A whole-house renovation is a planned refurbishment of an entire home, typically combining rewiring, heating, plastering, new kitchen and bathroom, flooring and decoration, and sometimes layout changes, carried out in a logical order under one project.
If you live in Musselburgh and are weighing up a whole-house renovation, the starting point is a visit to measure up and talk through what you want, which costs nothing. We cover homes across EH21, and a typical project of this kind in Scotland lands somewhere in the £43,000–£115,000 bracket, including VAT. The exact figure depends on size, access and the finish you choose.
- Guide price
- £43,000–£115,000 inc VAT
- Time on site
- 8–24 weeks on site, depending on scope
- Postcodes
- EH21
- Planning rules
- Scotland
- Local area
- East Lothian
- Survey
- Free, with a written quote
What should you budget for a whole-house renovation in Musselburgh?
Use the table to gauge the cost of a whole-house renovation in Musselburgh before we visit. Figures include VAT and are scaled for Scotland, coming out about 4% below the national guide, which gives £43,000–£115,000 overall. After a free survey, you receive a fixed written price.
| Type of job | What it usually involves | Guide in Musselburgh |
|---|---|---|
| Light refurbishment | Decoration, flooring, minor repairs and perhaps one new kitchen or bathroom. | £14,500–£43,000 |
| Full refurbishment | Rewire, heating, plastering, new kitchen and bathroom, flooring and decoration throughout a 3-bed house. | £43,000–£115,000 |
| Renovation with structural changes | A full refurbishment plus wall removal, layout changes or extra bathrooms. | £96,000–£173,000 |
Your price depends mostly on:
- Size of the house and number of rooms being renovated
- Whether rewiring, new heating and full replastering are needed
- Kitchen and bathroom specification
- Structural or layout changes and associated approvals
What do you get?
- Room-by-room survey and a planned order of works
- Strip-out of old kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and finishes
- Rewiring and new consumer unit by qualified electricians, with certificates
- Heating and plumbing upgrades by qualified engineers
- New kitchen and bathroom fitted to your chosen specification
- Decoration and a final clean before handover
Homes in Edinburgh and the Lothians
Edinburgh's New Town is a planned Georgian sandstone townscape within a World Heritage Site, and districts such as Marchmont and Leith have Victorian tenements. Bungalows and villas fill the suburbs, Midlothian has former mining villages, Livingston was built as a new town, and East Lothian villages often have red pantile roofs.
Listed and conservation-area homes need careful window and stone repairs. Bungalows commonly suit loft conversions and dormers, and suburban semis take extensions and garage conversions.
That variety is why a guide price for a whole-house renovation in Musselburgh is only a starting point; the survey shows what your particular property needs.
Permissions for a whole-house renovation in Musselburgh
Planning law differs across the UK. For a home in Musselburgh, it is the Scotland rules below that count, and we check them with the council ahead of any quote.
Internal improvements do not need planning permission in Scotland unless the building is listed.
Like-for-like kitchen and bathroom replacements do not normally need a building warrant, but structural changes and some drainage or heating alterations do, and electrical work must meet the building standards.
Rules change and every property is different, so we check the planning history and constraints for your address before we quote.
The four stages
A visit to your home
A free survey comes first. It gives us what we need to price a whole-house renovation properly, including dimensions, existing materials and access for deliveries, and gives you the chance to ask anything you like.
Written quote
We put everything into a written, fixed-price quote: the specification, what's excluded, staged payments and the expected time on site. Take whatever time you need to decide; there's no pressure to commit.
Plan and prepare
Next comes planning the work itself. We set a start date that suits you, line up the right trades, and make sure any approvals for a whole-house renovation are in place before the first day on site.
Finish and handover
On site, the agreed plan is followed and any change is put in writing first. At completion we do a final clean, go through the snagging list with you and leave you with the relevant documents.
Working with SK Home Improvements
Whole-house renovations in Musselburgh: questions
In what order should renovation work be done?
A renovation should follow a set order so finished work is never damaged by later trades. It usually runs from roof and structural repairs, through strip-out, first-fix electrics and plumbing, then plastering, second-fix electrics and plumbing, kitchen and bathroom fitting, flooring and finally decoration. Windows are usually fitted before plastering. We plan the programme around this sequence so each trade follows on smoothly.
What happens if you find damp or rot?
If we find damp or rot during a renovation, we stop that area, show you the problem and explain the likely cause, such as a leaking gutter, bridged damp-proof course or poor ventilation. We then give you a written price to fix the cause and repair the damage before carrying on. Treating the cause matters more than treating the symptom, so we focus on that first.
Who do I deal with during the job?
One point of contact manages your project from survey to handover. They schedule the trades working under our contract, keep you updated on progress, and are the person to call with any question. You don't need to coordinate builders, electricians or decorators separately, because that is part of what we do.
Which parts of a renovation need building regulations approval?
Several parts of a renovation fall under building regulations, including rewiring and new circuits, new boilers and heating systems, structural changes such as removing walls, replacement windows and changes to drainage. Some of this is self-certified by suitably registered trades, and some needs building control approval. In Scotland a building warrant may be needed for certain works. We arrange the right approvals and certificates.
Can you combine a whole-house renovation with other work?
Yes. Because we manage several trades under one contract, we can plan a whole-house renovation alongside other work on your Musselburgh home, such as new windows with rendering, or a kitchen refit with an extension. Combining jobs can reduce repeat set-up such as scaffolding, skips and access, and every element is listed and priced in the same written quote.
Also covering areas around Musselburgh
We welcome enquiries from all EH21 postcodes in Musselburgh, plus Bonnyrigg, Edinburgh and Penicuik. Each one gets the same survey at no charge and a written price fixed for the work described.