If you’ve got an apartment in New York City, you are just as entitled to renovate it as anyone living elsewhere in the country, but the unfortunate reality is, that it can be complex and longwinded.
To ensure that your NYC apartment renovation goes without a hitch, it’s recommended that you work with an experienced renovation contractor, and here are 5 reasons why:
- There are strict time limits
Due to the nature of how they’re situated, typical apartment renovation/construction working hours are limited to between 9 am and 4 pm, but remember that work cannot commence until public and connecting areas have been made safe, which can take as long as an hour. Additionally, such safety measures must be taken down at the end of each working day, and reinstated the next.
- Elevator usage may be restricted
While using an elevator is essential for the majority of NYC apartment renovations, they may not always be big enough to fit equipment and materials in, and so you may have to hire a boom truck.
- Building and city rules must be adhered to
For example, if remodeling damp areas in an apartment building, waterproofing precautions must be taken to prevent water from seeping into the unit below the one being worked on – fail to follow this rule and you could face serious recriminations.
Sometimes though, even when there is no practical necessity for a rule to be imposed, buildings will often enforce strict regulations on the replacing of branch lines, shut-off valves and vent stacks in apartment building repairs in moist regions; a problem not typically seen in private dwellings.
Also note that only certified electricians and plumbers are permitted to carry out work on an NYC apartment, and because they’re so strictly regulated, this makes them very expensive. Unfortunately, some NYC building managements will mandate that even simple plumbing work – such as installing a dishwasher – be carried out by a licensed plumber.
Finally, building management companies scrutinize proposed renovations to make sure that everyone who is going to be working on the project, has adequate insurance to cover any potential issues.
- Site conditions can be tricky
If walls have to be knocked down or put up in an NYC apartment, new circuitry or rewiring the entire home may be necessary. While this isn’t an issue in a private dwelling, apartment complexes typically forbid channeling ceilings and sometimes even shared walls, meaning that the wires must be sent through walls that aren’t shared, which can extend the duration of the project and bump up the cost.
Getting rid of waste materials isn’t easy with an NYC apartment renovation either, and trash must often be loaded into a van or pickup truck and transported away as and when required.
- Parking tickets!
While this might seem insignificant on the scale of things, it’s actually something that can prove detrimental to apartment renovation in NYC. Whether as a result of parking in a prohibited area or overfilling a meter, parking tickets may abound during a renovation project in New York City, and that’s if you’re lucky enough to even find a space to park!
By working with an experienced renovation company in NYC, you can help minimize the problems caused by all of the above points, and help the entire project go without a hitch.