DES PLAINES, IL — Residential remodeling projects are no longer once-in-a-lifetime projects “that keep homeowners dreaming years on end before they ever pick up a hammer,” according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Instead, NARI reports, many of today’s homeowners, apparently reacting to current market conditions, are opting to undertake a series of “partial” remodels as their schedules, budgets and lifestyles evolve over time.

“Serial remodels,” or phased remodeling projects, can take place over a span of several months, and even years, NARI officials said last month, citing a Consumer Reports poll which found that 36% of homeowners who plan to remodel plan to do so in phases.

“Most people don’t think of their house as 10 projects they want to do and prioritize them,” said NARI spokesperson Matt Lederer, president of Mahogany Builders in Chicago. “It’s not a one-time shot: People choose projects they can afford and [those that] will influence resale.”

According to NARI, statistical and anecdotal evidence points to homeowners, for example, opting to start slow, with a remodel to a powder room or closet – and then later tackling a larger project, such as the kitchen or master bath.
These phased remodeling projects, NARI observed, are part of a larger trend in American consciousness that some analysts have labeled “Foreverism.”

“It speaks to people’s desire to continue conversations, relationships and projects over time,” the Des Plaines, IL-based trade association said. “Technology is driving people’s ability to find, follow, interact and collaborate forever with anyone and anything, and home improvement is just one of the areas benefiting from the trend.”

According to Lederer, homeowners buying an existing home with the idea of changing things after they move in, discover that they “are not flush with cash, or they just don’t have it in them to do a series of projects, so they break them up.”

Lederer said he recently completed a phased remodel in a Chicago-based condominium. In the first phase, which began in 2007, Lederer gutted and remodeled the home’s guest bathroom. He then returned to complete a master suite remodel this spring.

“Phasing” a remodeling project has a number of benefits, Lederer said. For homeowners who can’t fund the entire project up front, breaking elements of a major home remodel into stages can help extend costs over time and buy homeowners more time to save or find funding. Embarking on a series of smaller projects also keeps homeowners less stressed.