How to renovate a house remotely – a few handy tips
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Anna Whitaker
Property flipper and design enthusiast with an eye for thoughtful and financially savvy spaces
Call me a control freak, but renovating a house remotely is something I never thought I’d be open to.
I’ve lived through two other renovations, and while there were times I’d have definitely preferred to live off-site, I could never quite justify the expense.
Recently, however, I invested in a holiday let on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall. That’s 300 miles from my home in London, where I have kids in school, and a 10-hour round trip every time I wanted to visit.
Renovating remotely was my only option. So while we spent six weeks there in the summer of 2021, planning the project, hiring tradespeople and briefing them, I passed the buck in September and had to trust the process from afar.
Here’s what I learned from that process…
Tips and tricks for how to renovate a house remotely
Plan as much as you can upfront
If there’s one thing that’s worth doing up front, it’s to plan your renovation in as much detail as you can. It’s far cheaper to make mistakes when designing on paper than when knocking down walls. Renovating remotely means you won’t be on-site to make decisions as you go, so having your ducks in a row is absolutely essential.
If, like me, you’re planning to manage the process yourself (as in, not hiring someone to oversee the project), you’ll want to make sure you know exactly when and in what order things are happening. When are deliveries being made? Where is each plug socket going? Which paint is going on each wall? These questions and hundreds of others will need answering and documenting before a single paintbrush is picked up.
Putting your plans down on paper or in a more visual presentation will help you to keep track of the work and the steps for each room so you can check things off as you go, wherever you are.
Thankfully, if you’re in the early stages of your renovation and are planning to do it remotely or not, you can access Fifi McGee’s free renovation guide to get the planning phase started.
IMAGE: by Jenia Flerman on Unsplash
Research makes the dream work
This one goes hand in hand with the above. Doing your research really pays off.
Once you’ve received the survey, you’ll know what to prioritise and can start budgeting for that first. Roof leaking? Rising damp? Dodgy electrics? List the red flags and see if you can get quotes ahead of completion.
Savvy buyers will have managed to negotiate these off the sale price, but if you’re getting a bargain as it is, here’s my advice: use the conveyancing process to your advantage.
This frustrating period takes 12 weeks on average, giving you plenty of time to arrange for quotes at the property (most sellers will be fine with this) and means you can hit the ground running as soon as you have the keys.
This is helpful if it’s an investment property, as you’re not wasting any time before letting it out. If you’re planning to move in after the work has finished, it also saves you valuable time and money that lots of people spend moving in, out, and in again. Stressful.
Hire the right team
This will make or break your renovation.
Making sure the people you have on the ground can be trusted to stick to a schedule, follow your designs and meet the standard you’re hoping for is a tough call.
Once you know your plans inside out, it’s time to speak to contractors who will ultimately bring the dream to life.
Meeting them on-site and in person is important so you can get a real idea of their character. I’ve been stung in the past by trusting someone to do the job they advertised without meeting them beforehand (this was just a minor job, but I was so disappointed).
Finding a real master of their trade can be tricky, but you’ll know when you meet them. They’ll be the ones who ask the questions you haven’t thought about, suggest things to improve your plans and have the kind of attention to detail that is essential when you can’t micro-manage everything they do.
Make sure they’re happy to connect on Whatsapp, so they can update you with photos and videos as they go.
Image: by Callum Hill from Unsplash
Sweeten up your neighbours
No one likes living next to a building site, and if you’re renovating remotely, there’s a good chance your neighbours will bear the brunt of your grand design.
If you’ve lived there for a while already, you can probably pop over and explain what’s about to happen, apologise in advance, and drop a bottle of something over when the dust settles.
If you’re yet to move in, introduce yourself beforehand. You might even find they’re about to renovate, too, and you have that in common (and can ask for contractor recommendations).
Our neighbours in Cornwall even came to the rescue one evening when I had a call (from another elderly neighbour) telling me that water was pouring out of the overflow pipe and down the side of the wall.
The water needed to be shut off before I could get a plumber out in the morning, so I called my younger, more handy neighbours, who immediately stepped in to help.
Optimise your deliveries
Before each phase of the work begins, you’ll need to make sure the materials have arrived.
In many cases, your contractors can help with this: electricians can supply sockets and switches to your spec, plumbers can order radiators and bring them on the day etc.
In my experience, and even with their trade discounts, this is often a more expensive way to do it.
Personally, I’d find exactly what you want online and try to have everything delivered on the same day. That way, you can make a trip to sign for all the parcels in one go.
It’s worth being there to double-check the right thing’s been delivered too. Your tradesmen can’t be responsible for installing something delivered in error if they didn’t know otherwise, so I’d say this is an important time to be there.
Image: by Milivoj Kuhar on Unsplash
Visit often
It might counteract the idea of renovating a house remotely, but if you can be on-site from time to time, it definitely helps.
As mentioned above, it’s good to be there for deliveries when you can, but it’s also lovely to see how things are coming along in general. It also means you can spot any issues as they come up and chase the contractors.
We used a brilliant Jack-of-all-trades type guy for a lot of the work at The Old Coach House, and even though he was great when he got down to it, he was often MIA if the surf was good. He was also juggling a few different projects, so if I was away, he would sometimes prioritise other jobs as I couldn’t see what he was up to.
Every now and then, I’d head down to check on the progress, and I’m almost certain that 90% of the work was done in the few days between my saying I was coming and when I arrived.
If you’re within a couple of hours of the place, I’d definitely try to visit once a week or every other week at the least. It’ll give you more peace of mind that you’re on track to hit your deadline.
Trust the process
This was a hard one for me as a perfectionist.
Being off-site means trusting the people you’ve hired and letting go of the compulsion to check in every day.
By the time you’ve made all your plans, hired the right team and briefed them on exactly what you want, you’re essentially passing the buck.
There’s no use worrying about the things you can’t control beyond this point. Try to take more of a back seat while you’re away and be prepared for things to go wrong regardless of your presence. It’s all part of the process.
Use the time away to focus on the parts of your life that you’ve neglected in the planning process and enjoy a glass of wine in front of Netflix. If you’re really missing the planning process, I highly recommend Fifi McGee’s Home Design course, which I used to pull together a cohesive scheme for The Old Coach House.
The latter stages include choosing the decor and picking out accessories, which are exactly the kind of fun jobs you can do from afar to reignite your excitement and bring your renovation to life.
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