Remodel tips for large projects.

Make your plan.

No where you want to go with your remodel and how you want to get there. This is one are you do not want to “wing it” as you go. Lets see if I can give you some examples: Sometimes I am asked to re-use and item such as a sink or a light. Then once the customer sees it in contrast with all the new material they have installed, they ask me to take it out and replace it. Now I add a demo fee and another installation fee. Had it been thought out a bit more, they would have saved money. I had a customer that did not want to replace the front door. We were siding the home and that was a perfect time to replace it as there is no trim or siding to contend with. After it was sided, they wanted a price on a front door. It would have been much cheaper to do it before the siding was re-installed. There are numerous examples, but I think you get the idea. Think things through. The old saying “plan your work, and work your plan” is still around because it is good advice!

Get materials early.

Make sure you get special order items ordered early. Things happen. Parts get back ordered, they show up damaged, they are delivered to the wrong job site…..etc. So do yourself a favor and order them early if you have a spot where you can safely store them. If you don’t, then stay in touch with your vendor and make sure things are coming in on time.

Schedule properly.

In general terms you should schedule you subs as follows:

Interior:

Framing

Plumbing

Electrical

Insulation

Drywall

Painter

Finish carpenter (depending on the type of flooring, the finish carpenter may have to come in after flooring, before flooring, or both. Since you have made your plan, you know what type of flooring you are installing. Just ask your finish carpenter what he would like to do)

Flooring(some flooring has to go in before finish work such as linoleum or tile in the kitchen and baths. Put the carpet off until the very end. Subs are notorious for staining carpet. If it is not there, you don’t have to worry about it.)

Exterior:

Roofer (roof tear offs can do a lot of damage to anything below them so get your roof done first.)

Windows, decks and doors (put these items on first so siding can be fit tight around them)

Siding

Get permits.

If you a buy the book type person, you will need to call your local building department and let them know what you are going to be doing. They will let you know what you do and do not need permits for. They have randomly stopped by my job site before and asked to see my permit. If you don’t have one and they stop by, you could have a mess on your hands. Usually it is not that big of a deal - but it can be. My advice is to not risk it if your doing a total rehab. It will be obvious to everyone in the neighborhood that work is being done. Nosy neighbors love to call the building department and ask if a permit was pulled.

Understand when you need inspections.

The inspector will want to see some things before you cover them up. We have been asked to remove items we just installed so the inspector could see what they were covering up. So ask him what he needs to see.

Inspector required updates.

Be aware that some items do not pass code anymore. They usually are overlooked by the inspector because it is pre-existing. That being said, if you do any work in the area where the items are not up to current code standards, the inspector has the right to make you perform updates and he probably will. For example, we had a home that had the regular battery operated smoke detectors in it. If you build a house today, the smoke detectors have to be hard wired to your homes existing electrical supply, thereby eliminating the possibility of not working due to a dead battery. In addition, they have to be wired together so when one alarm sounds, they all do. As stated, the house we were remodeling did not have this system. However, since we were doing such an extensive remodel, the inspector made us update the home to the current code standards. It was a $500 tab. The customer did not want to pay for it as he did not want the system. Who could blame him. I had to absorb the cost of that updating.

So once you have your rehab plan in tact, ask the inspector to come out and let you know what you may have to update. You may determine that a couple of the things you were going to do are not worth the expense of updating that area of your remodeling project to meet current codes.

Replace the roof.

If the roof is boarder line, then replace it. It gives the home curb appeal. It is a selling point to potential buyers. A lot of buyers will view it as big future expense. In addition, a lot of times you can usually negotiate a lower price as part of the entire rehab project.

Don’t forget the little things, they add up.

Don’t forget the little items. For example, you budget for a new sink but forget to budget the plumbing necessary to install it. Or you budget painting costs but forget to budget the price of tape, brushes and rollers. All those little expenses add up. So if you pricing things out yourself to establish a budget, make sure you think it through.

There are many things to consider when remodeling/rehabbing an entire home, but these are the most common areas that cause problems. As always, if you have more specific questions that are not covered here, please don’t hesitate contact me for more remodeling tips.