Scheduling & Timelines

REMODELING SCHEDULES, TIMELINES, AND PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS

Having performed countless successful remodels, R. L. Rider Remodeling is confident we can bring you the same excellent experience that our past clients have raved about. Take advantage of our simple process and superior design experience brought to you by Lansing’s finest professionals. A big part of this experience is setting and meeting accurate schedules. We continually strive to educate ourselves, our crew, and our customers with the most up-to-date information. This webpage is meant to give a rough idea of how long a given project type will take. Before we dive into timeframes, let’s cover some of the items we must take into account before setting your final schedule.

Remodeling Schedule and Planning Considerations

  1. Time of Year – contractors must pay close attention to what season it is, at least in Michigan. Temperature and weather play a serious role in all jobs, especially exterior work. When the weather is nice we typically have to book out further as more clients are having work done and our staff is busier than in the cold months.
  2. Weather/Acts of God – the old saying goes that if you don’t like the weather in Michigan, then just wait 10 minutes and you’ll get something new. Extreme weather like flooding and tornadoes or other uncontrollable factors can delay projects indefinitely.
  3. Material Orders/Product Selection – making choices on your materials and products is the single fastest way you as a client can move your job along. If you choose rare or specialty material it may take a little longer to source and arrive in Lansing.
  4. Economic Conditions – if you asked a builder for a quote after the financial crisis of 2008-09, he would probably be pounding down your door the next day begging for work. Today’s work climate is noticeably better, and as a result, contractors are booking out weeks or months in advance.
  5. Backlog/Available Help – probably the single biggest challenge for the construction industry moving forward is the growing labor shortage as younger generations choose white collar jobs over the skilled trades. While we are always growing, it can take time to hire and train the best craftsmen to meet our high standards.

Approximate Remodeling Project Timelines

We’d like to emphasize the approximate nature of these timelines – there are just too many variables to give tighter ranges. You may contact us directly at 517-487-3713 and we can provide a more accurate guess if you have 5-10 minutes to discuss your scope of work. Otherwise you may use these ranges for planning purposes and to estimate how far out you need to book to meet a specific completion date.

Design Services – 1-8 weeks

The length of the design phase is mostly dependent on the customer which is unique to this stage. We’ve had clients tackle product selection in half a day and others that debate for months over minute details. The number of design revisions also plays a large role in determining our time spent here.

Additions – 2-6 months

Expanding your home by building out off the existing structure takes some substantial design and labor. Keeping the job site contained to just the portion that needs to be worked on is key. Obviously, time is of the essence once we open up exterior walls and start to demolish so the interior gets protection again as quickly as possible.

Kitchen Remodels – 5-12 weeks

99% of families do not have a second kitchen or alternative cooking/prep methods available to them. We will use your old appliances to set up a temporary kitchen for you while we complete the transformation in the existing kitchen. Alternative arrangements are certainly possible but many of our clients have preferred this method in the past.

Whole House Remodels – 2-8 months

If you need updating throughout the majority of your home, we are a contractor who has lots of planning and scheduling experience with that type of job. It’s a delicate balance to keep you in a functioning home while also performing room-by-room updates so not everything is inaccessible at the same time. Temporary storage is helpful here, or we can move your furniture and belongings as we work through the home.

Finished Basements – 1-4 months

Again, hugely dependent on the job and scope of work. You might be adding a full mother-in-law suite with kitchenette, bathroom, etc. or just updating the flooring, lighting, and painting a room for your new home gym. Historic Remodels – 1-8 months Historic remodels can drag out longer if material is tough to locate and order, or if we hit unexpected issues which can happen with very old structures. Working around and abating dangerous material can also add days or weeks to a project due to the slow nature of investigating, testing, and mitigating the material in question.

Certified Aging in Place (CAPS) Remodels – 2-12 weeks

Small projects such as installing grab bars or swapping in an accessible shower unit will only take a day or two. If we are updating the entire home for accessibility and reworking the entire floorplan then it can get toward that 2 or 3-month range.

Bathroom Remodels – 2-10 weeks

A standard bathroom (5’ x 8’) can get freshened up in just a few weeks while a full-gut and remodel of an entire master suite gets into the range of a month or two. If you do not have a second bathroom to utilize we can reset the commode each evening and help you arrange a shower; don’t worry, we won’t leave you with no bathroom use for a month!

Outdoor Living Areas – 1-12 weeks

Decorative patios with a nice area to grill will be poured in a single day, taking a week or so total to finish. Outdoor kitchens and living areas can quickly get complex when we are talking about site work and extending utilities such as water, gas, and electricity to reach their destinations.

Pools – 6-8 weeks

These are normally straightforward projects that don’t take long to plan and are similar in design and construction. Add-ons like decks and landscaping will add to this timeframe.

Decks – 1-4 weeks

Composite decking (e.g. Trex) and treated lumber decks both have readily available material and are about the same labor to install. Project length starts to creep up when you add complexity to the deck design such as multiple levels or choosing to upgrade your railings to a cable-type system.

3 Seasons Rooms and Sunrooms – 1-4 months

There are lots of types of project grouped under this category – sunrooms are probably closer to a regular addition than a simple deck as far as scheduling is concerned. Screened in porches that attach to the home rather than extend the interior go quite a bit faster.

Custom Home Building – 6-12 months

Since these take the longest, it is a good idea to get started ASAP once you’ve decided to move forward with building a custom home. Finding a lot, sometimes heavy site work/excavating, and connecting to utilities are just some of the early extra tasks that come with building new. And that doesn’t include a lengthier design period as you need to make choices for every room, not just one or two.

Exterior Remodeling – 1-8 weeks

Grouped into this category we have a variety of smaller tasks like roofing, siding, window and door replacement, landscaping, etc. If we are performing many or all of these tasks it can start to stretch toward a month or two while a reroof is 3-4 days max.

We truly have the customer’s best interest in mind and will never recommend that you undertake a project that doesn’t meet your needs or make fiscal sense. R. L. Rider Remodeling takes great pride in advising our customers, not playing the pushy salesman who only cares about turning a profit. We are fair and impartial advocates who believe that doing what’s right will always pay better dividends than trying to salvage our reputation from shady business practices. If you are ready to get started, please call us at 517-487-3713 or fill out the contact form located at the top of each web page. Thank you.

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