Order of Renovations?

No question.

Floors, mouldings, adding a wall.

Everything else afterwards - if you have only one bathroom, make sure that they reinstall new toilet immediately.

Is there any worry that the floors could be damaged during the rest of the renovations? I know you can cover them with paper, but is that enough when these guys starting moving around major appliances?

Paper's not enough. Best to shell out to have it done properly with cardboard and tape. The cardboard comes in wide rolls.

Well, we liked doing the bathroom, kitchen and floor before we moved in because it is easiest to do these when there are no people or furniture in the apartment. Painting, molding and adding a wall are all 2-day jobs that are easy to do while you're in the place.

Definitely do painting LAST. Your walls will become dirty after the major work is done from all of the construction dust.

>>Painting, molding and adding a wall are all 2-day jobs that are easy to do while you're in the place.<<

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Especially if stripping/lead abatement and plaster-work are necessary (as often is the case in older and estate apartments).

If you can, I'd do the kitch/bath first (as these will likely require demo and removal--extremely messy business). Then the new wall, then painting, then floors, then molding.

One thing to add--if you're planning to refinish existing floors (sanding, then finishing) rather than laying down new, I would do the sanding during your kitc/bath demo work, as that causes MAJOR dust. Then wait to finish the floors til you've completed your paint job.

"Paper's not enough. Best to shell out to have it done properly with cardboard and tape. The cardboard comes in wide rolls."

Actually, if you're doing heavy construction, masonite is the way to go. We almost always use it in prewar buildings where we want to save the floors.

1) Do ALL demolition first.
2) If you are putting down NEW FLOORING, install new flooring and sand it, then protect it.
3) Next all heavy construction (new walls, kitchen, bath)
4) Paint
5) finish floors
6) clean construction dust.

Reason for finishing floors after painting: your paint will get on your floors somewhere or another. It's easier to clean the wood dust off of a newly painted wall than paint off of a newly finished floor.

A lot of interesting ideas but I've been in construction for 20 years.

Ideally u want to do a complete renovation prior to moving. However, if money is tight by far the most important renovation of an apartment is the bathroom followed by the kitchen. They are central nodes of all spaces. These rooms require at least $150.00/SF to complete.

You should never sand your floors then protect them with the intent of finishing later. Most likely the workers will stain the wood with dirt and will require resanding

As per your list the priority should be

1. Bathroom + adding wall
2. Kitchen
3. Floors
4. Molding
5. Painting