How Long Will Your Project Take With A Home Renovation Builder?

First-time home renovator? No matter how many episodes of Fixer Upper or The Block you watch, nothing can prepare you for the reality of undertaking a home renovation project – and yes sometimes there can be chaos and tears – until you’ve gone through a renovation yourself.

The good news is that the renovation journey isn’t all turmoil thanks to specialised home renovation builders like Nexus Homes Group. Engaging with an experienced architect or a home renovation builder can definitely help keep you on track with your time and budget! From helping you with designs specific to your budgets and needs, to daily communications to ensure you’re on the same page throughout the entire process from concept to completion, renovation experts like Nexus Homes Group can help to guarantee a seamless experience with a show stopper project, on time and budget.

Before walking into unfamiliar territory, it’s helpful to understand what awaits you along the way of taking on your dream home renovation project. With over 20 years of experience renovating homes in Perth, we’ve tapped into our own insights; because whilst many people focus on the costs of home renovation projects have you ever wanted to know how long it will take and the potential intrusion on your home and lifestyle?

Nexus Home Renovation: City Beach  – before and after kitchen transformation.

 

To help you understand the ins and outs of a home renovation project timeline, we’ll refer to some of our existing Perth home renovation projects however, depending on your goals, property type, and the complexity of your design ideas, your timeline may look a little different. The following advice should be taken as a guideline of how much time is dedicated to each part of the process.

First things first, there are five key stages throughout the entire home renovation process that you need to be aware of:

1. The Research Stage: 

– this phase is carried out by you and can take anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 months or possibly longer (how long is a piece of string). From collecting design inspirations on Pinterest and home magazines, to finding architects or home renovation builders, this is where you start dreaming up your vision.

When you first decide that you want to renovate your home and you start doing your homework, it’s important to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how much you’re willing to spend. Depending on how long you’ve been dreaming up your project, homework could take weeks or months to envision the right style, having conversations with people who have renovated, and finding the right home renovation builder to start talking to.

2. The Planning Stage:

– Getting your ideas out of your head onto paper could take anywhere between 2 to 6 months (possibly longer depending on the complexity of your reno project).

At this stage, you’ve decided on an architect or home renovation builder to help you bring your dreams to life. At Nexus we take our clients through a free consultation which is designed to provide you with expert advice and design recommendations for your space/s to give you a clear understanding of how your needs can be achieved within your budget.

The next phase of the planning stage includes drafting up sketches and plans for your renovation project. How long this stage will take will depend on how many revisions you end up with from your initial concepts and the scale of your project, it could be anywhere from 2 to 6 months or more.

On this city beach home renovation project it took close to 6 months to get the plans ready, and over 12 months before we were able to start construction.

 

3. The Pre-Construction Stage:

– This phase requires a lot of time input to ensure a smooth-running project. Simple renovation projects may take around 3 months in this phase whereas larger more complex projects may require up to 6 months’ worth of planning.

This stage consists of getting approvals from the relevant authorities, which here in Australia is referred to as a Development Application (DA). Along with getting approvals ticked off, this is where the schedule of works is mapped out which includes organising trades, material supplies, and selecting the elements that will go into your home reno such as tapware, tiles, windows, benchtops and much more!

At Nexus, we take our clients through a Design and Construction Choice phase where we work with you on your plans, and the materials, elements and techniques that will go into the construction of your home renovation project.

4. The Construction Stage

– Turning your ideas into the real thing can take anywhere between 3 – 8 months depending on the project complexities and construction techniques.

The average home renovation, that is upgrading your kitchen or bathroom and minor cosmetic changes would typically take anywhere between 3 to 8 months of construction time on-site depending on how minor or major the project is.

If you are fully renovating or remodelling your house with second storey additions and extensions, busting down walls and adding architectural details, chances are it could take up to 6-8 months or longer depending on the size of the project. It’s important that your home renovation builder stays on the same page with you throughout the entire construction process to ensure they are constantly aligned with your requirements, expectations and budgets.

At Nexus, we’ve pioneered a modular builds process that allows us to add second storey additions and extensions while cutting down on on-site construction time by up to 75%. This process involves building your extensions off-site and installing once they have been designed and constructed. This process takes weeks and completely minimises disruption to your household.

5. The Project Completion Stage:

– This stage considers the final evaluation steps with you to ensure you are happy with the finished product, and also considers final sign off requirements before handing you the keys to your brand new ‘never want to leave’ home. For most projects, big or small, typically this would allow for up to 3 months at the end of the renovation.

First things first, once your home renovation project has reached the completion stage you will require final sign off be the relevant authorities. For large reno projects where a DA is required, an occupation certificate will need to be obtained upon completion of the construction works which your home renovation builder will be able to assist with.

There are also warranty and defects liability periods that your builder will adhere to which ensures you are left with the highest quality home transformation and satisfied with the results. Typically, the liability periods average around 3 months following completion which is why we suggest allowing for another 3 months at the end of your home renovation.

 

 

When home owners finally embark on a home renovation, regardless of the size and complexity of the reno, these projects do take time. And typically, the construction stage represents only about one-third of the time for the total renovation process. To give you an even deeper insight on specific renovation project timelines, the below chart represents the average time in months for popular renovation projects from planning through to completion.

If you’re looking for a sense of how long and how much it will cost you to renovate your home, speak to us today. Whether you’re looking to add a second storey living space, revive your kitchen and living spaces or add that master-suite extension you’ve always been dreaming off, our design team has taken on just about every design challenge and I’m confident that we can help you too!

As Managing Director, I take all clients through a free design consultation to help you understand exactly what can be achieved and how to best accomplish your vision with your budget and time expectations. Find out how the Nexus Home Renovation Experience can transform your home today.

Matt Keogh