General Renovations in Brentwood

Plenty of Brentwood houses change hands needing everything at once. The building itself is sound, the location is settled and the rooms are generous, but the wiring, heating, plastering and layout all belong to a previous owner's idea of how a house should work. Because the Green Belt keeps supply tight on every side of the town, buying something dated in a good part of Brentwood and renovating it thoroughly is frequently more sensible than waiting for a finished house to appear.

What a full renovation covers

On a whole house project we begin with the things that dictate everything else. That means a rewire and new consumer unit, heating and hot water, any structural openings between rooms, then windows, insulation and plastering, before a single kitchen or bathroom is installed. Working in that order costs less than tackling one room at a time, because the messy trades finish before the finishing trades begin and nothing has to be cut back into once it has been decorated.

Period stock in Ingatestone, Doddinghurst and the conservation areas

The villages around the town hold a good deal of period and listed housing, and those buildings ask for a different approach. Older solid walled properties need to breathe, so lime based plasters and breathable finishes usually make more sense than sealing everything up with cement and modern paint. Where a property is listed, or sits within one of the conservation areas near the town centre, alterations that would be routine elsewhere may need consent, and windows, joinery and roof coverings tend to be the details examined hardest.

Larger houses and bigger reconfigurations

In Hutton, Shenfield and Warley, renovation is as much about reconfiguration as repair. Substantial inter-war houses often carry too many small rooms downstairs and a cramped hall, so taking out walls, reworking the stairs and rebalancing bedrooms and bathrooms above delivers far more than redecoration ever could. Work of that kind brings beams, foundations and building control sign off into the equation, which is exactly why it belongs with a builder rather than a decorator.

Budgets on renovation work are driven by how much of the original fabric survives. A house needing a full rewire, new pipework, replastering throughout and a fresh roof covering carries far more cost in the parts nobody ever sees than in the kitchen everybody notices. Surveying carefully at the outset, opening up where necessary and being honest about what is likely to be found underneath is what stops a renovation drifting.

One accountable team

The main risk on a renovation is not the work itself, it is the gaps between trades. We keep building, plumbing, electrics and finishing in-house, on one programme, with one person answerable for the whole thing. You can read more about our renovation service, or look through everything else we take on around Brentwood. Where load bearing walls are coming out, that sits under structural alterations. We are fully insured with workmanship guaranteed, so request a free quote or ring 07967 232435.