Renovation planning: step-by-step guide and order of work

Step 1: write down what has to happen

Start with a list, per room or per trade. No dates yet. Anything you leave out comes back later as extra work.

Step 2: fix the order

The order is the most important part of the schedule. A wrong order costs more time than a slow tradesperson.

Step 3: estimate the duration of each task

Ask the tradesperson. Add lead times, and time to dry or cure: a screed, plaster or sealant sits idle for a while before the next step.

Step 4: start from the end date

If you have a fixed date, such as a move, work backwards. Then you see straight away whether it fits, and when you must order by.

Step 5: plan the waiting time too

Not everything is work. Delivery, curing and inspections take time in which nobody does anything. Add them as separate steps, otherwise the schedule looks shorter than it is.

Step 6: make it move with changes

A schedule is never finished. Something always shifts. Record the dependencies, so a change carries through to everything after it. Then you do not have to revise the whole schedule by hand after every change.

See also the examples for a kitchen and a bathroom.

Questions? Fair enough.

Where do I start with a renovation schedule?

With a list of all the work, per room or per trade. Then fix the order: what has to be finished before the next thing can begin.

How much time should I allow?

Ask each tradesperson how long their part takes, and add time for lead times and for drying or curing. See our kitchen and bathroom articles for examples.

What if something runs late?

Then everything that depends on it moves too. In a schedule where you have recorded the dependencies, that happens automatically. In a loose list you have to chase it yourself.

Can I build a renovation schedule in PLOTT?

Yes. You put tasks on a timeline and record which depend on each other, and the rest shifts when something moves.

How to plan a renovation: from tasks to timeline in 6 steps