Renovations & Refurbishments in Eastbourne, East Sussex

What a renovation or refurbishment involves

A refurbishment means bringing a property back up to standard as one piece of work rather than repairing it a bit at a time. Typically that covers rewiring and replumbing, a new kitchen and bathrooms, replastering, flooring, joinery and full decoration, and often the outside of the building as well.

The order is most of the value. Electrics and plumbing go in before plastering, plaster dries before decorating, flooring goes down after the wet trades are finished. Get the sequence wrong and work gets done twice, which is the single biggest cause of renovation budgets running away from people.

We refurbish houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings across East Sussex for owners, landlords, agents and businesses. Because our own team covers most of the trades involved, one company plans it, sequences it and answers for it, and you have one person to ring rather than six.

It is the work we most enjoy, because it is where you see the biggest change in a building, and it is also where having one accountable firm matters most.

Why renovations go wrong

Most renovation horror stories come down to three things. Nobody was running the job, so trades turned up in the wrong order or not at all. The survey was too quick, so problems appeared once walls were opened and the price moved. Or the scope was never written down, so what was included became an argument.

Older buildings make all three more likely. Lift a floor in a Victorian house and you can find perished wiring, notched joists, a chimney breast sitting on nothing, or damp nobody could see. Those are normal findings rather than disasters, and they need budgeting for honestly.

The other frequent problem is living in it. Work around an occupied house needs planning around water, heating, cooking and sleeping, and that rarely happens by accident.

And then payment. Large deposits and vague stage payments are where customers get badly caught out.

How we run the work

We survey thoroughly before pricing and write a scope room by room, so you can see exactly what is included and take rooms out if the total is more than you had in mind. Where we cannot see behind something we say so and allow for it.

One point of contact runs the job. We sequence the trades, order materials in advance so nothing stops for a delivery, and tell you at the start which weeks will be the disruptive ones.

If we find a problem, we stop and show you. You get options and a price before we carry on, so nothing appears on the final invoice that you have not agreed.

Payments are tied to stages of work completed rather than to dates, and we do not ask for large sums before we have done anything.

Property refurbishment

Whole house and whole building refurbishment, sequenced so the work only happens once, with an itemised room by room price. See property refurbishment.

Home renovations

Changing how the house works rather than just repairing it: opening up rooms, adding a bathroom, converting a loft or garage. See home renovations.

Kitchen refurbishment

New kitchens with the plumbing, electrics, plastering, flooring and tiling all done by the same team, so there are no gaps in the programme. See kitchen refurbishment.

Bathroom refurbishment

Bathrooms, shower rooms and wet rooms fully tanked as standard, with ventilation and floor preparation included rather than treated as extras. See bathroom refurbishment.

Internal refurbishment

Walls, ceilings, floors, joinery, lighting and decoration reworked inside the existing envelope, in homes, offices and commercial interiors. See internal refurbishment.

External refurbishment

Render, pointing, roof, gutters and exterior decoration done together while the scaffold is up, which costs far less than four separate visits. See external refurbishment.

Flat and apartment refurbishment

Flats, maisonettes and whole blocks, worked around neighbours, lease conditions and managing agents, with the paperwork they ask for provided. See flat and apartment refurbishment.

Fire and flood restoration

Making safe, drying with recorded moisture readings, then rebuilding, working alongside your insurer and loss adjuster. See fire and flood restoration.

Fire assessments and remedial work

Delivering the actions a fire risk assessment produces: fire doors, compartmentation, detection and escape routes, with evidence for the building file. See fire assessments.

What it costs and how long it takes

Honest ranges are more useful than a headline figure, and every job is priced after a survey rather than over the phone. As a rough guide to timescales:

A bathroom is usually seven to ten working days, longer for a wet room or where the floor structure needs work.
A kitchen is commonly two to three weeks including plastering, flooring, tiling and decoration, plus a week if stone worktops are templated.
A single flat refurbished throughout is often four to eight weeks.
A small house refurbished throughout is commonly six to twelve weeks.
A larger house with structural changes, new kitchen and bathrooms and full decoration is more often three to five months.
Drying after a flood takes weeks rather than days, and it has to finish before rebuilding starts.

You get an itemised quote and a written programme, so if the total is more than you had in mind you can see which part to change. Ring us on 01323 671001 to talk a project through.

Refurbishing older East Sussex property

The building stock here shapes the work. Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill have street after street of Victorian and Edwardian houses, many converted into flats at some point, and inland there are period cottages with solid walls and additions from several centuries.

Those buildings need a different approach from a nineteen nineties house. Solid walls want breathable plaster and render rather than cement and gypsum, or you get damp within a couple of years. Original joinery is usually worth repairing rather than replacing. Chimney breasts, lath and plaster ceilings and lime mortar all need handling in ways a modern specification does not allow for.

Getting that right is the difference between a refurbishment that settles down and one that produces damp and cracking within two years. It is also where a lot of money gets wasted, because a specification written for a modern house has to be undone later.

You can see examples of completed work on our case studies page.

Questions we get asked

How long does a full refurbishment take?

A single flat or a small house is commonly six to twelve weeks. A larger house with structural changes, a new kitchen and bathrooms and full redecoration is more often three to five months. It depends on the scope and on what we find once we open things up, and we give you a programme with the quote.

Can I stay in the property while the work is done?

Sometimes, and it depends how much is being done at once. People often stay through a refurbishment that moves room by room, and move out for a full rewire and replumb where water and power are off for periods. We tell you honestly which situation you are in.

How do you price a refurbishment?

We survey, agree a written scope room by room, and price against that. You get an itemised quote so you can see what each part costs. Where something is hidden behind a wall or floor we say so and include a realistic allowance, because a quote that ignores the unknowns is not a real price.

What happens if you find something unexpected?

We stop, show you, explain the options and price them before carrying on. In older buildings finding something is normal rather than exceptional. Nothing gets added to your bill that you have not seen and agreed first.

Do you handle building control and planning?

Yes, where the work needs it. Structural alterations, new circuits, drainage changes and anything affecting fire safety are notifiable, and we deal with building control and the inspections. We tell you at the quote stage what approvals your job needs.

Do you work for landlords and managing agents?

Yes. We refurbish single flats, whole blocks and communal areas for landlords, letting agents and managing agents across East Sussex, including turnarounds against a fixed date. There is more on our who we work with page.

Should the outside be done at the same time?

Usually yes, if it needs doing. Scaffolding is a large part of the cost of any high level work, so doing the roof, gutters, render and painting while it is up costs far less than separate visits. It also means you are not disturbing finished internal work to chase a leak afterwards.

In what order should the work happen?

Broadly: strip out, structural work, first fix electrics and plumbing, plastering, joinery, flooring, then decoration, with kitchens and bathrooms fitted after the wet trades in those rooms. Getting that order wrong is the main reason costs overrun.

Where we work

We are based on Hyde Gardens in Eastbourne, so the town and the villages around it are home ground for us. We are out working here most days and we know the housing well, including the older seafront terraces, the Victorian and Edwardian houses in Upperton and Meads, and the newer estates and blocks of flats nearer the edge of town.

From Eastbourne we cover the whole of East Sussex. Along the coast that takes in Bexhill, Hastings, Seaford, Newhaven, Brighton, where salt air and driving rain are hard on any building. Inland we work regularly in Polegate, Hailsham, Pevensey, Willingdon, Lewes, Uckfield, Heathfield, Crowborough, Battle and the smaller villages between them, where period cottages and country properties often need a gentler approach and older materials matched carefully.

Being local matters for renovations and refurbishments. We can get to you quickly to take a look, we know the buildings and the ground conditions, and we are never far away if you need us again. If your village is not on the list there is a good chance we still reach you, so give us a call on 01323 671001 and we will tell you either way.

Backed by recognised standards

We are Gas Safe registered and members of the Federation of Master Builders, NAPIT and the FSB. Those memberships mean our gas, electrical and building work is measured against recognised standards, and that an outside body has looked at how we work rather than us simply saying we are good at it. For a family business our reputation matters more than anything, and we have built it one customer at a time.

Renovations & Refurbishments