You have just bought an old house in the valley, and everything needs doing. The temptation is to start with the kitchen. The right method is to start with a diagnosis. Here is how I go about it, and why this order will save you thousands of euros.
An old house is not renovated like a flat from the 2000s. Here, around Bagnères and Campan, the old building stock means walls of stone and Adour river pebbles, 50 to 60 cm thick, laid with lime, sitting almost directly on the ground. These houses have come through two centuries because they breathe. The worst thing you can do is apply new-build recipes to them. The second worst is doing the work in the wrong order.
Before talking kitchen, wood floor or decoration, I look at three things. One: is the house ? Roof, flashings, gutters, windows and doors: as long as water gets in, everything else is temporary. Two: is the structure sound? Cracks that keep moving, floors that sag, beam ends rotting away inside the walls. Three: where is the damp coming from? In the old buildings around here, it almost always comes from below, through : these houses have no waterproof barrier at the foot of the wall, that is normal, they are designed to evaporate this water.
The gold-underlined words are explained on hover. All definitions are in the joinery glossary.
That is exactly what I do during a pre-works advice visit: two hours on site, we probe, we prioritise, and you leave with a battle plan instead of a wish list.
Roof, flashings, rainwater carried well away from the walls. In the mountains, with snow and thaws, this is the job that cannot wait.
Structural repairs, drainage if needed, and the walls are left to dry. A stone wall saturated with water takes months to dry out.
Electrics, plumbing, then insulation and windows and doors, with materials that let the stone breathe: lime, vapour-open insulation.
Plastering, floors, kitchen, bathroom, finishes. Everything you can see comes last, on a sound, dry base.
Why this order? Because each stage protects the next. I saw the opposite on a barn in Lesponne: the owners had redone the floors and the renders before dealing with the damp at the foot of the walls. Two winters later, warped wood floor, blackened skirting boards, everything had to be done again. The diagnosis they never made cost them an entire project.
My honest opinion, and I say it on every visit: I refuse to fit a kitchen or a wood floor in a house that still takes in water. Laying beautiful work on damp is laying parquet on a sponge: it pleases for three months, then it rots. Some clients go elsewhere, and that is their right. But the ones who follow the order thank me five years later, when nothing has moved.
For a full renovation of an old house, the 2026 ranges run from €1,100 to €2,500 per m² depending on the starting condition and the level of finish, and can exceed €3,000 per m² when structural repairs are involved. Keep a 10 to 15% margin for surprises: there are always some behind a wall lining. The good news: by following the logical order, you can spread the work over several years without redoing anything twice. That is the whole point of an overall plan from day one, even if you only do the roof this year.
For the rest of the project phase by phase, read what order to do your renovation work in. And if you want a single point of contact to coordinate the whole thing, that is exactly what my full renovation page is about.
Not always. In France one is compulsory if you touch the structure of a building with more than 150 m² of floor area after the work, and precious as soon as you reshape the volumes. For a renovation with no heavy structural change, an experienced tradesman and a good diagnosis are often enough. At the slightest doubt about the structure, though, you bring in a professional: that is non-negotiable.
In 2026, allow €1,100 to €2,500 per m² for a full renovation, and beyond €3,000 when structural repairs are involved. Always keep a 10 to 15% margin: an old house holds surprises once the walls are opened up. Better to know that before signing the compromis de vente, the French preliminary sale agreement.
During the weatherproofing stage and work on secondary rooms, yes, many of my clients do. During the services, insulation and plastering phase, it is hard: dust, water and power cuts. If you can, plan to move out for a few weeks at that point, the work moves twice as fast.
Before you spend a single euro on work, get the diagnosis right. I come and see the house, we set the priorities together, and you leave with a clear plan. I speak English, so feel free to call or write in English.
+33 6 03 57 45 47Reply within 48 hours, or in writing: contact@agencementklein.fr
