FULL HOUSE RENOVATIONS

Whole-house renovation, in the right order

A renovation is mostly a sequencing problem. The work itself is ordinary trade work; what goes wrong is the order it happens in, and who is responsible for the gap between one trade finishing and the next starting. That gap is what we are actually being paid to manage.

The order that saves money

Structural work and anything affecting the roof or windows comes first, because it is the only stage that can undo everything after it. Then first-fix electrics and plumbing, while walls and floors are open. Then plaster. Then second fix, then decoration, then flooring, then the fitted elements. Doing this out of sequence — a common outcome when trades are booked individually — means chasing into new plaster or lifting a new floor to reach a pipe.

What we tend to find in older stock

• Rising and penetrating damp misdiagnosed as one another, where the actual cause is a bridged cavity, raised ground level or a failed gutter.
• Notched or drilled joists from previous plumbing work, which need attention before new loads go on.
• Undersized lintels, or an opening formed with no lintel at all.
• Original mortar replaced with cement pointing on a solid-wall property, trapping moisture in the masonry.
• Consumer units that cannot accept the additional circuits a renovation needs.

Structural openings and Building Control

Knocking two rooms together, removing a chimney breast or forming a new opening needs a calculated steel and Building Control sign-off. On a terrace or semi it may also need a Party Wall notice served on the neighbour, which has its own notice period — worth starting early, because it is the item most likely to hold up a start date.

Living in it, or moving out

Room-by-room renovation while you stay in the house costs more and takes longer, because trades work around you and set up and clear down repeatedly. Moving out for a shorter, more intensive programme is usually cheaper per week. Neither is wrong — but the decision changes the price, so it is worth making it before the quote rather than after.