Delays are a Part of Remodeling

This is a guest blog done by Kathi Fleck of LoneStar Property Solutions. You can read an interview she had previously done with Design Build Planners here.

“The most important aspect for remodeling your home is to have the look and feel that works best for you.” – Kathi Fleck, Renovate, Remodel… Relax!

Don’t let project delays get you down! Many of them aren’t ever going to be your fault or at the fault of the contractor, either. Just be prepared for them. Here are 7 potential delays that are out of a homeowner’s control.

The Homeowner’s Association (HOA) or Permit process delays the start of the project.

Even when permits are properly pulled by the contractor, the process can delay the work. Also, when HOA’s are involved, there can be an approval process for every bit of the project. This can even take weeks, and then they want to be involved during the process as well. If you’re dealing with an HOA, it’s best to keep any change orders at a minimum.

 

Parts do not arrive on time, such as faucets or cabinets.

Delivery delays can happen, especially if an item was on back-order. But sometimes it’s as simple as the order picker left it off the truck or delivery truck shows up at the wrong house. This is a delay that can happen, so bear it in mind. Hopefully, late parts don’t hold up your project. The contractor may even suggest trying to cancel the order and get the part locally if at all possible, just to keep the job going.

Custom cabinets are ordered with a specified ETA, but a delivery delay occurs.

Cabinetry is usually the biggest part of a project. When you’re ordering custom, you plan to have to wait a certain amount of time, give or take a week. But for a wide variety of reasons, custom cabinets can be delayed for weeks or even months at a time. It can even lead to have to losing the deposit on the old cabinets and choose a new supplier. One way to minimize the potential risks is to choose a local custom cabinet manufacturer, or as local as you can get.

Specialty trades (electricians, plumbers, etc.) are delayed due to another job

Specialty trades are always in high demand, especially electricians and plumbers. So during a busy remodeling season, they can easily get overbooked. Even the most efficient of tradespeople can find themselves stuck at a job for one reason or another and the entire project has to be pushed back a day or two. Just keep this in mind, because it can be completely unavoidable.

Unknowns are discovered during the tear out, which extends the process

This is probably the one part of any project that homeowners fear the most. Discovered issues can add many man-hours and extra costs. But it’s important to fix problems that are discovered now, whether they are major or not. Minor things can become major things, given time, especially anything that has to do with water damage.

For exterior projects, there can always be bad weather.

You can’t change the weather, so if your project is scheduled to be outdoors on a rainy day or extremely cold day, it could be delayed. Of course, if there is interior work to be done, the work can shift indoors for the day. But this is simply a factor that can cause delays of days or even weeks that no one can do anything at all about.

Unforeseen family emergencies that cause delays

You really don’t have control over any of these circumstances, especially unforeseen homeowner emergencies that you can never plan around. Whether they be unexpected deaths in the family, hospital stays, or anything like that, you just have to do what’s best for you and your loved ones. The project can wait.

It’s good to keep all of these potential project hold-ups in mind, so that if they do happen, you’ll understand why.

But in the end, you can finish up with an awesome project! See a few examples below:

     

 

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