Multifamily Remodeling With Residents Still at Home
Remodeling apartments, townhomes or a small complex means working in buildings where people live, sleep and park every day. We phase the work building by building or unit by unit, turn vacant units on a tight clock, and give residents notice they can plan around.
Veteran BuiltCypress, Texas
Multifamily work comes in two speeds. Unit turns happen between residents: paint, flooring, fixtures, cabinet fronts or full kitchen and bath upgrades, done fast because an empty unit earns nothing. Occupied renovations happen with people at home, and every unit on the schedule needs a plan: what day we arrive, how long the kitchen or bathroom is out of service, and where the resident’s things go. Owners usually want the same finishes in every unit, so we lock the materials list early and order enough to finish a whole phase without a backorder in the middle of it.
Stacked buildings add constraints a single house does not have. Plumbing risers serve several units at once, so a shutoff for one bathroom can mean water off for a whole stack, and those shutoffs get scheduled and announced. Walls and floors between units are often fire-rated assemblies, and any hole cut through them for pipe, wire or a vent gets sealed with a listed firestop. Sound travels through those same assemblies, which is why loud work stays inside set hours and away from early mornings.
Residents get written notice before work in or near their unit, following your lease terms, and a clear point of contact on site. Common areas, stairs and parking stay usable, with barricades and signs wherever work is underway. Exterior work is part of many multifamily projects, and in Houston that usually means siding, balconies and stairs worn by heat, humidity and wind-driven rain, plus roofs the storm season has worked over. We can price the roof alongside the unit work so the building is dried in before new interiors go in.
Commercial work in Greater Houston means a city permit office or the county, depending on where the building sits, plus a landlord, a schedule built around tenants or customers, and inspections that do not move. We plan the phases so the business keeps running.
If a single unit has a leak or a broken fixture, call your maintenance tech or a plumber, because a remodeling contractor for one repair is overkill.
When multifamily remodeling makes sense
The honest version, including the cases where you should spend the money somewhere else.
- You own or manage an apartment building, townhomes or a small complex and need vacant units turned quickly and consistently.
- You are upgrading kitchens and bathrooms across a property and need a phased plan that works around occupied units.
- Common areas, stairs or exterior surfaces are worn, and you want them redone with residents still in the building.
And when it does not
- If the property is a large complex needing hundreds of units done at once, that calls for a contractor sized for that volume, and we will say so up front.
- If foundation movement is behind the cracks residents keep reporting, get an engineer to look before anyone patches drywall over it.
How we run it
- I
Walk and unit list
We walk the property with you, sample units of each type, and build a list of what each unit type needs and what is shared.
- II
Phasing and notices
Units, stacks and common areas are grouped into phases with dates, and resident notices go out on the timeline your lease requires.
- III
Turns and occupied work
Vacant units are turned on a set number of days, and occupied units are worked in short, scheduled windows with cleanup every day.
- IV
Close each phase
Each phase is inspected, punched and handed back before the next starts, so you can lease or reopen units as they finish.
What we ask before we price it
- Will the space be occupied while we work?
- Who owns the building, and does the landlord have to sign off?
- What hours can the crew work?
- Is there an opening date or a lease date driving the schedule?
- Who signs off on change orders, and how fast can they answer?
How fast can you turn a vacant unit?
It depends on the scope. A paint, flooring and fixture turn moves fast, while a full kitchen and bath upgrade takes longer. We agree on a number of days per unit type before the first unit starts and track against it.
Can residents stay in their units during a remodel?
For many scopes, yes. Kitchens and bathrooms can be worked in short windows with water and power restored each evening. Bigger jobs may need a brief relocation, which is your call under the lease.
How much notice do residents get?
Whatever your lease and local rules require, and earlier when we can. We give you notice language with dates for each unit so residents can plan their week around the work.
What about shutting off water in a stacked building?
Shutoffs on a shared riser are scheduled in advance, kept short and announced to every affected unit. We bundle the work so as much as possible happens inside a single shutoff.
Do you handle firestopping between units?
Yes. Any penetration through a fire-rated wall or floor between units gets sealed with a listed firestop system, and we leave it exposed for inspection when the jurisdiction asks to see it.
Can you handle the roof and exterior too?
Yes. Roofing is a core part of what we do, and siding, stair and balcony repairs can be phased with the interior work so the building is weather-tight before new interiors go in.
Who you are hiring
Google reviewers have given us 5.0 across 19 reviews, and the word that keeps coming up is honest. We would rather talk you out of a job than sell you one you do not need.
Military families and first responders take 10% off, and financing is available through Acorn Finance with a no-obligation prequalification. Ask about either when you call.
Leland Cannon spent 21 years in the Army and retired as a First Sergeant. Geoff Schardien served in Air Force Security Forces and has more than twenty years in residential construction. One of them walks every job before it starts, and you keep one phone number from the first visit to the last day.