Here's a general timeline and order of operations for a cosmetic rehab project for a 3 bed, 2 bathroom property that involves minor exterior work and mostly cosmetic interior finishes including new kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, interior paint, floor finishes throughout.

Cosmetic Rehab Timeline (Exterior & Interior Simultaneous Crews)

Other Schedule Considerations & Impacts

Simultaneous Exterior & Interior Work

This schedule assumes 2 crews on-site to start the project, one crew starting the exterior work, while another crew is working on the interior finishes for a total of 32 Calendar days (crews working weekends).  If you you can't have 2 crews working simultaneously on the Exterior or Interior that will automatically add a week to your schedule.

Working Weekends

If your crews don't work weekends that could also add 10-ish days over the course of a month.

Planning Stage (Inspections, SOW, Contractor Bidding & Project Prep)‍

The schedule assumes you will be starting the renovation on day 1 of property ownership, which means during the closing period you are performing inspections, creating a SOW for the project and getting bids from contractors so you can hit the ground running.  

If you wait to start planning, receiving bids until after you close on the property, you could waste 30 days planning the project & awarding contracts.

Permitting

Local building departments have different rules and procedures for permitting and some take a notoriously long-time to get permits approved which could add several weeks to your schedule.

Project Management, Schedule Slippage & the Critical Path

This schedule also assumes you are running a tight-ship and have all of your crews scheduled and showing up on time.  Any delay on the critical path could delay the entire project completion!

Overall, if you hit the ground running, have multiple crews on the project you should be able to complete a cosmetic rehab in about 30 to 50 calendar days. If you aren't prepared upfront, run into permitting issues or mismanage your contractors that schedule could very easily slip to 60 to 90 days+.

Covid-19 Impacts

Supply Chain Disruptions, Material Shortages & Shipping Delays

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruptions with material supply chains which has resulted in material shortages, shipping delays and increased prices. Materials that were readily available at local home improvement stores like appliances, lumber, etc now may be hard to find. You may have to shop around to multiple stores to find materials or wait several weeks before your store to be re-stocked. In order to keep your project on schedule you need to be procuring your materials well in-advance to the installation date.

Lockdowns, 'Essential vs Non-Essential' , & Government Mandated Closures

Local jurisdictions have also implemented their own stay-at-home orders and definitions of what type of construction projects they deem 'essential'. In some local jurisdictions residential and commercial construction projects are not considered to be an 'essential' activity. If we face additional lockdowns in the first half of 2021 and residential remodels are deemed 'non-essential' in your jurisdiction you may face a mandatory, government-issued shutdown which would obviously delay your project completion.

Jobsite Safety Requirements that Impact Productivity

If your local jurisdiction deems your business 'essential' and allows you to work you will likely have to implement safety protocols that could impact your worker's productivity. Some jurisdictions will only allow projects that can maintain social distancing of six feet for all workers which means you will have to limit the number of workers you have on your project at a time or stagger your work shifts.

Virus Infections and Absences

‍If one of your workers or multiple workers on your project contracts the virus those workers and anyone in contact with those workers will likely have to quarantine to 10 to 14 days. If you don't have any additional workers to step-in to help, your project will delayed until your workers can quarantine and recover.