5% off your first Design & Build project · 10% off when you refer a friend · Building & construction only
Room-by-room renovations and full house strip-outs handled by one contractor with an in-house architect, certified carpenters, and coordinated trades — so structural, first-fix, plaster, second-fix, tiling and decoration land in the right order, on the same programme.
30+ years in building & construction · in-house architect · £2M public & employers' liability insurance
Our thank-you to every new client who books Ash Villa Development Ltd for a qualifying building project. Voucher value is confirmed with your written quote.
New clients only. Applies to loft conversions, refurbishments, design & build and single or two-storey extensions. Voucher issued on project commencement.
What it is
Full and partial refurbishment of existing homes — from single-room replans through whole-house strip-outs, including structural alterations, first-fix mechanical and electrical, plastering, second-fix carpentry, tiling, decoration and finished floors.
Who it's for
Homeowners and landlords in Acton, Ealing and the wider West London area with Victorian, Edwardian or period properties that need modernising without losing their character.
When you need it
When you're inheriting a tired layout, buying a property that needs bringing up to standard, planning to sell, or living around damage and dated finishes that a patch-repair won't fix.
Why use a professional
Refurbishment goes wrong when trades work in the wrong order, when the design isn't finalised before the strip-out, or when there's no one person accountable for the finish. A design & build contract removes all three risks.
Most construction disputes trace back to the same handful of shortcuts — undersized structure, uncoordinated trades, and a spec that wasn't finalised before the first invoice. All of them are avoidable at the design stage; almost none are cheap to fix once the walls are up.
If it isn't done properly
Common mistakes
The same five stages every time — nothing hidden, no mystery handovers between designer and builder, and a written quote against a finalised spec before you commit.
Free site visit, walk-through of the property, an honest read of what's structurally practical, and a rough budget bracket before any drawings are commissioned.
Our in-house architect produces layout options, elevations and specifications. Where planning permission or building regulations apply, the application is prepared and coordinated for you.
A written, itemised quote against the finalised spec — the number you commit to. Free quotes typically issued within 2–3 working days of the site visit.
Strip-out, structural, first-fix, plaster, second-fix and finishes run to a written programme with one site lead. Payment is staged against milestones by bank transfer.
Snag list walked with you, closed out in writing, and a handover pack provided with product warranties and appliance manuals.
One phone number for design, structural, plumbing, joinery, plaster and decoration — no chasing five trades.
Design and construction sit under one roof, so drawings match what actually gets built and change orders are rare.
Certified carpentry and joinery — corners, reveals and mitre lines held to a proper standard, not left to chance.
Written build programme, staged milestones, and a site lead who's on the job — not selling the next one.
£2 million public and employers' liability insurance in place for the entire build.
Three decades running building projects across West London — every mistake has been seen and priced out already.
West London refurbishment work sits on top of a lot of period stock — solid-brick Victorian terraces, Edwardian bays, ex-council concrete blocks. Each has its own quirks: what's safe to cut, where the drains actually run, how the roof was originally trussed. Here's how we approach the parts of a refurb that most quotes gloss over.
Removing internal walls, forming knock-throughs between reception rooms, opening up chimney breasts, or forming a wider opening for bi-folds and lanterns. Structural steels are specified by a structural engineer, padstones sized correctly, and building control notified. We don't 'have a look' at load-bearing walls — they're calculated.
Full replastering to skim finish over sound backgrounds; hack-off and re-render where damp has taken hold. Lime-based systems on genuinely period walls where the wall needs to breathe. Bonding, browning and multi-finish or one-coat depending on background — chosen by the plasterer, not defaulted to the cheapest sack.
First-fix plumbing, heating and electrics installed before plaster: hot and cold pipe runs, waste, gas (Gas Safe registered), zoned heating with correct pipe sizing, ring finals and radial circuits, data and lighting circuits. Correctly clipped, correctly notched — not chased through structural timbers on a whim.
Skirting, architrave, doors and door furniture, radiators, sanitaryware, sockets and switches, decorative light fittings. Bespoke carpentry — alcove units, media walls, window seats — sized on site rather than ordered off a spreadsheet.
Tiling (large-format, herringbone, mosaic — set out from the eye-line first), timber and engineered wood floors, carpets, decoration (two-coat prep on new plaster, mist coat first). This is the part clients see; it's also the part that's most obvious when a corner has been cut earlier.
Matching imagery for this project type, keeping finished views prominent and using in-progress shots where they explain the build sequence.
The questions we hear across West London — costs, timelines, planning, payment structure and design.
Ask us directlyRates vary with scope, spec and property size, so we don't publish a headline £/sqft that would mislead you. After a site visit we issue a written, itemised quote — usually within 2–3 working days — so you can see exactly what your money buys.
As a rough guide: single-room refurb 3–6 weeks; multi-room 8–14 weeks; whole-house strip-outs typically 12–20 weeks depending on structural work and finish level. Every project is programmed and signed off in writing before we start.
For whole-house or heavy structural work — yes, in almost every case. For a single-room refurb (bathroom, kitchen) many clients stay put with dust screening. We'll advise honestly at the site visit.
Yes. Design and drawings are handled in-house, so what's drawn is what gets built — and changes cost less because there's no external design fee revision loop.
Deposit up front, then staged instalments as work progresses — typically after strip-out and structural, after first-fix, after plaster and second-fix, with a balance on practical completion. All payments by bank transfer.
Yes — £2 million public and employers' liability insurance covering all our building and construction work. Any specialist subcontractors we use carry their own insurance in addition.
Where required, yes — our in-house architect prepares and coordinates the applications. Many internal refurbishments only need building regulations sign-off, not full planning.
Yes — 5% off your first project with us, and 10% off for anyone you recommend who becomes a client. Both apply to building and construction projects, not general plumbing call-outs.
A site visit at no cost, then an itemised written quote against the finalised spec — the number you commit to. 5% off your first project · 10% off referrals (building & construction only).
30+ years in building & construction · in-house architect · £2M public & employers' liability insurance
