Full House Refurbishment in Reading | Case Study

The brief

Loddon Build Co. was asked to carry out a full house refurbishment for a family in Reading who had bought a 1930s semi-detached house and wanted to update it from top to bottom before moving in. The brief covered new electrics, new plumbing, a new kitchen, two new bathrooms, re-plastering throughout, new doors and skirtings and a complete redecoration. The family also wanted to retain the original fireplaces and the parquet flooring in the hallway, which added a conservation element to the job. The fireplaces were carefully stripped and repointed, and the parquet was lifted, cleaned and relaid where it had become loose.

The family was renting nearby and wanted to move in before the start of the new school term, which gave Loddon a 12-week window. Because the house was empty, the builder could work room by room, but the programme still had to be tight because each trade followed the next in a fixed sequence. Any delay in boarding would push the plasterer, and any delay in plastering would push the decorator, so the material supply had to keep pace.

Loddon needed plasterboard, drylining battens, insulation and fixings delivered in small, frequent drops that matched the room-by-room schedule. They called us with the specification and we priced the boarding and fixings pack. The family knew the material cost before the first wall was taken back to brick. Loddon had used Star Hawk on previous Reading jobs and wanted the same reliable service for this larger project.

• Client: Loddon Build Co.
• Location: Reading, Berkshire (RG1, RG2)
• Project: Full house refurbishment
• Duration: 12 weeks
• Star Hawk material cost: £490

The challenge

Full house refurbishments always create a particular set of pressures. On this Reading job we had to manage access, sequencing, dust control and the fixed move-in date. The school term start date was non-negotiable, so every week of the programme mattered.

Access. The house was on a narrow residential street in the RG1 area with permit parking and no off-street space. A full-size wagon could not stop outside. We used a 3.5-tonne tipper that could pull up briefly and carry materials through the front door on dust sheets. Deliveries were booked for mid-morning after the school run. The driver had a permit displayed and never blocked the pavement for more than a few minutes. Neighbours on the narrow street were able to come and go without disruption during deliveries.

Sequencing. A full house refurbishment is a multi-stage job. The schedule ran from stripping and first fix, through plastering and second fix, to decoration and final snagging. We split our deliveries into matched drops so the site never had surplus boards blocking the hallway, and each trade had exactly what they needed for the rooms they were working on. The schedule was updated every Friday for the following week. Loddon's site manager would call our scheduler with the planned rooms for the next week, and we would arrange the matching deliveries for Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Plasterboard size. The house had a small stairwell with a turn halfway up. Full 2.4m boards could not be carried up without flexing and damaging the corners. We supplied boards cut to 1.8m lengths for the upper floor and carried them up by hand. The shorter boards also reduced waste because fewer offcuts were needed to fill the small spaces in the bedrooms. Loddon estimated that the pre-cut boards reduced plasterboard waste by around 15% compared with standard lengths.

Dust control. Because the refurbishment involved taking every wall back to brick, dust travelled easily. We made sure deliveries were clean and that packaging was removed immediately so it did not add to the dust problem. The driver carried boards through on dust sheets and wiped the hallway after each delivery. This attention to detail meant the dust from the refurbishment was not spread around the house by the delivery process.

Same-day contact. Loddon's site manager had one named scheduler at Star Hawk. When the plasterer finished the upstairs a day ahead of schedule, we moved the downstairs plasterboard delivery forward so the team could keep going. This flexibility helped Loddon make up time and meant the family could move in as planned. It also demonstrated the value of having a supplier who could react to programme changes without charging for every small adjustment.

Materials we supplied

Loddon sent us a take-off for the boarding and fixings and we supplied:

• Fixings: 7 boxes of Galvanized Nails for timber battens and 7 boxes of High Performance Wood Screws for fixing plasterboard and joinery. The nails were used for the battens that created a straight fixing surface on the old brick walls, and the screws were used for the plasterboard and door linings. Without these fixings, the plasterboard could not have been fixed securely and the walls would not have been straight.

The plasterboard, moisture-resistant boards, insulation and timber battens were also added to the account and delivered in room-sized quantities. Each delivery was labelled by room so the team knew which materials went where, reducing confusion on site. This labelling was especially useful when multiple rooms were being boarded at the same time. The kitchen, bathrooms, tiles, electrics, plumbing, decoration and flooring were supplied by other trades.

Although the Star Hawk invoice was modest, the fixings were essential. Every plasterboard sheet, batten and door lining relied on the right nail or screw being on site when needed. The 7 boxes of galvanized nails were used for the battens that straightened the old walls, and the 7 boxes of wood screws fixed the plasterboard and joinery.

Delivery and logistics

Refurbishments on narrow streets need a light touch. We structured the Reading deliveries around three priorities.

Small vehicle. Everything arrived on a 3.5-tonne tipper that could park legally for the short time needed to unload. The vehicle was small enough to reverse into a single parking bay if one was free.

Timed drops. Deliveries were booked to arrive just before the relevant trade started. Boards for the upstairs arrived the afternoon before the plasterer moved up. Boards for the kitchen arrived the day the old kitchen was removed. This phasing meant the plasterer never had to wait for materials, and the house never had surplus boards blocking the stairs. It also protected the boards from damage, because plasterboard left in a corridor can easily be knocked or creased.

Clean site. The driver carried materials through on dust sheets and removed empty pallets and wrapping with the vehicle. Loddon commented that the house stayed tidier than on previous jobs because there was never a build-up of packaging. The empty house also meant there was space to stack a small amount of material, but we still delivered little and often to avoid clutter. Loddon preferred this approach because it reduced the risk of boards being damaged before they were fixed.

The build

The build ran for 12 weeks.

• Week 1: Strip out. The old kitchen, bathrooms, carpets, doors and skirtings were removed. Walls were taken back to brick where necessary and the ceilings were stripped. A skip was positioned outside and waste was removed as the strip progressed. The old plaster and lath generated a surprising amount of waste, and a second skip was brought in during week two.
• Weeks 2–3: First fix. New wiring, plumbing and heating pipework were run. Timber battens were added to walls that needed straightening. The battens were fixed with the galvanized nails supplied by Star Hawk.
• Weeks 4–6: Boarding and plastering. Plasterboard was fixed throughout the house and skimmed. The two bathrooms were tanked ready for tiling. Moisture-resistant boards were used in the bathrooms and standard boards elsewhere. The insulation was fitted behind the plasterboard on the external walls to improve the thermal performance of the 1930s house. This upgrade should reduce the family's heating bills and make the rooms more comfortable in winter.
• Weeks 7–8: Second fix. Sockets, switches, lights, radiators and door linings were fitted. The new kitchen and bathrooms started to take shape. The wood screws supplied by Star Hawk were used to fix the door linings and architraves. They were also used for the kitchen unit fixings and the bathroom vanity units.
• Weeks 9–10: Tiling and flooring. Bathrooms were tiled, floors were laid and doors were hung. The parquet floor in the hallway was sanded and sealed, preserving the original feature.
• Weeks 11–12: Decoration and snagging. The house was painted, snagged and cleaned. The family moved in the weekend before the school term started. Loddon handed over the keys on the Friday and the family spent the weekend unpacking boxes and arranging furniture. The children started at their new school on the Monday, and the parents were relieved that the move had happened on schedule.

The programme finished on time. The family collected the keys on the Friday before the school term started and spent the weekend unpacking. Loddon completed a final snagging list during the first week after the family moved in and returned to touch up a few paint marks.

The result

The finished house is a fresh, modern family home with new electrics, plumbing, heating, kitchen, bathrooms and a clean, neutral decoration. The original fireplaces were retained and restored, giving the house character as well as modern comfort. The family were particularly pleased with the kitchen-diner, which had previously been a dark, narrow room but was now bright and open. The restored fireplaces in the reception rooms also received positive comments from visitors. The children were excited to have their own rooms freshly decorated before the new school term.

Loddon billed the family £78,000 for the refurbishment. The Star Hawk boarding and fixings pack was £490. The family felt the investment was worthwhile because the house was transformed from a tired 1930s property into a modern family home. They also noted that the house felt warmer and more comfortable thanks to the new heating system and the insulation behind the plasterboard.

For a material spend of £490, the value was in the precision. The right boards, cut to the right length, arrived on the right day so the plasterer never had to wait or make a merchant run. Loddon's site manager said that the single-supplier approach made the programme easier to manage than on previous jobs where materials had come from several merchants. He also appreciated that the delivery notes were emailed to the office within an hour of offload, making cost tracking straightforward.

What we don't supply on a refurbishment

On a full house refurbishment like this one, the following items sit outside our range:

• Kitchen units, worktops, appliances, sinks and taps.
• Bathroom suites, showers, baths, basins, toilets and tiles.
• Electrical rewiring, consumer units, lighting, switches and sockets.
• Plumbing, heating, boilers, radiators and underfloor heating systems on the Reading renovation.
• Windows, doors, door furniture and skirtings if supplied by a joiner.
• Decoration, floor coverings, blinds and curtains.
• Skip hire, waste disposal and final cleaning.

Everything else — plasterboard, battens, studs, insulation and fixings — stays on a single Star Hawk account.

Cost transparency

The materials Star Hawk supplied for this Reading Full house refurbishment came to £490 and broke down as follows:

Category	Materials supplied	Cost
Fixings & hardware	7 boxes galvanized nails, 7 boxes wood screws	£490

The remaining cost of the refurbishment — the plasterboard, insulation, battens, kitchens, bathrooms, electrics, plumbing, heating, decoration, flooring and labour — was supplied by other partners on the same site. This reflects the fact that a full house refurbishment involves many specialist trades and materials, with Star Hawk providing the structural boarding and fixings. Our role is to keep the drylining trades supplied so the programme does not slip.

Why Reading homeowners choose Star Hawk

We are 15 minutes from the RG1 postcode district and our round covers Reading, including Caversham Heights, Caversham, Tilehurst and Earley. We also deliver to Slough, Bracknell, Wokingham and Maidenhead on the same day. Our Reading depot holds standard plasterboard, moisture-resistant boards, battens and fixings in stock for next-day delivery. For urgent requests in Reading we can often deliver the same day if the order is placed before 11am.

Most of our Reading refurbishment customers are homeowners updating period houses while they are living elsewhere or still in the property. They need a supplier who can deliver small quantities frequently and react when the programme shifts. We also understand that Reading period houses often have narrow stairwells and awkward access, so we supply boards cut to manageable lengths and use small delivery vehicles. Our drivers are used to working on occupied streets and will wait for a clear space before offloading. They also carry materials through the house carefully, protect floors and doorframes with dust sheets, remove all packaging on the return leg, keep noise to a minimum and park considerately. If that is your project, send your full schedule and accurate room dimensions through the quote builder and we will come back the same business day with a fully priced boarding and fixing pack carefully matched to your room-by-room programme, your delivery preferences and the specific access constraints of your own Reading property or the surrounding Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Surrey area.