Full house refurbishments
Turn a tired, dated or newly bought house into a home that works, without managing a dozen trades yourself. Andrew plans the order of work, brings in the right specialist for each stage and sees it through to the final finish.
18 years self-employed in the trade · Registered gas engineer and electrician on every job that needs them
The service
A full house refurbishment is a renovation of most or all of a property: new electrics and heating, replastered walls, new kitchen and bathroom, new doors, skirting and flooring, and often layout changes such as knocking through or moving a bathroom. It is the work that turns a house that is liveable into one that feels new.
It suits people who have just bought an older or neglected property around Selby, York or Leeds, families who have lived with a dated house for years and are ready to sort it properly, and landlords or downsizers preparing a property for its next chapter.
What makes a refurbishment succeed is sequence. Electrics and pipework have to go in before plastering; plastering has to dry before joinery and decorating; flooring goes down last. When those steps are done out of order, finished work gets damaged and redone, and the budget leaks away.
Andrew Peniston has worked for himself in the building trade for 18 years. He runs refurbishments personally, working hands-on where needed and bringing in specialist trades he knows for each discipline, including our registered electrician and registered gas engineer. His City & Guilds joinery background covers the doors, frames, skirting, stairs and built-in storage that give a refurbished house its finish.
What it costs to get wrong
Putting off a refurbishment rarely makes it cheaper. Old wiring, failing boilers, leaking pipework and damp do not improve with time, and each emergency repair is money spent on a house you plan to rip out anyway.
Doing it one room at a time with whoever is available creates its own problems. A new kitchen goes in, then the rewire means chasing into freshly plastered walls. The bathroom is finished, then the heating upgrade means lifting the new floor. Each trade works in isolation, and you pay twice for the same wall.
Without someone co-ordinating the whole job, gaps between trades stretch a few weeks of work into months of living in a building site.
Our process
Andrew walks the house with you, notes what needs doing room by room and what you want to change.
A clear, itemised quote setting out the work, the order it happens in and the trades involved.
Old finishes removed, structural changes made, and new electrics, pipework and heating run before walls are closed up.
Walls and ceilings plastered, then kitchen, bathroom, joinery, electrics and heating completed.
Tiling, flooring and final details, snagging, and handover of a finished home.
What you get
Andrew runs the job and books every specialist in the right order. You deal with one person throughout.
Correct sequencing means electrics, heating and pipework are in before plaster, so finished work is not ripped out.
Rewires, new circuits, boilers and heating are carried out by our registered electrician and registered gas engineer.
City & Guilds qualified joinery for doors, frames, skirting, stairs and built-in storage.
Where structural changes need building control sign-off, Andrew manages it as part of the project.
Available 7:30am to 7:30pm, seven days a week, which helps when you are waiting to move in.
In detail
Every refurbishment is different. These are the elements that most often make up a whole-house renovation in Selby and the surrounding towns.
Many older Yorkshire homes have small, closed-off rooms. Removing or opening up walls to create a kitchen-diner or a larger living space is often the change that makes the biggest difference.
Load-bearing walls need a properly designed beam and building control sign-off. Andrew manages that process so the work is recorded and approved.
Older properties often need a full or partial rewire and a new or upgraded heating system. This is first-fix work, done before plastering, by our registered electrician and registered gas engineer.
Replastering or skimming walls and ceilings gives a clean base for everything else. New internal doors, frames, architrave and skirting are fitted once walls are dry, and Andrew's joinery background covers stairs and bespoke storage as well.
Tiling and flooring go in last so they are not damaged by other trades.
Most refurbishments include at least one new kitchen or bathroom. Planning them as part of the whole project means the pipework, electrics and walls are ready for them, rather than being adapted afterwards.
A home you plan to live in for years justifies different choices from a property being prepared for tenants or sale. Andrew will talk through where it is worth spending and where it is not, based on how the house will be used.
Common questions
Anything not covered here, ask Andrew directly on 07939 194244. 7:30am to 7:30pm, 7 days a week.
Every full house refurbishments job is priced individually after Andrew has seen the property, because the size of the house, its condition and how much is being changed change the figure more than anything else. Pricing is never less than a day rate, and a deposit is taken before work starts; the amount depends on the type of job. You get a clear, itemised quote before you commit to anything.
It depends on the size and condition of the house and how much work is involved. A cosmetic refresh is a very different job from a strip-back renovation with a rewire, new heating and layout changes. Andrew will talk through realistic timings once he has seen the property.
Sometimes, if the work can be phased room by room. For a full strip-out with a rewire and new heating, most people find it easier to stay elsewhere for at least part of the job. Andrew will be honest about what is practical.
Structural work and strip-out first, then first-fix electrics, heating and plumbing, then plastering, then second fix, kitchens, bathrooms and joinery, and finally tiling, flooring and decorating. Getting that order right is the main reason to have one person running the job.
Gas work is carried out by our registered gas engineer and electrical work by our registered electrician. Andrew co-ordinates both as part of the refurbishment.
Older houses can hide issues behind plaster and under floors. If something unexpected turns up, Andrew will show you, explain the options and agree any change with you before carrying on.
Andrew will explain what cover applies to your refurbishment job when he quotes, so you know where you stand before any work begins. Because he runs the project personally, the person you call about anything after completion is the same person who built it.
Yes. Design Built Right works 7:30am to 7:30pm, seven days a week, including weekends. That helps when you need work done around your own job, or when a stage has to be completed before a specialist or inspector arrives. We are a planned renovation business rather than an emergency call-out service.
Yes. Andrew is based in Thorpe Willoughby, near Selby, and takes on full house refurbishments across York, Leeds, Tadcaster, Sherburn in Elmet, Goole, Pontefract, Wetherby and Doncaster, as well as the wider North, West, East and South Yorkshire area.
Based in Thorpe Willoughby, near Selby, covering North, West, East and South Yorkshire. See all service areas, go back to the homepage or contact Andrew.
Book a walk-through with Andrew. He will look at every room with you, set out the order of work and give you a clear quote, with no obligation.
18 years in the trade · City & Guilds joinery · Building control handled · Registered gas engineer and electrician · Open 7 days
