Independent project advisory

A house taken back to its structure

Roof opened up, steels in, the whole envelope rebuilt and the house finished. A walk through the stages that decide a project, and what gets checked at each one.

House under renovation with scaffold, roof stripped back and openings formed
Scaffold up, roof back, openings formed. At this point the budget is still mostly a forecast.

Stage by stage

This is a project I worked on directly. I've set it out the way I'd report it to a client, because that's the point: every stage below is a place where money moves and something gets covered up.

  1. Opening up

    Nothing is certain until the coverings come off. Existing timbers, bearings and wall construction rarely match the survey exactly. This is the moment to re-price honestly rather than discover it at the end.

  2. Structure

    Steels sized, positioned and bearing correctly onto padstones. Once this is boxed in, verifying it means taking it apart again.

  3. Envelope and airtightness

    Membranes taped and continuous, insulation fitted without gaps. Invisible within days, and the single most expensive thing to put right later.

  4. First fix and openings

    Openings formed square and insulated before the glazing arrives, services run before floors are closed.

  5. Finishes

    Boarding, plaster, screed and glazing. The point at which variations tend to appear verbally and get argued about later.

  6. Completion

    Snagging agreed in writing, certificates collected, retention released only when the list is cleared.

The record

Photographs taken as the work went, in the order it happened.

Interior with the roof opened up, looking out across open countryside
Roof open: the moment the weather matters most
Steel beam carrying the new roof structure, with membrane behind
Steel carrying the new roof: sized, bolted and signed off
Airtightness membrane taped across a new roof structure with a round window
Airtightness membrane: invisible once boarded, expensive to fix later
Large window opening formed in an insulated timber frame, looking out over fields
Opening formed and insulated before the window goes in
Insulation boards laid across a floor ahead of screed, beside new glazing
Floor insulation down before the screed covers it
Newly plasterboarded room with a round window and vaulted ceiling
Boarded and ready for plaster
New glazing installed across the rear elevation with scaffold still standing
Glazing in, scaffold still up: weathertight and on programme
Completed contemporary house with full-height dark-framed glazing and a white rendered gable
The finished house: a full remodel, inside and out

Why this matters to you

You are not buying photographs of someone else's house. You are buying the judgement that comes from having stood on a site at each of those stages.

When I inspect your build, I know what a correctly bedded padstone looks like, where membranes usually get missed, and which questions a builder would rather not be asked. That is the difference between an inspection and a visit.

How inspections work
A new steel beam being positioned and checked against the padstone
The same check, on someone else's build, on your behalf

Not sure what help you need?

Tell me about your project and I'll tell you honestly whether you need me.

Book a free 20-minute call07714 198743