There may be nothing wrong with the flooring itself. At Sweet Homes, we see the programme as incomplete when it gives every trade a date but leaves the decisions between them open.
What order should renovation work follow?
On our jobs, we deal with what sits behind or beneath a finished surface before that surface is closed. We check it while it can still be seen. The finish comes afterwards.
This is not our universal list of trades. A floor, a bathroom and a wall alteration branch for different reasons, including supplier information, access and statutory requirements.
A finished floor starts with the work underneath
When a new floor is proposed, our first questions are about the heating and insulation below it. We also want to know whether the existing base is staying and whether the new build-up changes the finished height.
On some jobs we decide to leave those things alone. On others, the floor date has arrived before anyone has actually made the decision.
Kitchen units, doors and fitted furniture can make the branch more specific. Sweet Homes does not use a blanket rule that every floor goes before the joinery, or every floor goes after it. We take the order from the drawing, the selected floor system and the manufacturer’s fitting requirements.
There is a smaller version of the same mistake. Someone strips reasonably stable wallpaper because the room is going to be painted. The exposed wall then needs substantial repair or a skim coat, but the quote allowed only for stripping and paint.
In our view, painting stable existing paper can sometimes be the more proportionate choice. Where the client wants a newly skimmed finish, we name the preparation before stripping begins: local repair, a full skim coat or both.
We do not programme a bathroom from the supplier drawing alone
For a Sweet Homes bathroom project, we ask the client to have the supplier prepare the design first. We then visit and check that design in the actual room.
The drawing may go back for changes once it meets the existing dimensions, pipe routes and the work needed around it. That visit happens before we agree the working programme.
We also treat bathroom access as a readiness decision. The client may be unable to use that bathroom for the duration of the project. We explain the practical effect and confirm that the client understands and is happy with the arrangement, including how toilet and washing facilities will be managed.
The last useful look happens before work is covered
Once pipes, cables or structural work disappear behind a wall or floor, checking them becomes a different job.
Before concealment, our site team checks the installed work against the drawings. If structural work is involved, we check it against the structural specification. Where an architect is appointed, we invite them to carry out their own inspection.
This is Sweet Homes’ coordination check. It does not take over the responsibilities of the electrician, plumber, architect, structural engineer or building-standards verifier. A required notification or statutory inspection still has its own place.
Occasionally opening-up changes an earlier assumption. Old boxing and layered floors can hide previous routes and repairs. We leave room for that second look. Where building fabric will be disturbed, the asbestos information and survey must also be suitable for the proposed work; the HSE explains the requirement for refurbishment surveys.
Wall changes may have to wait for information
We are often asked to quote for removing or moving a wall before the building-warrant position or structural information is ready. Sweet Homes will not treat the affected part of the programme as settled at that stage.
This does not mean every internal layout change needs a warrant. Some work can fall within exceptions, while structural alterations and other specified work do not. The homeowner’s appointed architect or warrant professional confirms the route; Sweet Homes checks its construction sequence against the resulting approved information. The current rules are set out in the Scottish Government’s April 2026 Domestic Technical Handbook.
Occupied and phased work adds access, protection and temporary-service questions. Those belong in our separate guide to phased renovation planning for busy households.
If you are planning several linked changes in an Edinburgh home, read about our Edinburgh home renovation service or send Sweet Homes the proposed scope, drawings and supplier designs. We can sense-check the order against the actual property before dates are fixed.