While there are differing degrees of renovation and remodeling to consider when choosing to upgrade or alter your apartment, a gut renovation involves the stripping away and exposing of every aspect of the home, including walls, flooring, and sometimes ceilings. As the term implies, it gets to the ‘guts’ of the home.
Usually requiring a permit (specifically an Alteration Type 2) from the Department of Buildings (DOB), a gut renovation may involve any, or all of the following:
- Stripping down walls
- Changing plumbing
- Replacing or altering electric wiring
- Altering the load-bearing structure of the apartment
- Changing the apartments layout
- Replacing or modifying insulation for heating and cooling
As the terms may suggest, cosmetic or partial renovations are a lot less complex and mostly deal with the visual aspects of an apartment. From repainting, decorating and installing new countertops, the work is less extensive, less costly and causes less of a disturbance to neighbors and anyone living nearby. While permits may be required, if you’re not making any changes to the structure of the home, it’s likely your chosen contractor can just get right on with the work.
Which should you choose: gut or partial renovation?
Since a partial, or cosmetic renovation probably won’t require any permits, if you’re pushed for time and only want a few changes to be made to your apartment, this might be the better option. However, if you want to change the entire layout and look of your apartment, including renovating bathrooms and other major spaces, you won’t be able to escape the permits, and must seek approval from the relevant authorities.
To help you decide which would best suit your needs, we’ve broken down the differences between gut renovations and partial renovations:
- Cost – gut renovations will inevitably cost more, since the scope of work required is far greater
- Challenges – the challenges your general contractor might face when carrying out a partial renovation of your apartment, are usually easier to predict and cope with. Gut renovations may cause the construction company to face unique or wholly unforeseen challenges that can drive the cost of the project up
- Permissions – board approval is required for both types of renovation, but gaining the necessary permissions for a gut renovation may prove more challenging. In some instances, co-op boards may even deny gut renovations due to the disturbance it may present to neighbors
- Permits – official permits from the DOB are often not required for partial renovations, but most gut renovations will require them
- Disturbances to neighbors – while both renovations will likely cause some disruption to the building, or cause noise pollution to immediate neighbors, it goes without saying that gut renovations can be a lot noisier, and work can last for a lot longer
For more detailed guidance as to what type of renovation you should choose, try chatting to others in your area who have had work carried out on their apartments, or consult with a local construction company for some professional advice.