A full apartment renovation, opened once and done properly

What does a full apartment renovation actually cover?

“Full” is a word builders use loosely, so here is what we mean by it. A full renovation of a flat touches every room and every service. In practice that means:

• Strip-out of floors, wall tiles, kitchen, bathroom fittings, old ceilings and, where needed, partitions.
• Services: new supply pipes and waste runs, a new electrical installation carried out by authorised partner installers, and heating if you want it.
• Masonry and plasterboard: new partitions where the layout changes, plastering, suspended ceilings and boxing-in for services.
• Kitchen and bathroom: tiling, units, worktops, sanitaryware and taps.
• Floors and walls: flooring throughout, wall smoothing and painting.
• Doors and joinery as agreed, then final fix: sockets, switches, lights and radiators.
• Materials purchasing if you want us to handle it, and a final clean.

Not every job needs every line. Some owners keep the floor, others keep the kitchen they installed recently. The point of a full renovation is not to replace everything, but to decide everything at once so the sequence works.

When is a full renovation better than doing it room by room?

Room-by-room renovation sounds gentler on the budget, and sometimes it is. But in an apartment the services run through every room. If the wiring in the bedroom is fed from the same old circuit as the kitchen, renovating the kitchen alone either leaves an unsafe circuit in place or means opening the bedroom wall anyway.

A full renovation tends to make more sense when:

• the electrical installation is original or undocumented;
• supply pipes are galvanised steel or mixed materials from past repairs;
• you want to move the kitchen, add a bathroom or change the room layout;
• floors need replacing in most rooms;
• the flat is empty now and will not be again soon.

If only one or two of those apply, a phased approach can work. Our article on renovating in phases explains how to split the work without having to undo it later.

In what order are the works done?

The order is what protects your money. Our sequence for a full apartment renovation is:

1. Protection and strip-out. Lift and landing protected, debris bagged and removed in planned runs.
2. Layout. New partitions built so that services can be routed to their final positions.
3. First fix. Pipes, waste, cable routes and back boxes installed, heating circuits laid.
4. Checks before closing. Pressure on the water side, continuity and insulation on the electrical side by the partner installer, photos of everything before it disappears.
5. Plastering and ceilings. Walls made good, plasterboard ceilings fitted, corners beaded.
6. Tiling and flooring. Wet rooms first, then the rest of the floor.
7. Kitchen and bathroom fit-out. Units, worktops, sanitaryware.
8. Paint and final fix. Paint, then sockets, lights, taps and radiators, then the clean.

Getting step four right is what separates a renovation that lasts from one that is reopened a year later.

How does the layout change in a full renovation?

Many older flats on the Costa del Sol have a closed kitchen, a long corridor and small bedrooms. A full renovation is the moment to change that, because the walls are coming apart anyway. Typical changes include opening the kitchen to the living room, removing a corridor to enlarge a room, adding a second bathroom or turning a small bedroom into storage or a dressing area.

What can move depends on the structure. Partitions can normally be relocated; load-bearing walls cannot without an architect or building engineer. Moving a bathroom away from the stack also depends on whether there is enough height for the waste to fall. We check both on site and, where structural input is needed, tell you before quoting. The layout guide goes deeper.

What about the building and the neighbours?

A full renovation is the noisiest kind of job in a block. We ask the administrator about permitted hours and lift rules, protect common areas and keep debris off the landing. Under Spanish horizontal property law the owner must inform the community’s representative before carrying out works in the flat, and works that affect shared elements — the façade, the structure, the main stack — need the community’s agreement. We point out which parts of your job may touch those elements so you can raise them early.

The practical side of working in a building is covered in our apartment block guide.

What does the quote include, and what does it leave out?

The quote is itemised: every task on its own line with a description, a unit and a quantity. It states which materials are included and which you will choose or supply, and it lists exclusions in plain words. Typical exclusions are loose furniture, appliances you buy yourself, architect’s or engineer’s fees and any town hall taxes.

We do not publish prices, because the condition of the services and the scope change the figure far more than the floor area does. If you want to understand what drives the cost before asking for a quote, our sister site presupuestoreforma.eu explains the factors without pretending there is one standard price per square metre.

What paperwork is involved?

Two kinds. First, the town hall: in Andalusia many interior works can be carried out after filing a declaración responsable, a sworn notification, while works affecting structure or the building’s exterior need more. Each town publishes its own forms; exact requirements are to be verified case by case with your ayuntamiento. We explain what is usually asked for your scope, but we do not process licences or draw up technical projects.

Second, the installations: when the electrics are renewed, the authorised partner installer issues the electrical installation certificate where the work requires it, and you keep it with the property documents. That certificate matters when you sell, let or change the electricity contract.

Official sources

• Ley 49/1960 de Propiedad Horizontal (BOE, consolidated text)