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Whole-home renovation · Brooklyn

Home renovation in Brooklyn's older houses, floor by floor

Our home renovation work in Brooklyn covers the interiors of attached rowhouses, semi-detached houses and small two-family buildings, in a borough where nearly half of all homes predate 1940. We plan the house floor by floor, account for shared walls and tight street access, and settle lead, asbestos and landmark questions before a schedule is written.

  • Floor-by-floor plans for narrow attached and rowhouse interiors
  • Lead-safe and asbestos steps set early in pre-1940 buildings
  • Historic-district status looked up on the exact address first
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Living room in a house with a stacked-stone fireplace, a timber mantel, a white staircase and wide-plank floors

Scope

Interior work we plan in Brooklyn houses

Everything stays inside the building and is priced as one written scope, ordered from the systems outward to the finishes.

  • Multi-room interiors in attached, semi-detached and detached houses
  • One unit or both units of an owner-occupied two-family house
  • Plaster repair or replacement, new drywall, ceilings, trim and interior doors
  • Kitchens and bathrooms folded into the whole-floor sequence
  • Plumbing and electrical upgrades while floors and walls are open
  • Flooring carried through each level, with interior painting at the end
  • Not included: party-wall structural work, additions, facades or stoops

Process

How MMA Construction & Remodeling runs a whole-home renovation project

Written scope, written proposal, permits identified up front, and one project lead from start to finish.

  1. Conversation

    You describe the home and what you want to change. We ask about budget range and timing so expectations are clear early.

  2. Site visit and scope

    We look at the space, the structure of the house and any HOA, co-op or condo rules that apply, then write a scope of work.

  3. Design and selections

    Layout, materials and fixtures are agreed in writing before work is priced in full.

  4. Written proposal

    A written price and schedule for the agreed scope. Permits and any approvals are identified at this stage.

  5. Build

    One project lead coordinates the trades and keeps you updated. Some regulated work may require appropriately licensed specialty contractors.

  6. Walkthrough

    We review the finished work with you and resolve anything outstanding.

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Brooklyn

Planning a whole-house job in Brooklyn

  1. Very old structures: allow for what the walls hide

    Nearly half of Brooklyn's housing (48.4%) sits in buildings dating from 1939 or before, so a whole-house project usually begins in a structure that several generations of owners have rewired, replumbed and repainted. Expect plaster, wiring from several eras and floors that are no longer level. Our written scope separates what can be seen at the site visit from what can only be confirmed once a wall is open, and gives the second group an allowance and a decision point, so a discovery becomes a planned choice rather than a stoppage. The gut renovation cost guide lists the lines to price separately when every room is opened.

  2. Narrow lots and shared walls

    Attached houses outnumber detached ones in Brooklyn, and a rowhouse often has one entrance, one stair and no side yard. That decides how a multi-floor job is staged: materials arrive and debris leaves through the same hall, so finished floors are protected as the work moves down toward the door. Any work on or through a party wall is a question for a qualified professional before it is drawn, and new plumbing routes have to respect what the neighbor's house shares.

  3. Small multi-unit buildings with people at home

    About 32% of Brooklyn homes are in buildings with two to four units. When an owner renovates their own floors in a two-family house, water, heat and power for the other apartment can be interrupted, so every shutoff is scheduled and announced in writing. If that unit is rented and the building predates 1960, the owner has to presume, under Local Law 1 of 2004, that the paint contains lead, and EPA lead-safe rules govern any paid job that disturbs paint in a home built before 1978. A DEP-certified investigator's asbestos survey comes before suspect materials are disturbed.

  4. Landmark blocks: list the outside separately

    LPC's dataset lists dozens of Brooklyn historic districts, from Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights to Ditmas Park, Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park and Stuyvesant Heights, and some cover a single block. City lot data puts 39.4% of Park Slope's residential lots inside a district. A whole-home interior rarely changes a facade, but a new vent or an areaway door would, so items like those sit on their own line in the brief until the address has been searched on LPC's Discover NYC Landmarks map. Exterior work itself is outside our scope.

Decisions

Which floor first in a Brooklyn rowhouse?

When the household stays in the house, the renovation usually runs one floor at a time, and the order is set by the systems that cross floors, not by which room bothers you most.

  1. Decide the layout of every floor on paper first, so pipes and wiring run once.
  2. Do the work that crosses floors early: risers, the electrical service, the main drain and anything in the cellar.
  3. Then work floor by floor: systems inside the walls, then walls and ceilings, then floors, kitchens, baths and paint.
  4. Keep one bathroom and some way to cook usable on the floors still lived in.

In a house built before 1978, EPA lead-safe practices apply to paid work that disturbs paint, so the order also decides when each floor is contained and cleaned. Agree it in writing before the first wall opens.

Have an older Brooklyn house to plan?

Tell us how many floors the house has, which ones are occupied and roughly when it was built. We will walk it with you and turn that into a written, phased scope.

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Local evidence

Brooklyn evidence for a multi-room interior project

Brooklyn housing units by building type and age (ACS 2024 1-year estimates)
MeasureShare of housing units
Single-family attached8.2%
Single-family detached4.5%
Two-unit buildings15.2%
Three- and four-unit buildings16.5%
Built 1939 or earlier48.4%
Three Brooklyn statistical areas, tax lots with homes (PLUTO 26v2, 2020 NTAs)
NTA (DCP code)Lots with homesOne- or two-family shareIn an LPC historic districtFlagged on FEMA 2015 preliminary map
Park Slope (BK0602)6,46443.3%39.4%None
Flatbush (West)-Ditmas Park-Parkville (BK1402)3,03271.1%28.0%None
Sheepshead Bay-Manhattan Beach-Gerritsen Beach (BK1503)8,66286.9%None66.5%

For whole-house planning, the age column matters most. PLUTO records a year built before 1940 for 95.4% of Park Slope lots with homes and more than 90% in both Flatbush statistical areas. The figure is reliable to the decade, not the exact year, and NTAs only approximate neighborhoods.

Permits and trades: the NYC Department of Buildings issues permits for every Brooklyn address. In the city, plumbing beyond limited categories is done by a Licensed Master Plumber, electrical work needs its own permit and an NYC licensed electrical contractor, and home improvement contractors need a DCWP license. DOB's list of jobs that skip the permit (painting, new cabinets, floor resurfacing) rarely covers a whole floor, and the more involved kitchen and bath work in a renovation can require a licensed engineer or architect to file plans.

Flood maps: on FEMA's 2015 preliminary map, 66.5% of lots with homes around Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach (BK1503) carry a flag; on the 2007 map, 16.6% do. Even on a flagged lot, the house itself may sit outside the mapped area. Before cellar or ground-floor rooms join the plan, run the address through both FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and NYC Flood Maps.

Planning a whole-home renovation in Brooklyn? Call or email us to talk it through and arrange a consultation.

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Questions

Whole-home renovation in Brooklyn: questions

What happens when old wiring or plaster turns up behind a wall we planned to keep?
In pre-1940 Brooklyn houses we expect some of that, so the proposal names it in advance. Each room lists what was seen at the site visit, what is allowed for and what would trigger a written change order. Anything found in the wiring or plumbing is assessed, and you approve any change in scope before that work starts, which keeps the sequence intact instead of halting the job.
How do you get materials into a narrow attached house?
Mostly through planning. At the site visit we measure the entrance, stair turns and hall widths, because they limit cabinet runs, tub sizes and sheet goods. Deliveries are timed so materials go straight to the floor where they will be used, and debris leaves along the same route at agreed times. Where a container would sit, and for how long, is settled before the start date.
Is an early-1900s Flatbush frame house planned differently from a Park Slope rowhouse?
In a few ways. Many houses in the Flatbush historic districts are detached frame houses, so staging and access are easier than in a rowhouse that shares walls and has one stair; LPC's Ditmas Park and Prospect Park South reports also note many original details replaced over the years. Both kinds of house need early lead and asbestos steps, and either may sit in a district. See the Flatbush and Park Slope pages.
Our house is in a Brooklyn historic district. How does that affect an interior renovation?
It mainly affects the parts of the plan that show outside or that need a DOB filing, and the exact rules are for LPC to confirm. Look the property up on LPC's landmarks map as an early step. We keep interior-only rooms and outward-facing items, such as vents or anything at the stoop or areaway, as separate lines, so a landmark question about one item does not hold up the rest of the house.

Keep exploring

Read before you plan

Sources

  1. B25024 Units in Structure, Kings County (Brooklyn), ACS 2024 1-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter (2025 (ACS 2024 1-year release)). Accessed 2026-11-02.
  2. B25034 Year Structure Built, Kings County (Brooklyn), ACS 2024 1-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter (2025 (ACS 2024 1-year release)). Accessed 2026-11-02.
  3. Renovating Kitchens & Bathrooms, NYC Department of Buildings. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  4. Do I Need a Permit?, NYC Department of Buildings. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  5. License Checklist: Home Improvement Contractor, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  6. FEMA Flood Map Service Center, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  7. NYC Flood Maps, City of New York. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  8. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Rules, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  9. Lead-Based Paint, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  10. Asbestos Abatement, NYC Department of Environmental Protection. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  11. Landmark Status Letter, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed 2026-11-08.
  12. Historic Districts (dataset skyk-mpzq), NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission via NYC Open Data (rows updated 2026-06-18). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  13. Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO), version 26v2 (dataset 64uk-42ks), NYC Department of City Planning via NYC Open Data (26v2 (rows updated 2026-08-24)). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  14. 2020 Census Tracts to 2020 NTAs and CDTAs Equivalency (dataset hm78-6dwm), NYC Department of City Planning via NYC Open Data (2021-09-20). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  15. PLUTO Data Dictionary (23v1.1), NYC Department of City Planning (2023-05). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  16. The Newest New Yorkers 2026, Chapter 1, NYC Department of City Planning (2026). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  17. Prospect Park South Historic District Designation Report (LP-0979), NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (1979-02-08). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  18. Ditmas Park Historic District Designation Report (LP-1236), NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (1981-07-28). Accessed 2026-11-08.
  19. Project Requirements for Owner: 1- and 2-Family Buildings, NYC Department of Buildings. Accessed 2026-11-02.
  20. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed 2026-11-09.

Talk to us about your renovation project in Brooklyn

Call or email us to talk it through and arrange a consultation.

Call MMA Construction (516) 212-9311Email us