Welcome to our renovation in Belgravia. In this series we take you behind the scenes week by week as a period house is brought back into use.
There are four weeks left. That is the part of a job nobody films, because it looks like very little is happening while a great deal is.
The last four weeks are commissioning and snagging. Heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting controls and security get tested and balanced. Decorators follow the second fix trades around the house. Stone and timber floors are protected until the final clean, and then the protection comes off and every mark underneath it gets dealt with.
The snagging list is made by walking the house room by room with the project manager and the client, writing down everything, and then closing each item in turn. Certificates, manuals and warranties are collected for handover, and the defects period starts the day the keys go back.
Restoring the character of a building while putting modern services through it is a coordination job more than a decorating one. The last four weeks are where that either shows or does not.
If you are planning something similar, tell us about the house, or see finished work on our projects page.
Published 16 January 2024. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.