A realistic timeline for a full apartment renovation, week by week

Ask for a reno timeline and most builders say 'six to ten weeks' and stop. That's not wrong, but it's useless for planning your life, so here's what a real 8-week whole-unit job looks like, including the two weeks nobody counts.

Weeks -3 to -1: the invisible weeks

Before anything physical happens: body corporate application, lift bookings, neighbour notices, material orders. In most Brisbane buildings this takes two to three weeks. It's not dead time: it's the difference between a smooth job and the one where the building manager shuts you down on day two. We run this phase for you, covered on the whole-unit page.

Week 1: strip-out

The loud one. Everything old comes out inside approved noise hours. Dust gets sealed, but honestly, be somewhere else if you can. By Friday the place is bare substrate and a skip's worth of your old kitchen.

Weeks 2-3: rough-ins

Plumbing and electrical get moved or upgraded, photos taken of everything before walls close. This is also when surprises surface: if there's asbestos or rot, this is the week it introduces itself.

Weeks 4-5: wet areas and surfaces

Waterproofing, flood test, tiling, plaster repairs, kitchen carcasses. The apartment stops looking like a demolition and starts looking like the plan.

Weeks 6-7: floors, paint, fit-off

Flooring throughout, full repaint, doors and hardware, lights up, tapware on. The fortnight where clients start texting 'it looks incredible', it does, it always does at this stage.

Week 8: snag and handover

Joint walkthrough, snag list, fixes inside the week, deep clean, warranty pack. Keys back.

Where delays actually hide

• Approvals dragging: a slow strata committee can add two weeks before we start. Build it into your plan.
• Material lead times: custom joinery and stone tops take 3-4 weeks to fabricate. We order at approval, not at strip-out.
• Scope creep: 'while you're at it' is the honest cause of most blown timelines. Price it, approve it, but know what it costs in days.

Got a hard deadline: a sale date, tenants moving in? Tell us at the walkthrough and we'll tell you straight whether it holds.