Somewhere along the line, after a few projects where things had become muddled and jobs had been done in the wrong order, I started writing things down before the work began.
Not an elaborate project plan. Nothing involving software, spreadsheets or anything fancy. Just a list.
What needed doing first.
What depended on something else being finished.
Who needed to be booked in early.
What could overlap.
What definitely could not.
It sounds very simple, and it is simple, but that one habit made a bigger difference to how my projects ran than almost anything else I changed in those early years.
One of the things people underestimate with refurbs is that it is not just a matter of knowing what work needs doing.
It is knowing what order it needs doing in.
And that is not always as obvious as it sounds.
A refurbishment is not just a list of jobs. It is a list of jobs in the right sequence. If you get that sequence wrong, you can quite easily end up undoing work, delaying trades, spending money twice, or slowing the whole project down for no particularly good reason.
I learned that in all sorts of small, frustrating ways.
One example that sticks in my mind was on my first refurb, when I decided I was going to fit the kitchen myself. I had never done it before, but I thought I would give it a go. So I fitted the units, more or less copying the arrangement that had already been there, and felt rather pleased with myself.
Then the plumber came to connect the sink up, which was one bit I did not want to trust myself with.
He took one look at it and suggested a much better arrangement for the kitchen, including a far better place for the sink. And he was right. I had simply copied what had been there before without really thinking it through properly.
The trouble was, by that point I had already fitted the units.
So I then had to undo some of what I had done, buy additional units, rework part of the layout, and spend more time and more money putting right something that would have been much easier to sort out before I started.
It was a useful lesson.
A refurb is not just about knowing what jobs need doing. It is also about thinking hard enough, early enough, about what depends on what, and who ought to have input before the next stage begins.
That is the sort of thing a bit of planning can save you from. And by the way, I’m not suggesting you use a kitchen designer for this type of refurb. Most of the trades will have done enough kitchen refits to give a very professional, instant idea of what should go where.
That is why sequencing matters so much.
The general principle is not especially complicated. The messy, disruptive, hidden and structural work normally needs to happen first. Anything involving stripping out, damp treatment, major repairs, plumbing alterations, rewiring, chasing walls, lifting floors, replacing windows, roof work, or anything else that is likely to create dust, damage or delay.
After that, you move on to the things that rely on those earlier jobs being finished. Plastering. Second fix. Kitchens and bathrooms. Decoration. Flooring. Finishing off.
Said slowly like that, it sounds obvious.
But on a real project, with several trades involved and money going out every time somebody turns up, it is surprisingly easy for things to slip out of order.
Sometimes the problem is not that you do not understand the broad sequence. It is that you have not thought far enough ahead about who needs to see what before the next stage begins.
The kitchen example is a good case in point. I had been focused on fitting units. What I had not thought through properly was that someone more experienced than me ought to have looked at the proposed layout first, especially where the plumbing was concerned. If that had happened, I could have avoided doing work that then had to be undone.
Another practical point is that trades do not always slot neatly into place just because you want them to.
Some can overlap quite happily.
Others cannot.
There is no point having somebody turn up if the previous stage is not really finished, and there is no point reaching the next stage of the job if the person you need cannot come for another three weeks because you only thought to ring them at the last minute.
That is another reason I got into the habit of writing the sequence down.
Not because the list itself was clever, but because once you see the jobs on paper you start noticing the gaps and clashes. You start asking better questions. Has that really been finished properly? Does the next person need to look at this before I go any further? Should I book that trade now rather than later? Am I assuming something is ready when it actually is not?
These days, because I have done so many projects, I will often let my managing agent liaise with the builder and the other contractors, and unofficially the main builder becomes the lead contractor. In other words, if he is doing the bulk of the work, it often makes sense to ask him what order he wants things done in, because that usually makes life easier for everyone.
But the principle is still the same.
Think it through before you start.
Write it down.
And be realistic about what depends on what.
Because every time you get the sequence wrong, you lose something.
Sometimes it is only time.
Sometimes it is money.
Quite often it is both.
And on a refurb, time is always money.
That is why a simple list, done before the work begins, can make such a difference. Not because it guarantees nothing will go wrong. It won’t. But because it gives the project a better chance of running in a sensible order, which is a very good start.
Here’s to successful property renovating.
Peter Jones (ex) Chartered Surveyor, author and property investor
www.thepropertyteacher.co.uk
By the way, I’ve completely rewritten and updated my course for 2026, The Successful Property Renovator’s Workshop — a comprehensive guide to renovating properties properly and profitably, based on my own experience across well over 150 projects over thirty years. For more details please go to: https://thepropertyteacher.co.uk/the-successful-property-renovators-workshop-2/