Refurbishment & extension
Clear stage payments in an easy to understand contract of works led to an open & honest customer/contractor relationship.
House Renovation and Refurbishment Builders in Cambridge
Turn a tired, disjointed or unfinished property into a comfortable, connected home with a substantial refurbishment across Cambridge and Cambridgeshire.
How we run a refurbishment
We carry out house renovations and property refurbishments across Cambridge and Cambridgeshire, from a single floor to a full strip-out. We’re a building company rather than a single trade, so structural work, brickwork, services and finishes are run as one job, by one project manager, to one written scope.
Refresh or full refurbishment? A refresh changes finishes, not structure: decoration, floor coverings, repairs, perhaps a new kitchen or bathroom. A full or back-to-brick refurbishment goes further, with new wiring, plumbing and heating, replastering and often layout changes that need an engineer and Building Regulations sign-off, so it is planned and programmed like a build. Our refurbishment cost guide prices each level separately.
A substantial refurbishment works best when structural work, building services and finishes are planned in the right order. Prestige coordinates the agreed work from strip-out and layout changes through to plastering, joinery, flooring and decoration.
You will have a defined point of contact and a written scope showing what is included. Architectural or interior-design services, bespoke cabinetry, worktops and specialist-supplier work are included only when expressly stated in the quotation.
A refurbishment usually takes in several trades at once. Where the layout changes it overlaps with structural alterations, and where the masonry needs attention with repointing or new brickwork. We carry out refurbishments across Cambridgeshire, including Great Shelford, Histon, Trumpington and Milton, as well as Cambridge itself, Huntingdon, St Neots and Ely. Our full range of work is listed on the services page.
What a refurbishment can include
Strip-out and layout changes, including structural alterations. Damp and rot repairs, with the cause found and fixed first. Replastering, joinery and decoration. New kitchens and bathrooms. Flooring, tiling and underfloor heating. Electrics and plumbing, coordinated with the rest of the work. Roof, gutter and drainage repairs. Brick repairs and repointing.
Older properties
Many Cambridge homes are Victorian or Edwardian, with solid walls, lime mortar and gault brick. Refurbishing them properly means matching what is there rather than covering it up. Our matching gault brickwork project shows the approach.
Landlords and letting agents
We turn properties around between tenancies: end-of-tenancy and void refurbishments, and the repairs and call-outs that keep a let property running — damp, plastering, decorating, flooring, kitchens and bathrooms. You get one point of contact for the whole property, not a list of separate trades.
Recent refurbishment work
See the extension and whole-house refurbishment in Eynesbury, St Neots and the extension and refurbishment at Thruffle Way, Bar Hill.
Cost, planning and quotation guidance: Read our House Refurbishment Costs Guide, Planning Permission Guide and Builder’s Quotation Guide.
What we need to quote
Tell us what you want to achieve, and send whatever you already have. No drawings needed to start an enquiry: photos and drawings help, but plenty of projects begin with a description and a site visit.
Insurance, qualifications and your project paperwork
Written project terms - Scope agreed before work starts
What the quotation defines
The quotation sets out the work room by room, so you can see what is included, what is an allowance and what is excluded.
- Each room and trade priced separately, with allowances shown for anything not yet chosen
- Supplied items such as kitchens, cabinetry and worktops named as included or excluded
- Flooring, tiling, underfloor heating, lighting, electrics and plumbing, where they form part of the agreed work
- A single point of contact and a written build plan for the trades involved
- Work to the relevant Building Regulations and the approved drawings and specification
Separately Appointed Design and Specialist Inputs
Architectural, interior-design and specialist supplier services are not included automatically. Where required, they are provided by separately appointed professionals or suppliers, with Prestige coordinating the agreed construction work against their information.
- Site visit and project details considered before the construction scope is agreed
- Coordination with the customer’s appointed architect, designer, engineer or specialist supplier where required
- Interior-design, bespoke cabinetry or specialist worktop manufacture included only when expressly stated in the quotation
Request a Quote
We aim to respond to every enquiry within one working day.
Proven Experience
Selected Refurbishment Projects
Clay Street – Extension & Refurbishment
Completed rear extension and two-storey refurbishment in Histon, from structural openings and…
View Project
Extension and Home Refurbishment in Eynesbury, St Neots
A completed home extension in Eynesbury, St Neots, documented from structural alterations and roof…
View Project
Cherry Hinton Road – Extension & Loft Conversion
Completed Cambridge extension, loft conversion and refurbishment, combining structural alterations…
View Project
Thruffle Way – Two-Storey Extension & Refurbishment
Completed two-storey rear extension and extensive refurbishment in Bar Hill, including structural…
View Project
Matching Gault Brickwork on a Victorian Extension in Cambridge
Matching yellow gault brickwork on a Victorian terrace in Cambridge: brick selection, bond and…
View Project
Extension and Refurbishment in Great Shelford
A live extension, refurbishment and landscaping job on Hinton Way in Great Shelford — the…
View ProjectOur Property Refurbishment Process
The work is planned around the existing property, agreed scope, drawings and written contract before construction begins.
01
Tell Us What You Want to Achieve
Share the property address, your priorities and any plans or photographs you already have.
02
Site Visit & Technical Details
At the property, we look at the proposed layout, structure, services, access and intended finishes before preparing a clear quotation.
03
Itemised Quotation & Agreement
The scope, costs, allowances, exclusions, contract, payment stages and build sequence are agreed.
04
Construction & Project Management
The work follows the agreed documents and build plan, with progress updates and changes recorded.
05
Quality Checks & Handover
The completed work is inspected, snagging is addressed and the project is handed over with the applicable information.
FAQs
Learn more about the home refurbishment process with our answers to the key questions.
There is no meaningful per-square-metre rate for refurbishment, because the word covers everything from redecoration to a strip-back to brick. What we do instead is itemise by room and by trade — strip-out, structure, first fix, plastering, second fix, decoration — with the kitchen, bathroom and finishes shown as allowances you can see and change. Budget a contingency of at least 10%, 15% on an older house. Where a refurbishment includes an extension, that part follows the published £1,800–£3,000 per m² benchmark. For a first budget, our house refurbishment costs guide sets out indicative ranges for a light, full or back-to-brick refurbishment; the quotation itself is always built from the defined scope.
We don’t promise a figure; a chartered surveyor can advise on your property. What we see on the jobs we finish — Clay Street, Eynesbury, Cherry Hinton Road — is that a refurbishment done together with the extension gives a connected ground floor, and that is what buyers and valuers look for.
A whole-house refurbishment takes us 3 to 5 months with the house empty, and longer if you are living in it, because we sequence it room by room. With a two-storey extension and a loft conversion on top it is typically 9 to 12 months or more, depending on the scope and how much of the house stays in use — Kimberley Road is that kind of project. The quotation carries a written programme either way.
Yes, through a written variation: described, priced and approved before the revised work goes ahead, then added to the programme. Choosing the kitchen, bathroom and floor finishes before we start is what keeps a refurbishment on time — those selections drive the order everything else happens in.
It depends on the scope. Many refurbishments are phased so part of the house stays usable. A full strip-out with the services replaced usually means moving out for part of it. We set this out in the programme before you commit.
Yes. We handle void and end-of-tenancy refurbishments and ongoing repairs, and we can work around access arrangements with tenants or agents.
Yes. We find the cause first, whether that is failed pointing, blocked gutters, a bridged cavity or a leak, because treating the symptom alone does not last.
What our customers say
Feedback from two customers whose refurbishment and extension we completed, in Histon and St Neots.
Extension & full refurbishment, Eynesbury
Prestige completed an extension and complete house refurb for us and we couldn’t have been more pleased. The job was completed on time and to the agreed price to a brilliant standard.
Thinking About Transforming Your Home?
Tell us what you want to change and upload any plans or photos you already have.