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Guide · 03
The right order of works — why painting never comes first.
Every renovation horror story is a sequencing story: floors laid before wet trades, walls painted before the electrician arrived. Here is the order that professionals follow — and the logic behind each step.
The principle
Wet before dry. Dirty before clean. Hidden before visible.
Three rules generate the whole sequence. Wet trades (screeds, plaster, tiling) need drying time, so they go early. Dusty work ruins finished surfaces, so demolition and chasing come before anything is painted. And everything that will be hidden — pipes, cables, waterproofing — must be finished, tested and photographed before walls and floors close over it. Break any rule and you pay for the same work twice.
From permits to the final snag list
Legal before loud — see the permits guide
Hidden work documented at stages 3–5
Owns the sequence so you don't have to
Stages 1–5 · The invisible half
First, the work nobody will ever see.
Permits & planning
Licences filed, community notified, materials ordered with lead times — our permits service from €890.
Demolition & strip-out
Common areas protected, services safely capped, rubble out in containers — from €19/m².
Rough installations
New pipework, wiring and climate runs while walls are open — done by VELTORRA's own sister divisions, photographed before closing.
Windows & partitions
New glazing sealed into openings and partitions framed — so plaster can finish cleanly around both.
Plaster, screed & waterproofing
Walls straightened from €14/m², floors levelled, wet zones waterproofed and tested before any tile.
Stages 6–9 · The visible half
Only now does it start looking like a renovation.
06 · Tiling & wet rooms
Tile and stone from €29/m² over verified substrates; bathrooms and kitchens take shape.
07 · Carpentry & ceilings close
Built-ins and interior doors fitted; ceiling details and coves finished.
08 · Painting
Preparation-first painting from €9/m² — after dust, before final floors.
09 · Floors & snag list
Parquet and laminate from €24/m², then the walkthrough, touch-ups and documented handover.
Why it matters
What wrong order costs — in real terms.
Floors before wet trades — replaced after water and grout
Paint before electrics — walls chased open and repainted
Tiles before waterproofing — everything off, everything again
Windows after plaster — every reveal redone
Built-ins before floors level — doors that never close right
No drying time — cracks in month two
Keep reading
Sequence understood. Now the numbers and the paperwork.
Questions, answered
Sequencing a renovation — the usual questions.
What is the correct order of works in an apartment renovation?
Broadly: permits first, then demolition and strip-out, rough installations (plumbing, electrics, climate), plastering and screeds, ceilings and partitions, waterproofing and tiling in wet rooms, carpentry and doors, painting, and finally floors and finish details. Wet trades before dry trades; dusty before clean.
Why does painting come nearly last but before floors?
Paint drips and sanding dust ruin finished floors, so final floor coverings such as parquet or laminate usually go in after painting, protected during the last coat's touch-ups. Tiled floors in wet rooms are the exception — they're part of the tiling stage and get protected instead.
When should windows be replaced during a renovation?
Early — typically right after demolition and before plastering, so frames are sealed into the wall and the reveals are finished cleanly. Replacing windows after decorating means redoing plaster and paint around every opening.
Can some stages run in parallel?
Yes — that's what a work schedule is for. Different rooms can sit at different stages, and trades can overlap where they don't conflict. That coordination is the lead engineer's job; the written schedule in the quote shows the plan before demolition starts.
What happens if the order is wrong?
You pay twice: new floors ruined by wet trades, painted walls chased open for forgotten cables, tiling laid before waterproofing that then must come off. Most renovation horror stories are sequencing mistakes — which is why the order is fixed in the written plan, not improvised on site.
Want the sequence run for you, in writing?
Send photos and your rough scope — you'll get an itemised estimate with the work schedule built in. One lead engineer owns the order so you never think about it again.