In What Order Do You Renovate a House?

Planning a whole house renovation but don't know where to start? You're not alone. Most homeowners dive into Pinterest boards and colour schemes before thinking about the actual order of work – then wonder why their builder is asking to rip out the beautiful bathroom they just finished.

Here's the thing: renovation work follows a logical sequence for good reason. Get it wrong, and you'll be redoing work you've already paid for. Get it right, and your project runs smoothly from start to finish.

Think of it like getting dressed – you wouldn't put your shoes on before your socks. House renovation follows the same common-sense approach, just with bigger consequences if you mess it up.

Step 1: Sort the Structure First

Before anything else happens, deal with any structural changes. This means knocking down walls, putting up new ones, or adding support beams. If you're extending or significantly changing the layout, this work comes first.

Why first? Because structural work is incredibly messy. Imagine trying to install your dream kitchen, then having builders knock down the wall next to it. You'd be starting over with a pile of dust-covered units.

This stage also includes major repairs like fixing subsidence, replacing roof timbers, or dealing with serious damp issues. These aren't glamorous jobs, but they're the foundation everything else builds on.

Step 2: Install the Hidden Stuff

Once your walls are where they need to be, install everything that goes inside them. This includes all your electrical wiring, plumbing pipes, gas lines, and heating system pipes.

You can't see this work when it's finished, but it's crucial to get it done now. Once your walls are plastered and decorated, adding new sockets or moving radiators becomes expensive and messy.

Think about your future needs too. Adding extra electrical circuits now costs pennies compared to chasing them into finished walls later. Most people wish they'd added more sockets than they thought they needed.

Step 3: Close Up and Make Weatherproof

Now you can close up your walls with plasterboard and sort out your roof and windows. The goal here is to create a dry, secure shell before you start on the expensive finishing work.

This includes plastering all your walls and ceilings. Plastering is wet, messy work that affects the whole house. You definitely don't want plasterers working above your new wooden floors or fitted kitchen.

Don't rush the drying process. Wet plaster needs time to dry properly, especially in winter. Trying to hurry things along usually leads to problems later.

Step 4: Fit Your Floors

With dry walls and a weatherproof building, you can install your flooring. This includes everything from wooden floors to tiles to carpets – basically anything that's going to be your final floor surface.

Why before kitchens and bathrooms? Because you need to know exactly how high your finished floor will be before fitting units and sanitaryware. Getting this wrong means toilets that rock, kitchen units that don't sit level, or gaps you can't hide.

Protect your new floors properly during the remaining work. Nothing's more frustrating than scratched wooden floors or paint drips on new carpets.

Step 5: Install Kitchens and Bathrooms

Now you can fit your major installations like kitchens and bathrooms. These need the structure, services, and flooring to be complete because they connect to all of them.

Kitchen and bathroom installation involves some wall work, drilling, and general mess. It's much easier to deal with this before your final decorating than trying to work around freshly painted walls.

Take your time choosing positions for everything. Moving a toilet or relocating kitchen units after installation is expensive and disruptive.

Step 6: Add the Visible Services

With your major installations in place, you can fit all the visible parts of your electrical and plumbing systems. This means light fittings, switches, sockets, radiators, and bathroom fixtures like taps and showers.

This stage brings your house to life. Suddenly you have hot water, heating, and proper lighting. It's exciting, but don't get carried away and skip testing everything properly.

Check every socket, every light switch, and every tap. Finding problems now is inconvenient. Finding them after you've decorated is expensive.

Step 7: Decorate and Add Final Touches

Finally, you can decorate. This includes painting, wallpapering, and any decorative finishes that complete your renovation. By this stage, all the messy work is done, so you can focus on making everything look perfect.

Don't forget the details that make a house feel like home. This includes things like door handles, light switches, and those finishing touches that bring your vision together.

Take time with the snagging – that's the final check where you identify and fix all the small issues. These details matter more than you might think.

Why This Order Matters

Following this sequence protects the work you've already completed and ensures each job can be done properly. Try to save time by jumbling the order, and you'll usually end up spending more time and money fixing the problems it creates.

The most expensive renovation mistakes happen when people try to shortcut this process. Don't be tempted to fit the kitchen early because you got a good deal, or delay the structural work to spread costs. It always catches up with you.

Planning Your Timeline

Each step takes longer than you think, especially if you're living in the house during renovation. Build in extra time for each stage and don't book the next contractors until the current stage is properly complete.

Remember that some work can happen in parallel. For example, you might have painters working upstairs while electricians finish downstairs. But stick to the basic sequence – it exists for good reasons.

The Bottom Line

Renovating in the right order isn't complicated, but it does require discipline. Resist the temptation to jump ahead to the fun stuff like choosing paint colours before you've sorted out the boring but essential groundwork.

Every successful renovation follows this sequence. Every problematic renovation tried to shortcut it. Learn from other people's expensive mistakes and do it right the first time.

Want to get your home renovation in Hull started? Then get in touch with DB Construction today.