Having an organised plan in place is key to completing your scheme on time and within budget, but how do you prepare it and what happens if things go off track? Emily Smith takes a closer look

Complete guide to renovating a house

part 4

Every home building project is unique, but planning a renovation takes a different approach to when you’re constructing a new property from scratch – largely because you’re working on a pre-existing structure that already has its individual quirks in place. The trick to setting up a smooth project is understanding what needs to be done when, and keeping in communication with your trades when delays crop up. Here are some key things to remember when planning your schedule.

Be prepared

Look at the project as a whole and have a clear order of jobs written down. Think about whether it makes sense to tackle one room at a time (it could if you’re going to live in the house during the works). Or is the scale extensive enough that you need to take a whole house approach? This would probably be the case if you’re doing major structural updates and changing the plumbing and electrics throughout. Perhaps a middle ground would suit you better – ie doing a few sections of the house simultaneously because you’re running the same flooring in two rooms and the adjoining hallway, for instance.

The first thing to prioritise in your schedule are any jobs that will prevent further damage. Every building naturally deteriorates over time, but if a property has been empty for a while then it’s likely to need more than simply an aesthetic facelift. Addressing major structural issues, such as rotten rafters and damp issues, should be top of the list.

Other common problems to look out for include incorrectly specified products that were installed by previous owners and are actually damaging the building. One key example is where (now dated) plastic windows were fitted to replace original timber units without due consideration to lintels. This might have destabilised the walls, which would now need to be fixed.