Gallardía
Gallardía
A full remodel is five phases in strict order: strip-out, structural works, services, finishes and handover. On a 120 m² house that is 6 to 12 weeks. The order is not negotiable, and it is where most jobs go wrong.
Get your estimate in 2 minutes · Remodelling Cost CalculatorFull means that one supplier answers for the whole job: bricklaying, plumbing, electrics, drywall, tiling, paint, metalwork, roofing and finishes. It is not that more work gets done: it is that there is a single point of contact and a single line of responsibility.
The alternative — hiring each trade separately — looks cheaper on paper. In practice the client ends up as the coordinator: calling the plumber because the bricklayer already closed the wall, arguing about who broke what, and discovering that nobody answers for the whole. The cost of that failed coordination almost always exceeds the saving.
Whatever goes, goes: floors and ceilings come out, doors, windows, sanitary fixtures, light fittings and equipment are removed. The rubble leaves site.
| Representative activity | Unit | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demolition of lightweight drywall partition | m² | B/. 7.50 | |
| Demolition of 10 cm block wall | m² | B/. 12.50 | |
| Removal of ceramic or porcelain floor tile | m² | B/. 7.50 | |
| Removal of modular suspended ceiling | m² | B/. 5.00 | |
| Removal of sanitary fixture | u | B/. 20.00 | |
| Final disposal of waste | m³ | B/. 45.00 |
New walls go up, reinforcement is placed, surfaces are rendered and everything that will end up hidden is prepared. It is the phase with the most curing dead time and the one that shows least in photographs, yet everything else depends on it.
Plumbing and electrics. This phase goes before closing walls and ceilings, and it is where the most expensive mistakes are made: if an electrical point ends up in the wrong place, or a waste run has insufficient fall, correcting it later means breaking into finished work.
| Representative activity | Unit | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schedule 40 PVC pressure pipe Ø ½"–¾" | m | B/. 5.00 | |
| PVC waste pipe Ø 4" | m | B/. 10.00 | |
| Hydraulic pressure test of the network (≥ 80 psi) | u | B/. 90.00 | |
| Watertightness test: drainage system | u | B/. 70.00 | |
| Single or double switch | u | B/. 7.50 | |
| Recessed LED downlight | u | B/. 10.00 |
The two tests — hydraulic at B/. 90.00 and watertightness at B/. 70.00 — are the cheapest insurance in the whole job. They are done with the pipework exposed, before closing up. Skipping them is betting B/. 160.00 against the cost of breaking up a finished floor.
Tiling, ceilings, paint, joinery, metalwork and fitting the fixtures and light fittings. It is the visible phase, the one the client enjoys, and also the most sensitive to sequence: floor before skirting, tiling before taps, paint before light fittings.
Post-construction cleaning, final tests, snagging review and handover. This is where the punch list is drawn up and closed item by item.
| Representative activity | Unit | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final clean-up and clearance of the work area | m² | B/. 5.00 | |
| Final cleaning of chambers and gullies | u | B/. 20.00 | |
| Watertightness test by bays (roof) | u | B/. 60.00 |
| Scope | Estimated duration | |
|---|---|---|
| One complete bathroom | 4 to 6 working days | |
| One complete kitchen | 5 to 8 working days | |
| Suspended ceiling or partitions in one space | 2 to 5 working days | |
| 80 m² apartment, full remodel | 5 to 8 weeks | |
| 120 m² house, full remodel | 6 to 12 weeks | |
| 150 m² commercial unit or office | 6 to 10 weeks |
Those ranges assume the materials are on site and the decisions are made. In practice, what delays a job most is not the work: it is waiting for the client to choose the colour, or for the tile that was out of stock to arrive.
The usual and healthy arrangement is payment against progress, with milestones set by phase. Never the whole amount up front. A reasonable initial deposit for mobilisation and materials, then payments against completed and verified phases.
Always insist the contract sets out the scope in writing by line item, with quantities and unit prices. That way, if something changes, it is adjusted by a clear formula rather than an argument.
Strip-out and removal, structural works, plumbing and electrical services, finishes — tiling, ceilings, paint, joinery and metalwork — and handover with post-construction cleaning and final tests, all under one responsible supplier.
6 to 12 weeks for a 120 m² house, and 5 to 8 weeks for an 80 m² apartment, provided the materials are on site and the finish decisions have been made.
Strip-out, structural works, services, finishes and handover. The order is strict: services go in before walls and ceilings are closed, because correcting them later means breaking into finished work.
Because they are done with the pipework exposed, before closing up. The hydraulic test is B/. 90.00 and the drainage watertightness test B/. 70.00: B/. 160.00 that saves you breaking up a finished floor over a leak.
Outstanding client decisions and materials not arriving on time, more than the work itself. After that come mid-job changes, surprises on opening up, and condominium or building permits.
Against progress, with milestones set by phase: a reasonable initial deposit and then payments against completed and verified phases. Never the whole amount up front.
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