What we build
Apartment guts, townhouse guts, single-family whole-homes, and pre-war restorations. Architecture, MEP coordination, alteration agreements, DOB filings, and the build — all under one project lead. The scope changes how long it runs; the playbook on the building side runs the same.
One-to-four-bedroom co-op and condo guts. Demoed to the studs (and often the slab), with new plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, and finishes throughout. Alteration agreement and DOB filing handled in parallel with design so the build starts on schedule. Family typically relocates for the duration.
Brownstones, townhouses, and row houses across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and northern NJ. Floor-by-floor demo and rebuild, structural reinforcement where load paths change, mechanical replacement (boiler, hot water, ductwork), and full interior finish.
Long Island, Westchester edge, and northern NJ single-family homes. Full interior gut, layout reconfiguration, mechanical replacement, and finish-out throughout. Often paired with a home addition or a basement finish in the same scope window.
NYC pre-war apartments and townhouses with original architectural details — plaster crown moldings, original hardwood, casement windows, fireplaces. We restore where possible (plaster patch and skim, hardwood sand-and-finish, casement repair) and replace only when restoration isn't feasible.
Materials & Standards
A full-home renovation has more moving parts than any other project type we run. Architecture, MEP coordination, cabinetry lead times, stone fabrication, and the building's approval cycle all have to line up before demo. The six standards below hold the schedule and the finish standard together across every scope.
Licensed architects and MEP engineers we've used on multiple projects produce the construction drawings, run the load calculations, and stamp the plans for filing. Their fees are line items on the proposal — never absorbed into our number — so you see exactly what design costs.
Custom millwork from partner shops; semi-custom from Rutt, Christopher Peacock, Wood-Mode on the high end. Lead times built into the design phase so cabinetry arrives the week the demo wraps — never the week before the freight elevator is booked.
Calacatta, Carrara, statuario, Taj Mahal slab. Bookmatched walls, waterfall vanities, and mitred countertop edges, templated on site. Slab delivery coordinated with the freight elevator schedule so the stone arrives the day it is set.
Dry-laid mockup before adhesive. Mitred outside corners on natural stone. Hand-laid mosaic feature walls. Schluter or RedGard waterproofing membrane on every wet wall and shower floor — same standard, no exceptions, on every bathroom in the project.
Wide-plank white oak, walnut, hickory, and ash. Engineered wood over concrete subfloors and in apartments built post-1950. Acoustic underlayment to the building's required STC/IIC rating on co-op and condo work — confirmed against the handbook before order.
Brass and bronze supply lines, pressure-tested before walls close. Trusted licensed plumbers — long-term partners — running rough-in for every bathroom and kitchen in the project. Cast-iron drain-stack tie-ins handled cleanly on pre-war stacks.
Process
Full-home work is the most coordination-heavy project type we run. The four-step process below holds across every scope — apartment, townhouse, single-family, or pre-war restoration — only the durations shift. Apartment guts run on the shorter end; townhouses and single-family whole-homes run on the longer end. Design and approvals add additional time on the front end before demo starts.
On site for full-home work — we walk every room in scope, photograph existing conditions, identify pre-war structural elements, and review what your building or municipality requires.
Architecture, structural and MEP drawings, finish selections in three tiers, and a written line-item proposal. DOB filing, alteration agreement package, or township permit work runs in parallel — submitted and followed up until written approval lands.
Demolition, structural and MEP rough-in, drywall, finishes, fixtures, appliances, and punch — sequenced so cabinetry, stone, and tile arrive the week the floor is ready to receive them. One project lead, weekly walk-throughs, daily updates.
Final punch, deep clean, building handover where required, and the 2-year written workmanship warranty. Manufacturer warranties on cabinetry, fixtures, tile, and stone pass through to you cleanly.
Featured Projects
A few recent full-home projects across NYC and northern NJ. Each links to a full case study with alteration-agreement timeline, MEP coordination notes, and the materials list.
Service Areas
We’re based in Newark, NJ, and we work across the NYC metro from there. Five boroughs, Long Island, Yonkers, and northern New Jersey are all on the standard route.
And 30+ surrounding cities within a 50-mile radius of Newark, NJ
FAQs
Everything we get asked about scope, timeline, materials, and how the work actually runs.
Full home renovations typically take from 4 weeks for partial scopes up to 30 weeks for whole-home builds. Timeline depends on square footage, scope, and approval requirements.
For a full gut, yes — once plumbing and electrical are pulled and the kitchen and bathrooms are offline, the home isn't habitable. Most homeowners plan for the move-out duration during the design phase: short-term rentals, a second home, or family. We can sometimes phase a townhouse renovation floor-by-floor so the homeowner can stay on the unaffected level, but it extends the timeline.
Yes. We work with licensed architects and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) engineers we've used on multiple projects. They produce the construction drawings, run the load calculations, and stamp the plans for filing. The architect and engineer fees are line items on the proposal, not absorbed into our number — you see exactly what the design phase costs.
We handle both. NYC's Department of Buildings requires a permit for any plumbing, electrical, gas, or structural work; permits requiring NYC HIC and DOB credentials are filed by our long-term NY-licensed master plumber and electrician partners under their licenses, and we manage every inspection. Co-op and condo alteration agreements involve drawings, insurance certificates, contractor disclosures, and submittal to the building's managing agent — typically a 2-to-8-week approval cycle. We've worked with most of the major Manhattan managing agents and know what each one expects.
Sometimes. Phasing makes sense when the homeowner needs to stay in the home and the floor plan supports it (a townhouse with multiple floors, a multi-bath apartment). It doesn't make sense in a small apartment where the systems all interact. Phased work always costs more in total than a single-mobilization gut because we're setting up dust barriers, scheduling trades, and re-mobilizing trades multiple times. We'll tell you on the consultation whether phasing makes sense.
Documented in writing, signed before we proceed. If something inside a wall changes the scope (a leaking branch line, asbestos behind plaster, a structural issue we couldn't see during the consultation), we stop, document the finding, give you a written change order with the cost and schedule impact, and you sign before we resume. The base contract is line-itemized, so change orders sit on top of the original scope cleanly — no hidden adjustments.
Yes — and most full-home projects benefit from a separate interior designer driving the finish-selection and lighting/furniture story. We work as the design-build contractor, the architect produces the construction documents, and the interior designer drives the look. We coordinate weekly during design and daily during build. If you don't have a designer or architect, we have partners we can introduce.
A 'full-home renovation' is the broader term — could mean refreshing every room without taking walls down, or going to studs throughout. A 'gut renovation' specifically means demolition to the studs (and often to the slab in apartments), with new plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, and finishes throughout. We do both. The consultation determines which scope fits your goals and your budget — gut is more flexible on layout and gives you a fresh-build feel; non-gut full renovation is faster and cheaper but constrained by existing infrastructure.
Project intake
Free Consultation
Call to walk through your project, or schedule a free consultation — by video if you can’t be on site, in person if you can. We bring sample materials, a measuring kit, and a written scope back to you within a few business days.
