How Long Does a Full Home Renovation Take? A Room-by-Room Timeline

One of the very first questions homeowners ask us before the sledgehammers come out is simply this: “How long will this take?” It is a fair question. You are about to invest a significant amount of money and emotion into your property, and you need to know when you can have your life back. If you search online, you often find answers that are vague or, frankly, overly optimistic. You might read that a kitchen takes three weeks, which sounds wonderful, but it rarely accounts for the reality of custom cabinetry lead times or Toronto permitting queues.

The truth is that renovation timelines depend heavily on scope, sequencing, permits, and how quickly decisions are made. It is not just about how fast a trade can work. It is about how well the entire orchestra is conducted. This guide breaks down a full home renovation timeline, room by room, so you can plan with confidence rather than hope. At The Home Improvement People, we believe in being a transparent renovation partner. We want you to have the keys to your dream home as soon as possible, but we also want you to know exactly what the road map looks like before we start the engine.

Key Takeaways for Your Renovation Journey

• No Two Timelines Are Alike: A typical full home renovation can range widely, often between 4 and 8 months, depending heavily on structural changes and square footage.
• Kitchens are the Bottleneck: Due to complex plumbing, electrical, and custom cabinetry, the kitchen usually dictates the pace of the project.
• Permits Pause Clocks: You cannot rush the City. Permit approval times must be factored into your pre-construction schedule.
• Decisions Drive Speed: Making material selections early prevents the “waiting game” mid-project.
• Living Arrangements: For a full home renovation, moving out is often the safest and most efficient choice to keep the timeline tight.

The Short Answer: How Long Does a Full Home Renovation Take?

If you are looking for a quick, high-level estimate to plug into your mental calendar, here is the reality. A comprehensive, full home renovation for an average-sized home in the GTA typically takes between four and eight months.

However, we need to add a massive asterisk to that number. That timeline assumes we are talking about a full gut renovation, without major additions or changes to the house’s footprint. If you are adding a second story or digging out a basement, you are looking at a longer engagement.

Why is there no “one-size-fits-all” answer? Because houses, especially in older Toronto neighbourhoods, are like snowflakes. No two are constructed exactly the same way. One might have pristine wiring behind the drywall, while the neighbour’s house has ancient knob-and-tube that needs a total overhaul. The timeline is dictated less by square footage and more by scope and coordination.

What Factors Affect a Home Renovation Timeline?

Understanding the total duration requires looking at the moving parts. A home renovation schedule is a delicate ecosystem where one delay can permeate through the rest of the project. Here are the four pillars that determine your finish date.

Scope of Work

This is the biggest variable. Are you doing a “rip and replace” where the toilet stays in the same spot, and the walls stay up? Or are you moving the kitchen to the other side of the house? Structural changes require more demolition, framing, and engineering oversight. Simple cosmetic updates are a sprint. Layout changes and system upgrades are a marathon.

Permits and Inspections

In the world of renovation, paperwork is just as heavy as drywall. City approvals and review timelines are rarely within the contractor’s control. We can submit perfect drawings, but we are still subject to the city’s backlog. Furthermore, inspection scheduling happens at various stages. We cannot close up a wall until the electrical, plumbing, and framing inspectors have all signed off. If an inspector is booked solid for a week, the project pauses for a week.

Material Selection and Lead Times

You might fall in love with a specific Italian tile or custom window package. That is great for design, but it can be tough on the schedule. If your heart is set on custom items, we are at the mercy of manufacturing and shipping. Renovation delays often stem from waiting on a single crucial component, like a bathtub or a specific window size, which prevents the next trade from starting.

Home Size and Condition

Newer construction is generally predictable. Older homes are full of surprises. When we open a wall in a Victorian semi, we might find rot, structural deficiencies, or plumbing that defies the laws of physics. These “hidden issues” discovered during demolition must be addressed immediately, which will expand the scope and timeline.

Full Home Renovation Timeline Overview

To give you a better sense of the flow, let’s look at the chronological order of operations. This helps visualize why certain things cannot happen until others are complete.

Also Read: Whole Home Renovation vs. Room-by-Room Remodeling: What’s Better for You?

Room-by-Room Renovation Timeline Breakdown

When we create a renovation timeline by room, we are essentially creating mini-schedules that feed into the master plan. Here is what you can expect in specific areas of the house.

Kitchen Renovation Timeline

The kitchen is the most complex room in the house. It involves almost every trade: demolition, plumbing, electrical, gas, flooring, and carpentry.

• Demolition: 2–3 days to strip it bare.
• Rough-ins: 1–2 weeks to move pipes and wires for that new island or pot filler.
• Flooring and Drywall: 1–2 weeks.
• Cabinet Installation: This is the big one. Once the boxes arrive, installation takes about 3–5 days, but countertop measurements cannot be taken until the base cabinets are permanently set.
• Countertops: After templating, there is usually a 1–2-week fabrication wait before installation.
• Backsplash and Finals: 1 week.

Because of the countertop gap and cabinet lead times, a kitchen renovation timeline usually stretches from 6 to 12 weeks of active work, not including the manufacturing time for the cabinets.

Bathroom Renovation Timeline

Bathrooms are small but mighty. They require intense waterproofing and coordination in a tight space.

• Demolition: 1–2 days.
• Rough-ins: 3–5 days. Moving a toilet drain is harder than moving an outlet.
• Waterproofing: This is critical. We need to ensure the shower or tub surround is watertight.
• Tiling: 3–7 days. Tiling takes patience. We cannot grout until the thin-set cures, and we cannot caulk until the grout cures.
• Fixtures: 1–2 days to set the vanity, toilet, and faucets.

A typical bathroom renovation timeline runs 3 to 5 weeks. It feels long for a small room, but you cannot rush drying times.

Living Room and Common Areas

These spaces are the “easy wins” of the renovation world.

• Scope: Usually includes flooring, drywall, painting, and electrical updates (such as pot lights).
• Timeline: 2 to 4 weeks.
• Dependencies: These rooms often serve as staging areas for materials for other rooms, so they might be finished last, even though they take the least time to build.

Bedrooms

Similar to living rooms, bedrooms have shorter timelines.

• Scope: Flooring, painting, trim work, and perhaps new closet organizers.
• Timeline: 2 to 3 weeks per room.
• Efficiency: We often tackle all bedrooms simultaneously to speed up the process.

Basement Renovation Timeline

Finishing a basement is like building a house within a house. You are dealing with the foundation, moisture control, and often low ceilings.

• Framing and Insulation: 1–2 weeks. This stage is crucial for warmth and moisture barriers.
• Rough-ins: 1–2 weeks. Often involves breaking concrete for new bathroom drains.
• Permits: Specific inspections for insulation and fire separation are rigorous here.
• Finishing: 3–4 weeks for drywall, flooring, and trim.

A full basement renovation typically takes 8 to 12 weeks. It operates somewhat independently of the upper floors, which can be a bonus.

Also Read: Home Renovation Checklist from Planning to Finishing

Can Renovation Work Happen at the Same Time?

You might be wondering, “Can’t you just have the plumber in the bathroom while the electrician is in the kitchen?” The answer is yes, but with limits. Professional project management is about stacking trades efficiently without causing a traffic jam.

In a whole-house renovation planning scenario, we absolutely run parallel tracks. While the tiler is working in the upstairs bathroom, the carpenter can be framing the basement. However, some tasks are strictly sequential. We cannot install flooring before the drywall sanding is done, or the dust will ruin the new floor. We cannot paint until the drywall is primed.

Overlapping tasks speeds things up, but putting too many bodies in the house can actually cause delays. If the electrician and the plumber are fighting for space in a 5×8 powder room, nobody gets work done efficiently.

How Permits and Inspections Affect Renovation Timelines

This is the part of the process that requires the most patience. Work cannot proceed without approvals. If we move a load-bearing wall, the framer cannot touch a stud until the city reviews the engineer’s drawings.

Once work begins, we live by the inspector’s schedule. There are mandatory stops:

• Framing/Rough-in Inspection: All wires, pipes, and studs must be visible. We cannot insulate or board up walls until we pass this.
• Insulation Inspection: Ensuring the thermal envelope is correct.
• Final Inspection: The safety check before you move back in.

If an inspector calls in sick or the booking window is two weeks out, the site might sit quiet. This isn’t a sign of inactivity; it is a sign of compliance. Professional coordination prevents downtime by booking these inspections well in advance, anticipating when the work will be ready.

Also Read: Toronto Home Renovation Permits 2026: Complete Guide

Common Causes of Renovation Delays

We aim for perfection, but construction is real life. Delays happen. Understanding them helps you roll with the punches.

• Design Changes: This is the number one culprit. Deciding to move a window after the framing is done means going back to the drawing board, re-permitting, and re-framing.
• Late Selections: If you haven’t picked a faucet by the time the plumber is ready to install, the plumber leaves to go to another job. Getting them back might take a week.
• Hidden Issues: As mentioned, opening a wall and finding asbestos or structural rot stops the project instantly until it is remediated.
• Weather: For any exterior work or additions, Canadian winters can be unforgiving.
• Supply Chain: Backordered tiles or appliances can leave a kitchen 99% done for weeks.

How to Keep Your Home Renovation on Schedule

You want to be in your new home sooner rather than later. Here is how you can help the cause.

• Finalize Decisions Early: Try to select every fixture, tile, and paint colour before the first hammer swings.
• Order Materials Ahead: We prefer to have materials sitting in a warehouse ready to go rather than hoping they ship on time.
• Work with a Full-Service Team: A fragmented approach (hiring a separate plumber, tiler, and framer yourself) is a recipe for scheduling disaster.
• Maintain Communication: Regular check-ins prevent misunderstandings.
• Build a Buffer: Mentally add 10-15% to the timeline for your own peace of mind.

How a Professional Renovation Company Manages Timelines

This is where renovation project management really shines. At The Home Improvement People, we don’t just wing it. We use detailed project-planning tools to map the critical path. We know that the drywaller needs to be booked three weeks before the insulation is finished. We know exactly when to call the inspector.

We handle the trade scheduling and sequencing so you don’t have to. We coordinate the permits and ensure that materials are on-site when the trades arrive. Our goal is transparency. If there is a delay, we tell you why and the plan to fix it. We are experienced with full home renovations and know how to navigate the inevitable bumps in the road to keep the project moving forward.

Turning the Key on Your New Chapter

The question “How long does a home renovation take?” really translates to “When can I start enjoying my home?” While the timelines can seem long when you are looking at a calendar, the result is a space that functions perfectly for your lifestyle for decades to come. A realistic timeline, managed by professionals, is the difference between a chaotic construction site and a successful transformation.

Recapping the essentials:

• Expect a 4-8 month range for full renovations.
• Kitchens and bathrooms are the most time-intensive rooms.
• Permits and inspections are non-negotiable pause points.
• Early planning and material ordering are your best defence against delays.

Planning a full home renovation?

The Home Improvement People helps homeowners create realistic renovation timelines and manage every phase of the project, from planning and permits to final finishes. Whether you’re renovating a kitchen, bathroom, basement, or your entire home, our team delivers organized project management and clear expectations.

Contact Home Improvement People today to get a personalized renovation timeline and start your project with confidence.