Victorian terrace, taken back to brick

The Hardcastles bought this house knowing it needed everything. What they did not want was to spend a year of evenings ringing round trades and standing in for deliveries, which is roughly what had happened to them on their last house.

We surveyed it over two visits, priced the whole job as one number, and gave them a week-by-week programme before they committed. That programme is what they planned their eleven weeks away around.

The house had the usual surprises. A chimney breast on the first floor had been removed at some point without support, and there was rot under the bay window that only showed once the flooring came up. Both were found in week one, both were priced and agreed within two days, and neither moved the completion date because the plastering had not started yet.

Every room was replastered, the house was fully rewired, the heating system was replaced and the bathroom moved from the ground floor extension up to the box room where it always should have been. The kitchen came from DIY Kitchens and we fitted it.