Quick Rehab 101

by Expert Rehab

2 days prior to closing the known materials were ordered for our rehab and scheduled for delivery 3 days after closing. The day of closing, which was delayed by 2 days, the dumpster was delivered and the house was stripped of items in need of replacement. The following day our materials arrived and the roof was torn off and shingled.

Today is day 10 and we have:
Repaired the back deck, replaced the windows, replaced kitchen flooring with ceramic tile, gutted bathrooms, replaced kitchen cabinets, removed all interior doors, replaced front door, repaired HVAC, framed in and walled new basement bathroom and bedroom, installed shower surround, installed jacuzzi tub, installed water line/drain for bathroom vanity, wired lighting for new bathroom/bedroom, ordered new appliances, replaced roof and projecting the rehab will be finished in another 15 days.

Things to do: interior/exterior paint, hire an electrician to move incoming overhead electrical-to close to 2nd story deck-always check Craigslist first. Tile main bath and kitchen counter, paint & install interior doors, carpet bedrooms/living room and put down laminate plank flooring in bathrooms, fix some drywall on main floor, trim trees and add decorative exterior stone, paint-cut-install baseboard/crown moldings/window casings, replace windows, replace ceiling fans & lights, replace all electrical receptacles/switches, add water line for fridge, and a bunch of smaller items that aren’t worth listing.


This is our normal process for a quick rehab. Unfortunately, there are always things which creep up and they usually involve plumbing blockages, water pipe leaks and nonfunctioning electrical. Any of which can be a real time waster and extremely frustrating.

Dragging a 70 pound electric snake up on a 2 story roof to snake a drain is no fun nor is having to tear out the back of a cabinet to access a drain line but it happens. This kind of situation is typically not expensive to fix yourself but is very time consuming. If you hire a plumber to do this for you it can lead to thousands of dollars as the process is to figure out which line is stopped up and snake it out. Many times the blockage will be at a junction that requires cutting of pipe and replacement of pieces. If you are lucky the cut is not above a newly carpeted room and the cut is above the blockage. If the line is opened below the blockage, what a mess, sewer water is no fun. The repair can be an all day affair and at plumber rates-that is ugly.