diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/kubeadm-bootstrap.yml b/.gitea/workflows/kubeadm-bootstrap.yml
index ae7dcd7..8dee10e 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/kubeadm-bootstrap.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/kubeadm-bootstrap.yml
@@ -165,6 +165,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run cluster rebuild and bootstrap
         env:
           NIX_CONFIG: experimental-features = nix-command flakes
+          FAST_MODE: "1"
+          WORKER_PARALLELISM: "3"
+          REBUILD_TIMEOUT: "45m"
+          REBUILD_RETRIES: "2"
         run: |
           if [ -f "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh" ]; then
             . "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh"
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/terraform-apply.yml b/.gitea/workflows/terraform-apply.yml
index 439d581..7f469b2 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/terraform-apply.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/terraform-apply.yml
@@ -193,6 +193,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Rebuild and bootstrap/reconcile kubeadm cluster
         env:
           NIX_CONFIG: experimental-features = nix-command flakes
+          FAST_MODE: "1"
+          WORKER_PARALLELISM: "3"
+          REBUILD_TIMEOUT: "45m"
+          REBUILD_RETRIES: "2"
         run: |
           if [ -f "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh" ]; then
             . "$HOME/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh"
diff --git a/nixos/kubeadm/README.md b/nixos/kubeadm/README.md
index 0b523ec..1ba65ee 100644
--- a/nixos/kubeadm/README.md
+++ b/nixos/kubeadm/README.md
@@ -108,9 +108,12 @@ $EDITOR ./scripts/inventory.env
 Optional tuning env vars:
 
 ```bash
-WORKER_PARALLELISM=2 REBUILD_TIMEOUT=45m REBUILD_RETRIES=2 ./scripts/rebuild-and-bootstrap.sh
+FAST_MODE=1 WORKER_PARALLELISM=3 REBUILD_TIMEOUT=45m REBUILD_RETRIES=2 ./scripts/rebuild-and-bootstrap.sh
 ```
 
+- `FAST_MODE=1` skips pre-rebuild remote GC cleanup to reduce wall-clock time.
+- Set `FAST_MODE=0` for a slower but more aggressive space cleanup pass.
+
 3. If you only want to reset Kubernetes state on existing VMs:
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/nixos/kubeadm/scripts/rebuild-and-bootstrap.sh b/nixos/kubeadm/scripts/rebuild-and-bootstrap.sh
index 7b19f1f..458177e 100755
--- a/nixos/kubeadm/scripts/rebuild-and-bootstrap.sh
+++ b/nixos/kubeadm/scripts/rebuild-and-bootstrap.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ SSH_OPTS="${SSH_OPTS:--o BatchMode=yes -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o StrictHostKeyChe
 SSH_USER_CANDIDATES="${SSH_USER_CANDIDATES:-root $SSH_USER}"
 REBUILD_TIMEOUT="${REBUILD_TIMEOUT:-45m}"
 REBUILD_RETRIES="${REBUILD_RETRIES:-2}"
-WORKER_PARALLELISM="${WORKER_PARALLELISM:-2}"
+WORKER_PARALLELISM="${WORKER_PARALLELISM:-3}"
+FAST_MODE="${FAST_MODE:-1}"
 
 declare -A NODE_IPS=()
 declare -a CP_NAMES=()
@@ -190,14 +191,18 @@ detect_ssh_user "$PRIMARY_CP_IP"
 
 for node in "${CP_NAMES[@]}"; do
   prepare_remote_nix_trust "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
-  prepare_remote_space "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
+  if [ "$FAST_MODE" != "1" ]; then
+    prepare_remote_space "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
+  fi
   rebuild_node_with_retry "$node" "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
 done
 
 worker_failures=0
 for node in "${WK_NAMES[@]}"; do
   prepare_remote_nix_trust "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
-  prepare_remote_space "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
+  if [ "$FAST_MODE" != "1" ]; then
+    prepare_remote_space "${NODE_IPS[$node]}"
+  fi
 done
 
 active_jobs=0