When it comes to home remodeling in Tenafly, even the most carefully planned projects can go awry. If your contractor gives you an estimated project timeline, plan to add several weeks to the high end for your own peace of mind. Though every effort will be made to ensure your project is done in time, there may be several things outside your or your contractor’s control that can cause delays of varying lengths.
Preparation
Before you even begin to look for contractors, you should have obtained a copy of your home’s current blueprints, you should have a rough idea of what you’d like your renovation project to look like and you should have a budget in mind. If you’re missing any of those things, the bidding and pre-planning process will be extended. Your contractor will need all the information possible before they can call a single vendor or take a crowbar or sledgehammer to a single piece of wood. The more time spent on the front end of your project, the longer your project will be.
Permits
Even if your contractor begins the permit process before doing any remodeling, unexpected zoning laws or planning board hearings can add time to your project. If this is the case, there often is no set schedule for when the permit might be granted. Your contractor can do their best to estimate or anticipate the amount of time to add to your timeline, but even the best guess may be off by days or weeks.
Additionally, there may be unexpected discoveries during the remodeling process that could require additional permits. These can occur at any point, but are most likely during the demolition process or when attempting to do electrical or plumbing portions of the remodel. If this happens, it will add time to your initial estimate, and likely would not have been built into your contractor’s timeline.
Vendors
Though most reputable contractors will have good relationships with honest vendors, any number of factors can contribute to a delay in building materials or appliances. Your contractor will be at the mercy of vendors’ timetables at all stages in the remodeling process. If a vendor’s processing or shipment is delayed due to employee error, weather or inventory shortage, your project will be delayed as well.
Though your contractor will reach out to their vendors as soon as possible in the process, unexpected delays can hold up at entire project.
Subcontractors
Even the best general contractor will rely on subcontractors to bring specialty knowledge to your remodeling project. By doing this, they can guarantee that any generalized knowledge or gaps in their training are backed up by contractors who have honed a specific aspect of a remodel. Subcontractors can be brought in for anything from electrical rewiring to plumbing to tiling. The use of subcontractors will enhance your project.
The more people whose schedules you rely on, however, the more opportunity there will be for delays. Though your contractor will do the best they can to schedule subcontractors in the most efficient way possible, there may be unexpected delays in the subcontractors’ schedules. If this happens, it creates a delay in the entire project as your contractor waits for them to be ready to work on your project.
Weather
Finally, and most unpredictably, is the weather. Most obviously, any project taking place at least partially outdoors will be vulnerable to weather changes, particularly in climates with high levels of precipitation or sudden weather changes. This can include both outdoor renovations as well as any indoor renovations that rely on outdoor space to store building materials or serve as a “home base” for your construction team.
Weather can also be a factor when relying on building materials to be shipped, particularly in the winter. Both air and truck shipments can be delayed by inclement weather anywhere in the country. No amount of planning can allow for weather changes like this. If any portion of your renovation project will be taking place in the winter months, you’ll want to tack extra time onto your timeline for shipment-related delays.
The most important thing to remember is to be patient and flexible. Though this can understandably be difficult, particularly when a remodeling project has uprooted your family, understanding from the start that your contractor’s initial timetable will likely need to be extended will allow you a modicum of stress relief going into the project.
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