to proceed. This can take anywhere from one to two months.
• HOA Approval: If you live in a neighborhood that has an HOA, you will likely need to get approval from them before proceeding. Similar to obtaining government permits, you’ll need to submit plans to the HOA to ensure the renovation complies with their standards. This can take up to one month.

Construction: 3 - 12 Months

The final step is the actual construction, which can take a few months or well over a year. There are many factors that impact the construction timeline, such as the size of the renovation and its complexity. If you’re remodeling the structural components of your home, it may take much longer than simple cosmetic updates.

Here’s what to expect in the construction phase:

• Demolition: Demolition involves removing old structures or materials and is generally the quickest part of a renovation. From drywall and framing to carpet and windows, renovations can often feel like you’re rebuilding from the ground up. Expect the demolition phase to take anywhere from one to four weeks.
• Structural Work: Once the demolition is complete, important structural work needs to take place. This involves framing, electrical, and plumbing installations. These are crucial components of the renovation project and can generally take from one to four months.
• Interior Finishes: Finally, the contractors will install the interior finishes, such as paint, flooring, fixtures, appliances, cabinetry, and more. Depending on the complexity and size of your project, this step can take anywhere from one to six months.

Each phase can vary depending on the scope and scale of your renovation. For example, a kitchen remodel will have a much shorter timeline than adding an entirely new wing to your home.

How Long for Cosmetic Home Renovations

As we’ve mentioned, cosmetic renovations are typically quicker as they involve surface-level updates rather than structural changes. These projects can take anywhere from one weekend to a few months. Here are some common cosmetic renovations and how long you can expect each to take.

• Painting walls and ceilings (1 – 2 weeks)
• Installing new flooring materials (1 – 3 weeks)
• Replacing lighting fixtures and hardware (1 – 2 days)
• Updating cabinetry with new finishes (1 – 2 weeks)

How Long Does it Take to Renovate a Full House?

Renovating an entire home is a major project - even if it’s only cosmetic, it can still take quite a bit of time. If you’re focused on more structural changes to the home, you’re looking at generally six months to over a year to complete. Larger homes and older properties may require even more time for unexpected repairs. Here are some common large or full renovations and how long you can expect them to take.

• Complete kitchen and bathroom remodel (3 – 6 months)
• Replacing all flooring and repainting (2 – 4 months)
• Installing new windows and doors (1 – 3 months)

How Long to Renovate Structural Features of a Home

Renovating the structural features of your home will also take longer. It’s not as easy to remove or repair these structural components as you would with cosmetic updates, and they are often much more complex projects. Expect any updates to the structural components to take several months at least. Here are some common structural updates and generally how long you can expect these projects to take.

• Foundation repairs (2 – 4 months)
• Roof replacement (1 – 3 months)
• Reconfiguring interior walls (2 – 6 months)
• Adding support beams or load-bearing walls (3 – 5 months)

How Long to Build Home Additions

Like structural updates, home additions are large, complex projects that often require extensive planning and coordination. Even simple home additions can take many months to complete. Depending on where you live, it can take some time for the local government to approve extensive home additions. Here are some common additions and how long it generally takes to complete each.

• Adding a new bedroom or bathroom (3 – 6 months)
• Building a sunroom or enclosed porch (4 – 8 months)
• Expanding the kitchen or living area (6 – 12 months)

Considerations for the Length of a Home Renovation

There are a number of factors that will directly impact how long it takes for your home renovation project to be complete. It’s important to understand those factors so that you can plan more effectively. Here’s a breakdown of the top factors that will impact your project timeline.

Type of Home Renovation

First and foremost, the type of renovation you want will be the main driver of your project’s timeline. As we’ve mentioned a few times, there are some projects that take longer than others. A simple cosmetics upgrade isn’t going to take nearly as long as an addition to your home. Here’s a quick overview of what to expect for some common types of renovations.

• Cosmetic Updates: A few weeks to a couple of months
• Full House Renovations: Six months to over a year
• Structural Changes: Several months to over a year depending on the complexity

Permit Delays

Permit delays can cause significant changes to the overall time it takes to complete a renovation. Security permits can sometimes take much longer than expected, especially if there are backlogs at your local government office.

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Additionally, if your documentation and plans for the renovation aren’t detailed enough, or if your plans are not in compliance with zoning and building regulations, you may spend a lot of time back and forth with the local government office before the plans are finally approved.

Unexpected Structural Issues

Older homes can often hide serious problems, such as outdated wiring, plumbing issues, our foundation concerns. All of these issues can be major projects on their own, which can add a significant amount of time to your renovation project. While there isn’t much you can do to prevent this before construction begins, it’s important to keep this in mind if you do have an older home.

Weather

If your renovation is primarily outdoors, try to plan ahead for the weather. Rain, snow, or even heat can delay progress and impact your renovation timeline.

Budget

When requesting bids from contractors, always include as much detail as possible about your renovation to get the most accurate price quote. If you don’t, your budget can actually impact the timeline - additional, surprise costs may pop up that you weren’t expecting.

Design Changes

Making changes to the design mid-project will lead to delays. While this is sometimes unavoidable, going in with a clear end result in mind will help minimize design changes. Design changes lead to revising plans and ordering new materials, which takes time.

Practical Tips to Speed Up Your Home Renovation

While some delays are just unavoidable, there are some steps that you can take to keep your project on track. Here are our top practical tips to speed up your home renovation project.

Prepare Your Space Ahead of Time

Before your project even begins you can start to prepare your space ahead of time. This may involve clearing out rooms or helping to prepare surfaces for renovation. This can save tons of time when it comes time to start the renovation.

Work With the Right People

One of the best ways to speed up your renovation is to work with the right team of professionals. At Avenue Remodeling, we have years of experience in home renovations and can help you complete your project on time, and on budget.

Use Common Building Materials

Using custom building materials, or hard-to-find materials, can lead to timeline delays. If you use common building materials that don’t need to be specially ordered, your contractors can start the work right away. If more materials are needed there’s no need for them to order in new materials, potentially saving weeks of time.

Be Decisive

Many project delays come from not being able to make decisions. Spending lots of time going back and forth on one decision can delay your project significantly, and there are likely dozens (if not hundreds) of decisions that you need to make. Be decisive and confident in your choices to help the project run more smoothly.

Meet With Your Team Regularly

Having consistent touchpoints with your project team is essential. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and the work is going as expected. If you don’t meet with your team often and they’re going in a direction you don’t like, it can take weeks to undo that work and get back on track. Connect with your project manager on a regular basis to stay informed of overall progress.

Follow the Initial Plan

Stick to your plan. Mid-project redesigns and updates can lead to significant delays in your renovation. While changes are sometimes unavoidable, sticking to your original plan is a great way to speed up your project timeline. 

Budget for Unforeseen Costs

Even with the most experienced contractors taking the lead, there may be unexpected costs. Hidden damage, changes required by permits, and materials shortages may lead to unexpected costs.

Jumpstart Your Home Overhaul With Avenue Remodeling

Avenue Remodeling is your go-to partner for home renovations in Los Angeles. With years of experience and a commitment to excellence, our team of home renovation contractors is ready to deliver the home of your dreams. We’ll work with you every step of the way, from transparent pricing to putting the finishing touches on your home.

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If you’re ready to transform your home, give us a call today!

FAQs About How Long to Renovate a House

What is the average timeline for a renovation?

The average timeline for a renovation ranges from a few weeks for minor updates to over a year for full-scale remodels, depending on the project scope.

What is the difference between renovation and remodel?

A renovation typically focuses on refreshing or restoring existing features, while a remodel involves changing the structure or layout of a space.

How long does it take to renovate a bathroom?

A bathroom renovation generally takes between three to six weeks, depending on the complexity of the project and the materials used.

How long does it take to renovate a kitchen?

A kitchen renovation usually takes three to six months, influenced by factors like design, materials, and desired project scope.

How long does it take to modernize a house?

Modernizing a house can take several months, with timelines varying based on the extent of updates like electrical work, flooring, and design changes.

How long should I wait to move in after renovation?

It’s best to wait at least two weeks after a renovation to ensure paint, finishes, and materials have properly cured.

Final Thoughts About Home Renovation Timeline 

Renovations require time and careful planning, but the results are well worth the effort. By understanding the process and preparing ahead, you can achieve your dream home without unnecessary delays.