What renovation means?

Renovation means repairing and upgrading an existing building so it works properly again. The structure stays, most of what is inside gets renewed. That is how we use the word on site. When a client in Sydenham or Dulwich asks us to quote for a renovation, we take it to mean services and finishes: rewiring, new plumbing and heating, replastering, a new kitchen or bathroom, flooring and decorating, often with some layout change like removing the wall between kitchen and dining room.

Just as useful is what the word excludes. Routine maintenance is not renovation; fixing a dripping valve or clearing gutters is upkeep. Painting two bedrooms is decorating, and we price it as decorating (from £400 a room). Extensions are not renovation either. A side return or a dormer adds floor area, so we plan and price that work separately, even though it often runs alongside a renovation on the same house. The rough line in the trade: if you are opening up walls and touching the services, you are renovating. If you are only changing surfaces, you are not.

You will hear refurbishment used almost interchangeably, and the difference between renovation and refurbishment is a separate question. The short version: keep the shell, renew the guts, and any builder in London will call it a renovation.