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Inside a Whole-House Renovation: A Realistic Timeline
From first design meeting to handover, what a full renovation of a Surrey family home really involves and how long each stage takes.
A whole-house renovation of a four bedroom Surrey home typically takes eight to twelve months from the first design meeting to handover, with five to seven of those months on site. Most of the surprises people associate with renovation come from not knowing what happens in that time, so here is the honest version, stage by stage.
Months 1 to 2: design and survey
Everything starts with a measured survey and a proper brief. The design develops from sketch options into a preferred scheme, and an early budget is set against it. This is the cheapest moment of the entire project to change your mind, and the stage where good decisions save the most money.
Months 2 to 4: consents and technical design
If planning permission is needed, the application goes in and the technical work continues while it runs. Building regulations drawings, structural calculations and a full specification get produced. This stage feels quiet from the outside, but it is where the project's cost and quality are actually defined.
Months 4 to 5: pricing and contract
With complete information, the work is priced properly and a fixed sum contract is signed with a programme attached. Long lead items, glazing and kitchens above all, get ordered now so they arrive when the build needs them rather than three weeks after.
On site: months 5 to 11
- Strip out, demolition and structural openings come first, the noisy fortnight
- First fix follows: new electrics, plumbing and carpentry through the whole house
- Plastering resets every surface and the house starts to feel new
- Second fix brings kitchens, bathrooms, joinery and finishes
- Decoration, snagging and a proper clean close the project out
What actually moves the timeline
Three things, in our experience. Discoveries behind old finishes, which a thorough survey mostly prevents. Late decisions, because a kitchen chosen in month six holds the programme hostage. And long lead deliveries, which is why we order early. None of these are luck. They are all management.
This is the reason we run design and construction as one team. Every handover between a separate architect, engineer and builder is a place for a week to go missing. Remove the handovers and the programme holds.