How Long Will This Remodel Take?

When you decide to sell your home, no doubt you might decide to make some improvements to make more money on your home and to sell it faster. Or maybe you want to improve the new home you just bought.

Of course, renovations can take a long to time, sometimes months. Your daily routine will no doubt be disrupted, even with minor projects. So before you begin to remodel, know what’s in store for you and your family.

Attic Conversion

National median cost: $75,000

Time: 8 to 10 weeks

What’s involved: Converting unconditioned attic space into a bedroom needs to include windows and at least one closet. You’ll likely also need to extend the plumbing, wiring, and HVAC ducts, as well as add insulation, drywall, and flooring.

Disruption scale: 3. The good thing about attic work is that it doesn’t involve the main living areas. You may want to protect your floors with drop cloths or old rugs as contractors will be coming and going. And you will want to keep an eye on your furnace filters, as plaster dust will likely float around your home.

Bathroom Renovation

National median cost: $30,000

Time: 2 to 3 weeks

What’s involved: Turning your outdated bathroom into a dream spa includes updating plumbing fixtures, installing ceramic tile around a porcelain-on-steel tub, replacing an old toilet with a low-flow, comfort-height model, and installing ceramic floor tiles and solid-surface vanity counters.

Disruption scale: 7 to 10.  If you’re remodeling your only bathroom, expect major disruption of your personal hygiene routine. You’ll have to wash in the kitchen sink, and install a portable potty in the yard or make friends with a neighbor when nature calls. You’ll have less pain if you have more than one bathroom in the house. Even then, you’ll suffer water outages during plumbing updates. And if you’re remodeling a master bath, you must put up with workman tromping through your bedroom.

Complete Kitchen Renovation

National median cost: $65,000

Time: 8 to 12 weeks

What’s involved: Replacing cabinets, installing a kitchen island and countertops, replacing appliances, adding lighting, and changing flooring.

Disruption scale: 8.  Kitchens are the heart of the home, so when they’re down, you’ll eat out more, wash coffee cups in bathroom sinks, and hold family meetings in the family room where your microwave and fridge now live. To ease the disruption, your contractor can easily set up a construction sink somewhere by running a couple of hoses from existing kitchen plumbing through the dust wall to a make-shift kitchen in an adjacent room.

Kitchen Upgrade

National median cost: $35,000

Time: 1 to 2 weeks

What’s involved: Replacing cabinet box fronts, adding new hardware, updating appliances, sinks, and faucets, and installing new flooring.

Disruption scale: 5.  Kitchen facelifts are less disruptive merely because they’re finished faster than major remodels. You’re mainly pulling and replacing, so plumbing and electrical can stay put, and you’ll still have access to your fridge until the new one arrives.

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