Our Process

What to Expect From a Renovation With Us

Most people have not renovated an apartment before, and the uncertainty is usually less about the building work than about the process: who does what, when things happen, and what is expected of you. This page sets that out.

It describes how a project runs with Gurri Remodel from the first conversation to handover. The stages are the same whether you are doing one bathroom or a whole apartment; what changes is the length of each one.

The Eight Stages of a Project

1. Initial consultation. A conversation about the apartment, the building, and what you want to change. It is worth telling us early whether the building is a co-op or a condo, because that shapes the timeline more than almost anything else. There is no charge for this and no obligation.

2. Site review and scope discussion. We visit, measure, and look at the things that decide what is possible: riser and stack positions, electrical capacity, which walls are structural, floor build-up, and the condition of what is already there. We also read your building’s alteration agreement and house rules. By the end of this stage you know what your building will allow, not just what you would like.

3. Proposal and planning. A written scope of work covering what is included and what is not, including the parts that are invisible in a mood board — protection, waterproofing, sound attenuation, electrical capacity. Where drawings are needed we tell you, and we work to your architect’s or designer’s drawings if you have them.

4. Co-op or condo board requirements. We assemble and submit the alteration agreement package: scope, drawings, our licence, certificates of insurance naming the parties your building requires, and a construction schedule inside permitted hours. We then deal with the managing agent through the review. Our co-op renovation page covers this stage in detail.

5. Scheduling, protection and building coordination. Once approved, we book elevator time, agree delivery windows with the superintendent, and put protection in place across corridors, lobby and lift before anything is carried in. Long-lead items are already on order by this point.

6. Construction and project management. Demolition, then rough trades, inspections, and finishes in sequence. One person runs your project and is your point of contact throughout. Work happens only within the building’s permitted hours, and common areas are cleaned down daily.

7. Finish installation and quality review. Cabinetry, stone, tile, glass, fittings, lighting and paint. We review the work against the scope before we ask you to, so that the list you see is short.

8. Final walkthrough and handover. We walk the apartment with you and agree a punch list, complete it, and hand over along with the documentation your building wants for its records.

What Homeowners Should Prepare

You do not need to have decided everything before you call. The most useful things to have to hand are:

  • Whether the building is a co-op or a condo, and a copy of the alteration agreement and house rules if you have them.
  • A rough sense of scope — one room, several rooms, or the whole apartment.
  • Any drawings you already have, including the original floor plan if the managing agent holds one.
  • Whether you intend to live in the apartment during the work.
  • Any fixed dates you are working towards, such as a lease ending or a move-in.

Selections — tiles, stone, fittings, paint colours — can be made as the project develops, though the long-lead items are worth deciding early.

How Changes Are Handled

Changes during a renovation are normal, and most of them are small. What matters is that they are agreed and recorded rather than absorbed silently.

When something changes — you decide on a different stone, or we open a wall and find a condition nobody could have known about — we tell you what it affects in both cost and time before the work is done, in writing. Nothing goes ahead on the assumption that you would probably say yes. Where a change affects something the board approved, we tell you that too, because it may need re-submitting.

How Board Approvals Affect the Timeline

Board review is the part of the timeline most people underestimate. A complete package typically takes two to six weeks to come back, and some boards only meet monthly. That period sits before construction starts and is largely outside anyone’s control once the submission is in.

What we can control is that the package is complete the first time, and that long-lead items are ordered while the review runs rather than after it. Custom cabinetry, stone and glass commonly take six to ten weeks from order, so overlapping those two periods is often the difference between a project finishing in three months and finishing in six.

As a rough guide once work begins: a kitchen is typically eight to twelve weeks on site, a bathroom six to ten, and a full apartment four to eight months depending on size and scope.

Why Communication Matters

Most of what goes wrong in a renovation is a communication failure rather than a building failure. Someone assumes an answer, a decision is made without the person who needed to make it, or a problem is discovered on site and not raised until it has become expensive.

You have one point of contact throughout, you hear about problems when we find them rather than when they become unavoidable, and we would rather over-communicate with the building’s superintendent and managing agent than have a job stopped.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens after I contact Gurri Remodel?

We arrange a conversation about the apartment and the building, then a site visit to measure and to look at what actually governs the work — riser positions, electrical capacity, structural walls, floor build-up. There is no charge for either and no obligation to proceed.

How long before renovation work can start?

In a co-op or condo, the limiting factor is usually board review, which typically takes two to six weeks after a complete package is submitted. Add the time to produce drawings and the scope beforehand. Work in a building that requires no approval can start considerably sooner.

Who handles co-op or condo board requirements?

We do. We assemble and submit the alteration agreement package, produce insurance certificates naming the parties your building requires, coordinate with your architect or engineer where a sign-off is needed, and deal with the managing agent through the review.

Who is my point of contact during the project?

One person runs your project and is your contact throughout. You are not passed between trades or asked to coordinate between them.

How are project changes handled?

In writing, before the work is done. We tell you what a change affects in both cost and time and wait for your decision. Where a change affects something the board approved, we tell you whether it needs re-submitting.

How are payments usually staged?

Against progress, at agreed points through the project rather than in a single payment. The specific schedule is set out in your written proposal so you can see it before you commit.

What happens if the building requests more documents?

We produce them and re-submit. It is a normal part of the process, and it is one of the reasons we submit a complete package initially — each additional request adds time, and in buildings that review monthly it can add a great deal.

How is the apartment protected during work?

Floors, corridors, the lobby and the lift are protected before anything is carried in, dust containment is set up at the working area, and common areas are cleaned down daily. Most buildings write these requirements into the alteration agreement, and we treat them as the minimum.

What happens during the final walkthrough?

We walk the apartment with you and agree a punch list of anything outstanding. We complete that list, then hand over along with any documentation your building wants for its records.

Start a Conversation

If you are considering a renovation, the first step is a conversation. Tell us the building, the apartment and roughly what you have in mind, and we will tell you what is realistic before you spend anything on drawings.

Request a consultation, or read more about our remodeling services, co-op renovations and full apartment renovations.

For condominium owners, our condo renovation page sets out how the approval stage differs.