Skip to main content
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
RECOMMENDED IN RENT
Moving to NYC after college? Here's how to find a rental apartment
RECOMMENDED IN BUY
How buying real estate in NYC is unlike anywhere else
RECOMMENDED IN SELL
A guide to using a no-fee renovation loan from a NYC real estate firm
RECOMMENDED IN IMPROVE
How to make your NYC renovation more pet-friendly
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE!
National Association of Real Estate Editors
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE! National Association of Real Estate Editors
Brick Underground
Social Links
follow:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flipboard
  • search
Brick Underground
☰ Brick Underground
Brick Underground
Brick Underground
☰
Brick Underground
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
    A rendering of the roofdeck at 55 Broad Street.
    Rent
    Housing lottery launches for 143 apartments in the Financial District
    Aerial panoramic view of Red Hook, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
    Sales Market
    24 NYC neighborhoods where median prices more than doubled in the past decade
    431 West 54th Street is a co-op building that allows subletting.
    Investing
    Want to buy an investment apartment to rent out? Here's what you need to know
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
    Young woman using laptop at new apartment, with moving boxes around.
    Roommates + Landlords
    Didn't get your security deposit returned in NYC? A new chatbot can help
    A rendering of the six-story building in Park Slope.
    Affordable Housing
    Housing lottery launches for 45 rent-stabilized units in Park Slope
    Laura and her dog Jack
    Rent
    Why I moved to NYC from Brazil: I relocated for work and reunited with friends I made 15 years ago
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
    Aerial view of downtown Brooklyn
    Sell
    Median sales price in Brooklyn climbs to $995,000 in the second quarter
    Downtown New York City
    Sell
    Manhattan deals rose to highest level in nearly two years, defying national trends
    new condo building and older co-op buildings in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
    Sell
    Brooklyn median price nears $1 million but the spring market is a question mark
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Distressed woman sitting in her apartment
    Troubleshooting
    Ask Altagracia: My live-in partner is abusive. How can I get out of my lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    NYC apartment buildings with fire escapes
    Neighborhood Intel
    Can you sit on a fire escape in NYC? 5 things to know
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
    mini splits apartments new york city
    Products + Services
    Yes, you can install central AC in your co-op or condo unit. Here's how
    image
    Products + Services
    Take back your deck! How to win the war with mosquitoes and enjoy outdoor living again
    NYC apartment building with AC units
    Products + Services
    My neighbor's dripping AC is driving me crazy. What can I do?
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
    Burned and Boarded Up Windows
    When should your board hire a public adjuster?
    Manhattan GM
    What should we consider when renewing insurance for our building?
    Facade of NYC buildings
    How much is insurance on a NYC co-op or condo building?
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Distressed woman sitting in her apartment
    Troubleshooting
    Ask Altagracia: My live-in partner is abusive. How can I get out of my lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    Building facades in New York in winter
    Roommates + Landlords
    Ask Altagracia: I withheld rent due to inadequate heat and I'm being hassled to pay it back. What should I do?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
  • About Us
The subscription service is currently unavailable. Please check again later.
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
New Main menu
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
  • About Us
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER →
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Renovation [ SPONSORED ]

The must-have items for your renovation are not readily available. Here’s what Bolster recommends

  • Expect to wait 12+ months for luxury kitchen appliances from brands like Sub-Zero
  • Plumbing fixtures can have delays of two-to-six-plus months, depending on the manufacturer
By Bolster  | November 21, 2022 - 5:00PM
image

With a major renovation, it's important to be flexible if you want a dream item such as a luxury appliance, which can take longer to ship.

Bolster

SHARE:
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Print
More...

New York City owners who have undertaken renovations in the past two years know all too well that lead times can make or break your renovation timeline. Long lead times, or delays in the amount of time it takes for owners to receive an order of furniture, fixtures, and equipment, are the result of supply chain disruptions. But with the right team and planning in place, owners have a decent amount of control over the timing of their lead times. 

Bolster, a data-driven design-build firm in NYC that delivers a unique, risk-free renovation experience, understands this first-hand. 

“The items with long lead times varied depending on the pinches that the supply chain has had over the 2020-to 2022 period,” says Anna Karp, CEO and co-founder of Bolster. “Notably, luxury appliances were in the news, but less-discussed items were simpler products such as tiles or plumbing fixtures.” 

The items that Bolster has seen delayed or extended most often are the following: 

  • Appliances (12+ months for high-end brands like Sub-Zero)
  • Plumbing fixtures (two-to-six-plus months, depending on the manufacturer) 
  • HVAC components (particularly anything custom-made, as they are in short supply) 
  • Items that require multiple parts and assembly  
  • Tiles

image
Caption

Tiles typically have long lead times, but you can find a substitute with a similar style that is guaranteed to arrive sooner. 

Credit

Bolster

Why are lead times important? 

Understanding lead times is important because each item with a long lead time poses a different operational complexity and impacts the project’s critical path items. 

In construction, critical path items are the ones that prevent a project from making real progress if they are not addressed properly and at the right time. 

“A ‘critical path’ item means that it is a necessary part of the scope of work, which others depend on for its completion,” says Jeronimo Aguilar-Gutierrez, Bolster’s executive vice president. “For example, before an electrical outlet is functional, it requires the wiring to be laid and connected to the panel, and the wall itself to be framed, and the sheetrock installed. The outlet won't have power if the walls are up before the wiring is done.” 

Being flexible here is important. While it may be a pain to wait for a luxury refrigerator to arrive, it is possible to have a temporary one in place while you wait for the appliance of you dreams—in fact, this is a route that some Bolster owners have chosen to take. Other items, like tiles, are easily interchangeable. But some items can pose a bigger challenge. 

“The lesser-known rough-ins can pose a big operational challenge: they are the pieces that are more functional than pretty and go “behind the wall,’” Anna says. “And when rough-ins for specific plumbing fixtures are in short supply, a project can get very delayed. A substitution requires a bigger undertaking than simply changing a tile design, as fixtures are usually integral to a bathroom or kitchen aesthetic and also have functional peculiarities.” 

When critical path items have long lead times that aren’t addressed, it can lead to major delays and costly solutions for homeowners. 

“I have heard many stories of HVAC unit replacements and subcontractors working to find like-for-like replacements in remote states, therefore paying insanely high mailing and shipping costs to meet deadlines,” Anna says. 

What owners can do to manage lead times 

First, it’s important to recognize that some things will not be in your control, or your team’s control. With that in mind, here are a few helpful tips for managing lead times in your renovation: 

Make decisions early 

Homeowners working with a reputable design-build firm should do their homeowner to make all decisions in advance—this way, their team will be able to procure all the items by planning and integrating long lead times into their design and build process. 

“Procuring as early as possible to secure selections will de-risk the project delivery, in addition to helping lock in prices against inflationary surges,” Jeronimo says. “If you missed that option, change your selection to an in-stock product sourced locally.”

Anna advises homeowners to think of decision-making as a critical path item. 

“Homeowners are often not aware that not making a decision on a design item can throw a schedule overboard,” she says. “This is because construction does not necessarily follow a linear path—it follows a sum of linear paths that interconnect. Think of the NYC subway lines: If Times Square is closed, it creates havoc for the entire system!” 

…but stay flexible

“Decision-making should be nimble. If a homeowners’ team suggests a change, homeowners should be ready to look at options,” Anna says. “Sometimes we think that we may be married to an item which could actually be interchangeable and benefit us in the long run.” 

image
Caption

Plumbing fixtures are among the items that Bolster sees with the longest lead times, often two to six months, depending on the manufacturer. 

Credit

Bolster

Choose suppliers wisely 

Work with reputable suppliers and known entities. Economies of scale apply in construction: larger design-build firms can snag better warehousing deals as well as priority orders. While homeowners are usually focused on trade pricing, another aspect to consider is reliability: Firms with influence are usually able to get fringe benefits from their vendors. 

Your team is everything 

Long lead times require excellent project management. An ‘A-team’ should be able to navigate all curveballs, especially as this skill would have been strengthened during the challenges of 2020, which saw the biggest supply chain problems the industry is likely to see for a while. 

When you’re in the process of engaging a design-build firm, be sure to ask how they plan their schedules and what their procurement strategy is. A good team will live by a detailed schedule and be able to accurately plan for and predict ordering and lead times based on critical path items.  Lastly, a good team can also make recommendations as to alternative options or solutions for your furniture, fixtures, and equipment.

Be patient

While homeowners may be dreaming of having their beautiful flush doors and these may be a very long lead item, so they may have to live with a temporary door knowing that the real deal will arrive…eventually.  

Anna’s last piece of advice: “Breathe! We are all in this together. Homeowners should know it is all worth it because their home will look amazing and they will enjoy it for years to come.”


The Bolster Smart Renovation Zero-Risk Guarantee

How can a design-build firm guarantee a Zero-Risk renovation?

Bolster has pioneered Smart Renovation. We apply quantitative analysis along with our proprietary technology solution to identify and quantify the performance risk on every renovation project. The result is a personalized strategic approach to each renovation that allows us to absorb 100 percent of the homeowner’s risk. Your home will be beautifully designed, and delivered on-time and on-budget. That is our guarantee.

Smart Renovation & Zero-Risk means that Homeowners are now free to dream.

To start your major home renovation project visit bolster.us.

The Bolster Promise video

You Might Also Like

image
Renovation 5 home renovation projects you should never DIY according to Bolster
image
Renovation Design-Build vs. Design-Bid-Build renovation models: Bolster explains which is right for you
image
Renovation A guide to using millwork in a NYC renovation

 

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics:

architects construction contractors Renovation
SHARE
TWEET
BRICK’S PICKS
NYC apartment building with AC units
My neighbor's dripping AC is driving me crazy. What can I do?
Historic brick facades of NYC apartment buildings
Getting overcharged by a landlord? Here’s how the Tenant Protection Unit helps rent-stabilized tenants
Apartment buildings in Soho
New Rent Guidelines Board report justifies a rent freeze, tenant advocates claim
Brooklyn apartment buildings
Understanding net effective rent: Here's how to calculate your real monthly rent
image
How much should you renovate your NYC apartment or house before selling?
Council Member Shahana Hanif hold press conference before the City Council vote on Arrow Linen spot rezoning.
City Council signs off on 10-story towers for Arrow Linen site
Follow Brick on Instagram
@brickunderground | #brickunderground
Brick UndergroundBRICK UNDERGROUNDREAL LIFE. REAL ESTATE. REAL NEW YORK.
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Main menu footer
  • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide

Get more news you can actually use...

Email Address

Delivered to your inbox weekly - for free.

*By signing up you agree to receive occasional emails on behalf of our sponsors

Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise

Copyright 2009-2024 by BND Ventures Inc | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices | Login