How long will it take My Remodel/ Rehab ?

Rehab/ remodel projects take planning. That is, if you want a successful experience you have to plan for it. Happy Accidents make for great stories later, but they are a lot rarer in real life. Really.

So, it's important to have Realistic Expectations. Nice phrase; lots of meanings. I'll try to help.

Some projects just SCREAM out to be done first: leaky faucetts, drafty windows, 2-prong outlets in your home office space, Entry doors that won't open/close/lock properly.... well you get the idea.

Prioritize. Meaning that the most important things should come first.

In the Property Preservation business the catch-phrase is "Life/Health/Safety" . Those are the items that MUST be addressed before any cosmetic issues. If you have a reasonably modern house then perhaps those aren't things to worry about; all you need to do is rearrange things to suit your liking.

If you bought a house on the Cheap ( and there are a LOT of those on the market these days!), then the odds are pretty good that your house has some pressing issues that need to be fixed.

This is a key question. There are a lot of things to consider:

• How bad is it (really)?
• What's the budget (and how does this impact it)?
• Can it be done later without screwing up the Main Project?

Using the Kitchen cabinet above as an example, I would strongly advocate for a complete replacement. What's wrong with the kitchen cabinet - it looks fine to me! Here is what's wrong :

• The Faucet is broken. In fact, there is no Spout for it!
• The base is rotten. It sags, and is no longer structurally sound.
• It isn't practical.
• One bank of drawers on the right side.
• 4 Doors open to one common cabinet.
• No shelving

That is the most frequently asked question by homeowners. it is also one of the hardest questions for a Contractor to answer! When you are looking at doing the work yourself, it can be the one question that causes everything else to grind to a halt.

The best answers are in terms of 'days', not hours. Never forget the definition of the word mañana isn't just "Tomorrow" it also means "not NOW".

Plan on exactly What you want to do, What else is affected by your primary job, and then plan how you need to approach it. Every job, every house, has different things to consider.

Getting a handle on how long to expect can't happen until you do your own homework on what you want it to look like when you are done.

There are some "Rules of Thumb" involved. Most of them are along the lines of "expect it to take longer", but some things have what we call "industry standards'.

The whole point of having an idea about how long something SHOULD take is so that you know if you are ahead, or behind, schedule. We are competitive by nature. Relax, and accept it.

Here are some common tasks, along with with basic time estimates. These aren't referenced by some bean-counter (like the guy who does time estimates for vehicle repair schedules - those guys are machiavellian!), these are based on my own years of experience.

DISCLAIMER: Time estimates reflect an average time including set-up, tear-down, & clean-up for a moderately skilled person. Any tradesman working in his primary trade should be able to do any of these in about half the time!

• Replace pre-hung Entry Door - 2 hours
• Remove/Replace storm door - 2 hours
• Ceramic/Wood Entryway - 8 hours
• Repaint any one room ( ceiling/walls/ trim) 4 hours
• Replace Interior pre-Hung door - 2 Hours
• Remodel Bathroom - 4 - 5 days
• Remodel kitchen - 2 days for cabinets/counter/sink only
• Replace Windows w/ Vinyl Pre-Hung - 1 hour each
• Build a deck - 3 days
• Finish a basement - 4 days per ROOM
• Install a new bath - 1 week IF Drain & vent pipes pre-exist
• Replace kitchen cabinets- 2 days
• Relocate Kitchen / bath plumbing - 1 day
• Replace sink Faucett- 2 hours
• Replace tub valve - 4 hours

• Rip out old Cabinets - 1 day
• Install new cabinets - 1 day
• Cermaic Backsplash - 1 day
• Cermaic floor - 1 day
• Countertops - 4 hours
• Plumbing connections - 4 hours
• Repaint walls - 4 hours

It looks like a 6-day remodel. Except that it isn't. Planning what to do when your plans don't work is for times like this.

Here's what really happened:

We had an existing ceramic tile floor, that was installed over the old floor, and cut to fit around the old cabinets. The new cabinets were not quite the exact same size, so we had to fill in areas where the old cabinets were, and then match a suitable ceramic tile to the pre-existing, being sure that we stayed level and flat, and matched the grout pattern and color as well.

The countertops were ordered to fit, and that was a delay. The backsplash, and all the plumbing connection all had to wait on the countertop. Even though we painted all the walls while the cabinets were out, we still had to come back and touch up marks from their installation, as well as marks from the tile installation.

Actual time from start to finish? 11 days. Thankfully this was an un-occupied home. Planning for the disruption - especially if it's YOUR kitchen that is torn up - is all part of the planning process.

How long does it take to do a 5-minute job? The answer is : It all depends.

Follow the link above to learn more :)