How does your pricing work?

We provide a fixed-price quote based on your space, materials, and scope of work. That number is locked in before we start — no change orders, no escalations. What we quote is what you pay.

How long does a typical renovation take?

Kitchen renovations typically run 3–5 weeks. Bathrooms are 1–2 weeks. Full apartment gut renovations range from 8–16 weeks depending on scope. We build a detailed timeline before signing and stick to it.

What does locked-in pricing actually mean?

It means your final invoice matches your signed quote, to the dollar. If we encounter unexpected conditions in the walls or floors, that is our problem to solve, not a reason to charge you more.

Do I need to hire a separate designer?

No. We work with dedicated design specialists who guide you through the entire process, from material selection to final layout. You will know exactly what your finished space looks like before a single tool is picked up.

Are you licensed and insured in New York?

Yes. Euro Restoration is fully licensed and insured in New York State, New York City, and New Jersey. We carry full general liability and workers' compensation coverage on every job.

What neighborhoods do you serve?

We work across Manhattan: Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Tribeca, SoHo, West Village, Chelsea, Midtown, Flatiron, and more. We are also fully licensed in New Jersey and serve Jersey City and Hoboken.

Do you serve New Jersey?

Yes. Euro Restoration holds a full contractor's license in New Jersey. We regularly work in Jersey City and Hoboken for apartment and condo renovations. The same standards, the same team.

Prewar Apartment Renovation in Manhattan: What to Expect

A prewar apartment renovation in Manhattan almost always uncovers the same things once the walls open: plaster and lath, galvanized or cast iron plumbing, wiring that was never sized for a modern kitchen, and floors that are not level. Lead paint is presumed in any building of that age, and federal and city rules control how it gets disturbed. Plan for these conditions before demolition, budget a real contingency, and decide early which original details are worth saving.

What "prewar" means for a renovation

In Manhattan, "prewar" usually means a building put up before World War II, most of them between roughly 1900 and 1940. That covers a lot of the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side and parts of the Village. These buildings were built well. Thick masonry walls, solid floors and generous ceiling heights are why people buy them.

The problem is not the building. It is everything that has happened inside the walls over 80 to 120 years. Every apartment has had several owners and several renovations, and almost none of that work was documented. You find out what you have when the plaster comes down.

What is typically behind the walls

Plaster and lath

Most prewar interior walls are plaster over wood or metal lath, sometimes over terra cotta block. Plaster is dense and quiet, which is a good thing, but it does not patch the way drywall does. Cutting a chase for a new pipe or wire through plaster creates more dust, more cracking and more repair work than the same cut in drywall.

You have three choices on each wall: keep and repair the plaster, skim coat it, or take it down and replace it with drywall. Many owners keep plaster on perimeter and party walls and replace it where the kitchen and bathroom are being rebuilt anyway.

Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains

Original supply piping in many prewar buildings was galvanized steel. Galvanized pipe corrodes from the inside, which narrows the pipe, cuts water pressure and can discolor water. If your branch lines inside the apartment are still galvanized, plan to replace them back to the riser valves while the walls are open.

Drain and waste lines are often cast iron. Cast iron can last a long time, but old joints leak and pipes crack. The building usually owns the risers. Your alteration agreement will spell out what you are allowed to touch, and the building engineer will often want to inspect the connection points. If you live in a co-op, read our guide to the co-op alteration agreement before you finalize the scope.

Moving a kitchen or bathroom also runs into building rules about wet areas. See the wet over dry rule for why a bathroom often cannot go over a neighbor's bedroom.

Knob and tube or undersized electrical

Some prewar apartments still have pockets of knob and tube wiring, usually found in ceilings and in walls that were never opened. More common is wiring that has been patched over decades and a service that cannot carry a modern kitchen with a dishwasher, an induction range, a microwave and several countertop appliances running at once.

In New York City, electrical work has to be done by a licensed electrician with an electrical permit from the Department of Buildings. Whether you can add capacity depends on what the building's service can deliver to your apartment. Some buildings have done electrical upgrades and assign a set amperage per unit. Others have not. Ask the managing agent before you design the kitchen.

Out of level floors

Prewar floors settle. A 1 inch drop across a living room is not unusual, and more is possible near old bathrooms where water damage softened the subfloor. Wood floors can hide some of this. Large format tile, long kitchen runs of cabinets and frameless glass showers cannot.

Expect leveling compound, sistered joists or new sleepers in some rooms. The amount depends on what the floor is built on, which you will not know for certain until it is open.

Lead paint rules you have to follow

Any apartment built before 1978 falls under the federal EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule. Anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in that housing must be an EPA certified firm and must follow lead safe work practices. The rule applies once work disturbs more than 6 square feet of interior paint per room or more than 20 square feet outside, and window replacement and demolition are covered at any size. Before work starts, the contractor has to give the owner and occupants EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet.

New York City adds Local Law 1 of 2004. It applies to multiple dwellings built before 1960 (and 1960 to 1978 buildings where the owner knows there is lead paint) where a child under 6 routinely spends 10 or more hours a week. In those units, paint is presumed to contain lead unless tested otherwise, and work disturbing more than 2 square feet of lead paint, or paint of unknown lead content, requires certified workers, safe work practices and a dust wipe clearance test at the end. HPD notes that Local Law 1 covers rental units, including co-op and condo units not occupied by the owner or the owner's family. Many co-op and condo boards also write lead requirements into their own alteration rules. Ask your board what it requires, regardless of whether Local Law 1 applies to your unit.

The practical effect for a gut renovation: containment, plastic sheeting, HEPA vacuums, specific cleanup and, where required, clearance testing. It adds time and cost to demolition. It is not optional, and a contractor who does not mention it is a contractor to avoid.

How to plan and budget contingency

A prewar renovation needs more planning before demolition, not less. The steps that matter:

Step	Why it matters in a prewar building
Get the building's alteration agreement and rules first	Sets work hours, insurance, what you can move and what needs engineer review
Ask the managing agent about riser, electrical and gas history	Tells you whether the building has already replaced what you would otherwise find
Open small inspection holes before final pricing	Shows the plaster, pipe and wiring conditions instead of guessing
Test for lead or presume it	Decides demolition method and schedule
Shoot floor levels in every room	Tells you how much leveling the finishes will need
Confirm DOB filing requirements	Plumbing and electrical changes need permits; see do I need a permit

How much contingency

Many renovation guides suggest holding 10 to 20 percent of construction cost in reserve for a prewar gut, with the higher end for apartments that have never been fully renovated. That reserve exists because hidden conditions are normal in these buildings, not rare.

There is another way to handle it. At Euro Restoration we price on a fixed, locked in basis: the final invoice matches the signed quote, and conditions we find inside walls and floors are our problem, not a reason to charge you more. Whoever you hire, ask that question directly and get the answer in the contract. "Who pays when we open the wall and find galvanized pipe?" should have a written answer before you sign.

Your own contingency is still worth keeping for choices you make mid project, such as upgrading a finish or adding scope. For cost ranges by room, see our kitchen renovation cost guide for Manhattan.

What to preserve

Prewar detail is part of what you paid for. Some of it cannot be bought new at any reasonable price. Decide what stays before demolition starts and mark it on the drawings and on site.

Worth preserving in most apartments:

Plaster crown moldings and ceiling medallions. Run in place by hand. Replacing them means custom work.
Herringbone and parquet oak floors. Often salvageable with repairs, sanding and refinishing, even if they look worn. Patch with matched salvaged boards where walls move.
Original doors, casings and hardware. Solid wood, heavy, and better than most new stock. Strip and rehang them.
Built in cabinets and china cabinets. Common in dining rooms and butler's pantries.
Steel casement windows. Check your building's rules and the Landmarks Preservation Commission if the building is landmarked or in a historic district before any change.
Fireplace mantels, even when the fireplace no longer works.

Protection matters as much as the decision to keep. Floors need to be covered with hard protection for the full job. Moldings near demolition need to be braced or removed, labeled and stored. Things get damaged when nobody planned to protect them.

A short checklist before you sign

Do you have the building's alteration agreement and house rules?
Has the contractor seen inside at least one wall, ceiling or floor?
Does the contract say who pays for hidden conditions?
Is the firm EPA RRP certified, and does the plan cover your building's lead requirements?
Are licensed plumbing and electrical trades and DOB permits in the scope?
Is there a written list of what will be preserved and how it will be protected?
Is the schedule realistic for board review, permits and lead work? Our bathroom renovation timeline shows how those pieces stack up.

We have worked in Manhattan prewar buildings for more than 25 years, and we are licensed and insured in New York and New Jersey. Our design specialists are included, so the decisions about what to keep and what to change happen before the first wall comes down. See how we handle a full apartment renovation in NYC.

Talk to us

If you own a prewar apartment and want a fixed price that does not move when the walls open, send us your project. Get your estimate or call (973) 723-4242.