01
Roof type and condition
Madras terrace, jack-arch and RCC behave differently under load and take fixings differently. A false ceiling hung from the wrong assumption is a serious problem.
Renovation · Bengaluru
Bungalow and independent house renovation
Old houses in Bengaluru are usually better built than what replaced them. Renovating one properly starts with what is behind the plaster, not with a moodboard.
The short answer
The order of work is the whole job.
A bungalow renovation goes wrong when it is run like a fit-out. The correct sequence is survey, then services, then structure, then finishes, and the money follows the same order. Wiring installed before air conditioning existed, galvanised plumbing that has been narrowing for thirty years, damp that has been managed rather than treated, and a roof that may be Madras terrace rather than RCC all have to be resolved before anything decorative goes on top. Whole-house renovations for Bengaluru bungalows typically run ₹25 lakh to ₹70 lakh, and the range is driven by what the survey finds rather than by the finish you choose.
Stage one
What the survey looks at.
02
Which walls are load-bearing
Older houses are frequently masonry rather than framed. Which walls can go is a structural question and gets a structural engineer, not a designer with a marker.
03
Electrical capacity and route
Sanctioned load, board capacity and whether the walls can be chased at all. In thick masonry, surface conduit designed properly beats chasing that weakens the wall.
04
Plumbing material and pressure
Galvanised iron corrodes inward: pressure falls long before anything leaks. If it is GI, plan to replace the lines rather than the fittings.
05
Damp, and its source
Rising, penetrating and condensation damp have different causes and different fixes. Treating the wrong one means it returns through your new finish within two monsoons.
What to keep
Restoration usually beats replacement.
Teak doors, windows and staircases in these houses are typically better than anything currently on the market, and restoring them costs less than replacing them. The same is often true of mosaic and red-oxide floors, which can be ground and polished back for less than a new floor and cannot be bought new at any price.
What almost always goes: the wiring, the plumbing, and any waterproofing. Those are not features, they are consumables that have reached the end of their life, and no finish will survive sitting on top of them.
Programme
How long, and what it costs.
| Scope | Typical duration | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen, bathrooms and services only | 45–60 days | ₹12L – ₹22L |
| Whole house, finishes and services | 90 days | ₹25L – ₹45L |
| Whole house with structural change | 120 days+ | ₹45L – ₹70L+ |
Durations run from design sign-off, and the date is set after the survey rather than before it. If we miss it for reasons within our control we credit ₹1,000 for every day late.
Questions
Asked and answered.
Often yes, in phases, if the house is large enough to give up a floor or a wing at a time. It extends the programme by roughly 20% and needs dust barriers and a fixed working window. For a full services replacement it is usually better to move out for the wet phase.
We handle remedial and non-structural work directly and bring in a structural engineer where load-bearing elements or the roof are involved. We will not remove a wall on a drawing alone.
Usually, and not always. Where the structure is sound it is substantially cheaper and you keep features that cannot be recreated. Where the roof has failed or the layout is unworkable, rebuilding can be the honest answer, and we will say so.
For finishes, quite accurate. For services and remedial work, the quote carries a stated range until the walls are open, and we itemise it separately so you can see which part is firm and which is not.
Keep reading
Related.
Want a number for your own home?
The calculator gives an itemised estimate in about two minutes. The site measurement and the first consultation are free either way.