Centreville, AL · Member since 2020 · 32 posts · 4 votes
Hey folks,
The title says it all. What's the proper order in which to do the things necessary to rehab a house? I'm in a super rural area, and through pains with general contractors have realized I will more than likely need to learn to handle rehabs myself.
The one house I'm looking at is a 1440-sqft 2br, 1ba. It needs new fascia and gutters; needs plumbing brought up to code, needs bathroom reworked slightly with new vanities, and a new water heater; needs wiring brought up to code as part of it is on fuse box; needs new flooring; needs a complete HVAC system installed; needs a complete new interior paint job; AND has a little bit of mold in one of the front bedrooms (not black mold) due to poor drainage. Crawlspace, no attic to speak of.
What order would I need to tackle these things in if I were to handle the subcontracting myself?
On small residential projects, the order matters a little less since there are usually only a couple bodies on each crew. In general you want to set up your critical path activities, which are the things that depend on each other to proceed and that is the most important timetable to pursue. Also, grouping work so a subcontractor can come in one mobilization is advisable when possible.
I'm assuming bringing up to code includes rewiring, if it's just replacing the fuse box with breakers that can be done whenever.
This would be my order:
Remediation (if applicable)
All demolition
HVAC rough
Plumbing rough (including water heater)/electrical rough
vanities / fascia / Drywall repairs
gutters / paint
flooring / hvac finish
baseboard and trim / electrical finish / plumbing finish
@Kyle Shepherd Todd outlines the process very well. In general think about inside out. Not meaning interior to exterior, but inside the wall the the outside of the wall. If you see it, it should generally be later in the list.
Typically exterior work can be taking place at the same time interior work is happening. The only time this would not be the case is if, say your fascia repairs are directly over the access points, so ladders will be blocking doorways.
I would also caveat that SOME of Todd's list can be amended based on availability. Ideally you paint before floor work. It makes the painters job a lot easier if he does not need to protect newly finished floors. But if the floor guy has availability this week, then not again until September (to use an extreme example) and the painter only has next week open, you get the floors done first and make sure your painter and any other subs protect them. Not ideal, but sometimes you need to get things done.