Rehab 4470 - Hurry up and Wait

We are about 4 weeks away from closing.  The sellers of the house need time to pack and move. It was part of what made the deal attractive to them.  The inspections were completed with one surprise (some furry critters in the attic) and it seems all we do is plan, plan, and then plan some more.  A key part of planning (and the offer stage) is having a good feel where the money will go and what it will cost to carry the project.

Over time we've grown from working it out in our heads to using a spreadsheet that breaks down the estimated cost for renovation room by room and then aggregates the total of the rooms to a master cost sheet.   We then build in another 10% for the unexpected (which is really "we expect to find a surprise" or "I need a new tool").  One of the tabs in the spreadsheet is used as a central materials listing.   When the materials and costs change it gets pushed to the individual rooms.  Using this method we can rapidly understand how a change to a material cost can affect the entire project cost.

What that said the phrase "the best laid plans soon go to waste" seems to apply as soon as a wall is open or a cabinet removed.

The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,

And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

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