What does renovating a house mean?

Renovating a house means working through a fixed sequence of trades: strip out, structural work, first fix, plastering, second fix, then decoration. The scope is everything between the shell and the paint. Services, insulation, layout, kitchens, bathrooms and finishes.

The order matters more than most people expect. Strip out comes first: kitchens, bathrooms, carpets and any blown plaster come out so we can see what we are working with. Structural work follows, steels in for knock-throughs, joists repaired, damp treated. Then first fix, which is all the hidden work: cables, pipework and soil runs going through the open walls and floors. Only then does the plasterer close everything up. Second fix brings the house back to life: sockets, switches, radiators, sanitaryware, the kitchen. Decorating and floor finishes go in last, once the dusty trades are done.

Get the sequence wrong and you pay twice. Plaster before the electrician has finished and you are chasing fresh walls open again the following week. It is the most common mistake we see when a homeowner has managed trades one at a time. On a three-bed Victorian terrace the full sequence usually keeps us on site for around three months. Whole-house renovation is priced from £1,200 per square metre; we survey first, then give a fixed written quote, and the price we quote is the price you pay.