Building - Renovation of Old Stone Houses and Ruins

As well as building new houses we are very experienced at renovating and extending old stone houses. We have all the skills necessary amongst our directly employed work force, including stone masons who can build stone extensions to houses that are so good that you cannot tell what is new and what is old.

The phases of renovation are very similar to new build. Some renovation work may require a building licence. The design and planning stage is very significant. However sometimes it may be necessary to uncover what you have before it is sensible to complete this phase. Until everything is uncovered we will not normally commit to a fixed price as it may be impossible to see problems that may exist.

Successful renovation is very difficult as most old houses were not designed for modern day living. For example in most cases part of the ground floor of old houses was a stable for the animals. In lots of areas you find wine presses inside the house. Houses were, in general, much smaller. Very few village houses had gardens, none had parking places, other than for the donkey.

You should be aware that the cost of renovating an old stone house may not differ significantly from the cost of building a new house of a similar size. We often insist on re-building walls. Almost inevitably it is prudent to re-roof your house. Very often we cannot get machines or ready mixed concrete to your house so labour costs are high. There are often high costs of removing rubbish and rubble from the site by hand.

However, done well, a renovation will be visually appealing, full of character and will normally mean that you live in the heart of the community.