Rehabs & Board-ups

Our Typical Process For Rehabbing Your Property

When buying property for rehabilitation, it is important to do your house clean-up and repairs in the proper order. These steps are a good order of process to follow when house rehabbing, with a few extra specifics. Of course you will find small repairs in between these steps but they are very minor. Secure the place by putting new locksets in at least one entry door, and barricade the other exterior doors and windows that will not lock. Notify the police department right away that you are cleaning up the property and would like extra patrol. They are always willing to do this because house rehabbing makes for a nicer looking neighborhood which draws better residents and that makes their job easier.

Do a quick clean up of the debris on the outside of the home. Always do the home remodeling work to the interior of the home before doing any noticeable work on the exterior. The only exception is the roof. If it is actually leaking, we should try to cheaply patch it to get by until the interior is nearly done. Decide if we need to order replacement windows or keep existing. Allow time for replacement windows to ship. Hang some fabric over the windows. You do not want to attract attention to our house rehabbing activities. It is not that you plan to do substandard work. WE just want to be able to do our house rehabbing work efficiently without unwarranted inspections causing delays.

Do a cleanout of the interior. All items to be replaced with the exception of lighting and windows, needs to go. This needs to be done in a fashion that doesn’t draw attention. Repair and reassemble. Start with the mechanicals. Most of these systems work fine for the most part. Most of the repairs are minor unless the home is still on fuses, or the plumbing was frozen. The upgrade to circuit breakers is a must. Prep the walls, ceiling, and trim for painting. Hang the light fixtures from the junction box with a piece of wire, but leave the power hooked up. Clean off any dirt and grease from the walls and ceilings. Pull any nails and fill the holes. we can use our spackle on trim also, and then sand smooth. If the windows are being replaced, it’s ok to get paint on them. Even if wekeep them, paint them and then scrape the glass clean after the paint dries. This gets the window glass totally clean with little effort.

Use a small paint sprayer to spray all the trim color first. Mask off the trim by using a masking machine. Taping off the trim takes a while, but this machine applies the tape to the paper and saves a lot of time. Spray the paint using an airless sprayer. In an average size house in about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours per coat. One coat usually works, but don’t judge the job until it is dry to the touch.

Unmask it the next day. You don’t want to leave the tape on too long, because it can be hard to get off and it can cost a lot more of your time. The walls and ceilings should be flat antique white. Today’s flat paints are very washable. and the light colors make the room look bigger and brighter. If you are keeping the windows, scrape the paint off the glass. But if we need to replace them, the best way is to use a pocket replacement window. They are inexpensive and easy to install.

So decide early on if we are keeping the windows because it takes a couple weeks for them to come in. All you have to do is remove all the window stops guides and windows from the existing frame, but leave the outside stops in. Clean up the opening, and put a bead of caulk on the inside edge of the stop. Set the bottom of the new pocket window into the opening and tip the window into place against the stop. Square the window, put in the 4 anchoring screws, and install the interior stop. we will have to touch-up the paint, but since you used flat paint,we can use a disposable foam brush and the touch-up job will look great. Put up all the new light fixtures. Lighting is very inexpensive relative to the aesthetic beauty they provide. No matter whether the home is a Victorian or a basic ranch, there are great looking fixtures available at a low price at one of your local super stores.

Put down the flooring in the kitchen and bath. After that install any bath fixtures and kitchen cabinetry, if needed. Remember, if it’s borderline, replace it. Have your carpeting installed. we need to use a neutral color here also. A light beige or tan plush or possibly a soft Berber makes the rooms look larger and adds a warm inviting feeling. Buy carpeting at Home Depot and have them cut it to the sizes provided by your installer. Get the roof replaced, if necessary. This will likely be the first permit that gets pulled if we don’t follow the process of rehabbing. When the roofer is done it is time to do the siding if needed. You need to decide if you want to paint or re-side.