Full property renovations,period and listed cottages included,run by someone who understands old fabric.

Before any renovation starts, we assess the structure properly: roof timbers, floor joists, lintels, chimney breasts and, on older properties, the wall construction itself: solid stone, cob, brick or a mix built up over generations. That assessment, backed by the structural engineer where needed, decides what gets repaired, what gets replaced, and what can be left alone.

This matters because renovation decisions made without understanding the existing structure tend to cost twice: once to do the wrong thing, and again to undo it. Opening up early, rather than working around a problem, is what keeps a renovation on budget.

Solid-walled period properties behave differently to modern cavity construction. They rely on being able to let moisture pass through the wall rather than being sealed against it, which is why lime plaster and lime render are often the right choice over modern gypsum and cement, a lesson learned first-hand renovating an 18th-century cottage rather than out of a textbook.

Listed buildings add a legal layer on top of the practical one: listed building consent is required for many types of alteration, sometimes including work that would be unremarkable in an unlisted house. We flag listed status at estimate stage and factor the consent process into the programme rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Rot and insect damage in old timber does not always mean wholesale replacement. Sound sections can often be retained and repaired by sistering in new timber or resin repair where appropriate, keeping more of the original fabric and reducing cost, provided the underlying cause of the damp or leak has been fixed first.

Masonry repairs on old stone or cob walls use lime mortars matched to the original construction, not modern cement pointing, which traps moisture in the wall and accelerates the very decay it is meant to stop.

Improving thermal performance in an old house is not simply a case of applying modern insulation methods designed for cavity walls. Internal or external wood-fibre insulation systems, breathable membranes and careful detailing at junctions let a solid wall keep working as it was built to, while still cutting heat loss meaningfully.

Floors, roofs and windows are assessed individually, sometimes secondary glazing and improved draught-proofing achieve more for a period property than replacing original windows outright, both for performance and for keeping the character of the house intact.

A full renovation moves through strip-out, structural repair, first fix services, plastering and second fix in a set order because each stage depends on the last being right, plastering before first fix is signed off means opening up finished walls later. We sequence the whole job rather than letting each trade work to its own convenience.

Where you are living in the property during the renovation, or moving in partway through, the sequence is planned around keeping essential rooms usable as long as possible and getting services reconnected in the right order.

New kitchens and bathrooms within a renovation are fitted as part of the same in-house sequence as the rest of the house, including tiling, so the finish is consistent with the rest of the work rather than handed to a separate fitter working to a different standard.

Flooring, joinery and decoration are the visible end of the job, but they only look right when the structure and services beneath them were done properly first, which is the whole reason the earlier stages get the attention they do.