Refurbishment Specialists
Home Renovations Belfast
Renovation is the only building work where nobody knows the full scope on day one. CSW refurbishes houses across Belfast, and prices the discovery honestly rather than pretending it will not happen.
What We Find Behind The Plaster
Open up a Belfast house that was last properly touched in the 1980s and there is a fairly predictable list waiting. Rewiring that stops halfway because somebody ran out of enthusiasm at the landing. A bathroom waste that was joined into a rainwater downpipe. Cavity wall insulation that has slumped to the bottom third of the wall. A steel over a knocked through opening sitting on half a brick with no padstone. None of that is unusual and none of it is a disaster, but all of it costs money, and it is not visible from the doorway when somebody is giving you a price.
That is the honest difference between renovation and new build. A new build is a sequencing problem you can plan on paper. A renovation is a discovery problem, and the only sensible way to handle it is to open up the worst areas early, agree a provisional sum for the things that are likely to be found, and keep talking as the house gives up its secrets.
We take on full house refurbishments where the property is empty, and room by room work where the family is still living in it. The second is slower and needs more care about dust, noise and where people can actually sit in the evening, and we would rather plan that properly than surprise you with it.
Full Refurbishment
Strip out, structural work, rewire, replumb, insulation, plastering, joinery and decoration on an empty property. The most efficient way to do it if you can be out, because trades overlap instead of queueing.
Room By Room
Kitchen, bathroom, living space or bedrooms taken one at a time while you stay in the house. Dust sheeting, sealed routes and a running order agreed so you always have somewhere usable.
Structural Alterations
Removing walls, forming openings, underpinning where it is genuinely needed. Designed, propped, inspected and closed in properly rather than done on a Saturday and covered over.
Why Belfast Homeowners Use CSW
We Open Up Early
The unknowns get investigated in week one, not week six. It is uncomfortable to look at and much cheaper than finding out later.
One Team In The House
Building, joinery and finishing under one contractor, which on a lived in renovation means far fewer strangers coming and going.
50 Years Of Combined Experience
Enough Belfast housing stock between us to know what a 1930s semi hides and what a 1970s estate house hides, and they are not the same list.
Dust And Access Taken Seriously
Sheeting, sealing and a route in and out that does not run through your living room. It costs us time and it is the difference between tolerable and unbearable.
Joinery Made, Not Bought
Skirtings, architraves, doors and any fitted work done by our own joiners so the new trim matches the age of the house.
Straight Talk On Scope
If something we find changes the price, you hear it the day we find it with the wall still open, not in a final invoice.
Renovation And Northern Ireland Building Control
Renovation sits in an awkward place. Some of it is clearly notifiable, some of it clearly is not, and the boundary moves depending on what you disturb. This is general guidance for Northern Ireland rather than advice about your house, and your district council's building control service is the authority on your particular job.
Where A Building Notice Runs Out
There are two routes into building control in Northern Ireland. A Building Notice lets work start without full drawings, but it can only be used for minor planned work to a single domestic property, and the council can still ask for plans once it understands the scope. A Full Plans application means the drawings are assessed and, if satisfactory, the council issues a Notice of Passing of Plans.
Renovation is exactly where that distinction bites. A modest job may sit comfortably within a Building Notice. Once you are removing structure, changing the use of a room or altering the drainage, you are usually past it, and the council will say so.
- The Building Notice route leaves you with no approved design to point at afterwards.
- For anything structural we would expect Full Plans, because the calculations need assessing rather than assuming.
- A scope that grows mid job can outgrow the route you started on. Better to say so than to carry on quietly.
Nobody Has To Certify Your Electrics Here
This is the single most useful thing a Northern Ireland homeowner can know before a renovation. Part P does not apply in Northern Ireland. There are currently no statutory requirements for domestic electrical installation work here equivalent to the England and Wales self certification regime.
Which means nobody is legally obliged to notify or certify a rewire in your house. If you assume a certificate turns up because that is what happens across the water, it may simply not. You have to ask for it, and you have to ask before the work starts rather than after the plasterer has been.
- Ask for the electrician's registration with a recognised body, and ask for an installation certificate on completion.
- Get it before second fix. Chasing paperwork after decoration is how people end up with nothing.
- If the property is or will be privately rented, The Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 are a separate matter and worth checking.
The Council Is The Only Route
Building control in Northern Ireland is administered by the district council under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012. There is no private approved inspector option, so if you have read English guidance about choosing an inspector, ignore it. Whichever district your house is in, it is that council's building control service.
That matters practically on a renovation because inspections have to be booked around the sequence of the work. An officer needs to see the opening propped and the beam bearing before it gets plastered, not after.
- Book the inspection when the work reaches the stage, not when the job is finished.
- Work covered up before inspection may have to be opened up again at your cost.
- Completion paperwork from the council is what a purchaser's solicitor will look for later.
Planning, Conservation And Article 4
Most internal renovation needs no planning permission at all. It becomes a planning question when you change the outside: new or enlarged windows, a different render or cladding, altered roof lines, or anything to a listed building or in a conservation area.
Permitted development rights come from the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 and are decided by your district council, and an Article 4 direction on your street removes them. Belfast City Council has made Article 4 directions, Malone Park being a published example.
- Changing window style on a period Belfast terrace is far more likely to be a planning matter than people assume.
- Listed building consent is separate again, and it applies to internal features as well as the facade.
- Check before the windows are ordered. They are not returnable.
The Order We Renovate In
Strip Out And Investigate
The first week is destructive and informative in equal measure. Old finishes come off, a few boards come up, and we look at the things that decide the rest of the budget: the state of the joists, whether the wiring is one system or three generations layered on top of each other, where the waste pipes actually go and whether the walls are damp because of a bridge or because of a failed course.
We would rather find all of that in week one with the skip already on the drive. It is the least pleasant conversation in the job and by far the cheapest time to have it.
Structure First
Anything structural happens before anything cosmetic. Walls out, openings formed, beams set on properly sized padstones, propping in place until the load is transferred and the whole thing inspected before it is closed in.
On older Belfast terraces the wall you want to remove is often doing more than it looks. We would rather bring in a calculation than a rule of thumb, because the cost of an engineer is trivial next to the cost of a lintel that deflects.
Services And The Shell
First fix electrics and plumbing, insulation, and any drainage alterations. This is the point to decide where sockets, lights and radiators actually want to be for how you live, because moving them afterwards means opening the plaster you just paid for.
It is also the point to nail down the electrical certification question. Ask for the registration and the installation certificate now while there is leverage, not once the walls are painted.
Finishes And Joinery
Plastering, then second fix. Skirtings, architraves, internal doors, stairs and any fitted joinery. On a period house the trim profile matters enormously, and modern stock mouldings look wrong next to original ones. Our own joiners can match a profile rather than approximating it.
Then decoration, floor coverings and a proper clean. A renovation that is technically finished but full of dust is not finished.
How A Renovation Runs
Walk Round And Talk
We go through the house room by room with you, look at what you want and what the property will allow, and flag the things that are likely to become issues once we open up.
Scope And Provisional Sums
A written scope with realistic provisional sums for the unknowns. Pretending there are none produces a low quote and an unpleasant final invoice.
Applications Where Needed
Building control by the appropriate route, and planning or listed building consent if the outside is changing. Settled before materials are ordered.
Strip Out And Review
We open up, look, and come back to you with what we found while the walls are still open. Any change to the price is agreed at that point.
Structure, Services, Finishes
Work runs in that order so nothing has to be undone. Inspections booked at the right stages rather than chased at the end.
Snag And Hand Back
A proper snag list, the council paperwork, and the house cleaned. We would rather you found the snags with us than after we have gone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I stay in the house while you renovate?
For room by room work, yes, and a lot of our renovations run that way. It is slower and it needs more care about dust sheeting, sealed routes and a running order that always leaves you somewhere usable. A full refurbishment is far more efficient with the house empty, and we will tell you honestly which one your job wants to be.
Why can you not give me a fixed price for the whole thing?
Because nobody can see through plaster. Renovation is a discovery problem, not a planning problem. We can fix the price of everything visible and set realistic provisional sums for the things behind the walls. Anyone giving you a hard number for a full refurbishment before opening anything up is guessing, and the guess will not be in your favour.
Do I need a Building Notice or a Full Plans application?
It depends on scope. A Building Notice can only be used for minor planned work to a single domestic property, and the council can still ask for plans. Once you are removing structure, altering drainage or changing how a room is used, you are usually past it and Full Plans is the right route. That also leaves you with a Notice of Passing of Plans for the file.
Will my rewire come with a certificate?
Only if you ask for it. Part P does not apply in Northern Ireland and there are currently no statutory requirements for domestic electrical installation work here, so nobody is obliged to notify or certify a rewire. Ask for the electrician's registration with a recognised body and for an installation certificate, and ask before second fix rather than after decoration.
What do you usually find in an older Belfast house?
Partial rewiring that stops mid house, waste pipes joined into rainwater goods, slumped cavity insulation, and structural openings formed without proper bearing. None of it is exotic and all of it is fixable. The point of opening up in week one is that it becomes a known cost early rather than a surprise in month three.
Can I change the windows on a period terrace?
Possibly, but check before you order. Changing the outside is where renovation becomes a planning question, and window style on a period Belfast terrace is one of the commonest triggers. If the property is listed or in a conservation area, or your street has an Article 4 direction, permitted development rights may not help you.
How much disruption is a knock through?
One genuinely bad day and a week either side of it. The opening has to be propped, the beam set on properly sized padstones and the whole thing inspected before it is closed in. We seal the rest of the house first, because the dust from breaking out a load bearing wall gets absolutely everywhere otherwise.
Can you match the original skirting and architrave?
Yes, and it is one of the better reasons to use a firm with its own joiners. Standard stock mouldings look obviously wrong beside original Victorian or Edwardian profiles. We can run a matching profile so the new work reads as part of the house rather than as a repair.
Should I rewire and replumb even if the existing works?
If the house is stripped and the walls are open, it is the cheapest it will ever be. Working ability is not the same as condition, and a system that works now but is at the end of its life will be replaced eventually at three times the cost through finished plaster. We will give you an honest opinion rather than a default answer.
What paperwork should I have at the end?
The completion paperwork from your district council for whatever was notifiable, the electrical installation certificate, and details of any structural calculations. That is what a purchaser's solicitor will ask for. A renovation with no paper trail is a problem you have deferred rather than avoided.
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Walk us round the house and tell us what you want it to be. We will be straight about what we think is behind the plaster and what that is likely to mean. No charge for the visit and no obligation.
- Call us: 07703 433214
- Email: Cswbuild@gmail.com
- Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland