Repairs, Renovations & Refurbishments

Repair, renovate or refurbish?

The three words get used as if they mean the same thing, but they describe very different sizes of job. Knowing which one you are planning makes it far easier to brief the right people and to judge whether a quote is realistic.

Where multi-trade jobs go wrong

Most problems on a renovation are not caused by poor workmanship. They happen in the gaps between trades. A kitchen fit can need a plumber, an electrician, a plasterer, a tiler and a floor layer, and each of them usually needs the one before to have finished. When they all work for different firms, one late arrival pushes the whole job back and nobody is responsible for the sequence.

That is why more homeowners and landlords now prefer a single firm that covers every trade under one quote. One point of contact makes the schedule somebody else's problem, and one guarantee means there is no argument later about whose work caused a fault.

Questions to ask before you hire

• Will you survey before quoting? A price given over the phone is a guess, and the difference usually turns up later as extras.
• Is the quote fixed and itemised? You should see each trade listed, along with items such as waterproofing and certification.
• Who will actually do the work? A settled team that works together regularly is a very different proposition to whoever happens to be free that week.
• Is electrical and gas work certificated? Notifiable work should come with the correct paperwork when the job is finished.
• What happens if something turns up behind a wall? A good firm stops, explains the problem and agrees the cost with you before carrying on.
• What do you not take on? Anything that needs planning permission or structural sign-off may need a builder or engineer working alongside the renovation team.

Older properties need extra planning

Older homes bring their own challenges. Solid walls with no cavity leave nowhere to hide pipework, floors are rarely level and the wiring often predates modern safety standards. In areas with a lot of Victorian terraced housing, such as the Potteries, experienced firms build all of this into the survey rather than discovering it halfway through the job.

Staffordshire Renovation Group, for example, are home renovation specialists in Stoke-on-Trent who handle kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, electrics and joinery with one team, under one written quote. That approach suits exactly this kind of property, where one room's work so often uncovers the next.

From the blog