What Causes Remodeling Delays When Renovating a Kitchen or Bath?

Having your kitchen or bathroom remodeled is a significant investment, but there's probably nothing more exciting! You get to pick the finishes, create a design that's perfectly functional for your lifestyle, and can set the look for your entire home.

That being said, nothing is more demoralizing than construction delays. A great contractor or design-build professional will work with you closely throughout the process to keep your project moving and on schedule. However, even the best-planned and executed project can experience remodeling delays for any number of reasons.

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While your building professional will work hard to create realistic expectations for their customers, issues like weather, permitting, and change orders can set your project back and cause remodeling delays, both short or long-term.

Here are five of the most common (and notorious) speed bumps that will cause remodeling delays.

You Can't Change The Weather

Weather is the most unpredictable factor in any remodeling project. As much as your local TV weatherman tries, sometimes they just get it wrong. While rainy days affect exterior work the most, even interior remodeling can be impacted by the weather.

For example, if you're pouring concrete, painting walls, or replacing windows, rain, and humidity can affect the process. Concrete and paint need to cure and dry, so moisture and humidity can slow the curing process. Replacing windows in the rain is not only tricky if you're working on scaffolding or a ladder, but it can also be hazardous.

If you live n a colder climate, like, for example, Wisconsin, it's not unusual to lose a day to a late-season snowstorm. As a general rule, a good contractor will build in extra days into the schedule for "inclement weather."

Lead Times Can Change: The Challenge of Back Orders

While just in time ordering has changed the sales and delivery world, sometimes it can be a problem. Lead times on items like plumbing fixtures, lighting, or tile, as well as custom orders, can become a problem if delivery timelines change. This is one reason your design-build professional will work with you to choose your fixtures and finishes early in the design-build-remodel process, to try to avoid a holdup.

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You might be thinking, why do I need to pick my lighting before demolition has even begun? Well, the fact is that a construction project like a kitchen or bathroom is a bit of a dance. Each phase of the project depends on the previous step being completed on time. For example, you can start drywall until the plumbing and electrical are installed and approved by the local building inspector. You can begin painting or tile work until the drywall is complete, etc. If any element of the project is delayed; for example, your fixtures are not delivered to the job site, every aspect that follows is pushed back.

Permitting Delays

Almost every town or city requires that remodeling projects get permitted and inspected at various points throughout the process. It's often frustrating and can result in remodeling delays that can put your project on hold for days, or in extreme cases, even weeks.

There are several reasons permitting can cause delays, for example, understaffing at the building department. If your plans need to be reviewed before permits are approved, and there is one reviewer and 30 projects, it's going to take some time. Or, going before the permitting board without all of the proper plans and documents required by the local municipality can also cause problems and delays.

Sometimes, the permitting official will overlook something small, while other times, they can be surprisingly strict. No matter how much experience you have, and how many times you've worked with your local officials, sometimes trying to get a permit can be a wild card!

Being At The Mercy of Subcontractor Schedules

When you first started contacting contractors, you may have been told that they were so busy with work that they couldn't start your project for a few months. Well, this can happen with subcontractors as well, especially the talented ones. Your design-build contractor may have created the perfect schedule, but if a go-to subcontractor can't start as planned (for example, they're delayed on another job!), you've got a problem.

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So why can't your contractor just go online and find another sub? It's often not so simple. Design-build-remodelers take a lot of time forming long-term relationships with their subcontractors. They find people who provide exceptional work at a fair price. While it can result in delays when their partners get busy, it's often worth the wait.

Remodeling Delays Due To Pre-Existing Conditions

This one is pretty uncommon, in newer construction, but can be often found to some degree in older homes undergoing remodeling. These are problems that are unknown until they are uncovered during the process, and must be remedied before work can continue. Think, mold, rot, termite damage, asbestos, and other similar issues that will add time to the schedule.

If your contractor sees signs like swelling baseboards or water stains that might hint at leak when they do their initial walkthrough, they can often anticipate problems and add time to the schedule to mitigate them, before demolition. However, it's the problems that crop up after the walls get opened up that are the real issue. Most of the time, it's older homes that have these problems, but surprisingly, that's not always the case.

While it's reasonable to expect that your design-build contractor will give you an accurate schedule, it's also essential to prepare yourself. Stuff happens, and even the most conscientious and talented design-build professional can experience delays. Backorders, termite damage, or permitting problems while never welcomed, occur. It's normal. So be prepared! Your project will probably have setbacks, but everything will be OK, and in the end, your perfect new kitchen or luxurious master suite spa-like bathroom will be well worth any wait!

If you live in the greater Madison Wisconsin area and are planning a kitchen or bathroom remodeling project, give the expert award-winning designers at Degnan Design-Build-Remodel a call at (608) 846-5963. With our expertise and your creative vision, we can work together to help you create the kitchen or bathroom you've been dreaming about!