When the owner should visit the site: key checkpoints

What must you see in person during a renovation?

Five things: the space after demolition, stone at the warehouse, mock-ups of tile and lighting, the position of sockets before the walls are closed and the final handover. Almost everything else can usually be settled with drawings, samples and video calls. These five moments depend on scale, colour in light and feeling, and a photo cannot replace them.

Not every renovation needs all five visits. They can be combined into one or two trips if the stages are planned in advance, and in this article we show how. The overall system of remote renovation is described in our guide to renovating while living in another country; here we cover only what is worth boarding a plane for.

Why look at the space after demolition?

Because an empty flat without partitions and finishes looks different from the plan. At that point the real heights, the light from the windows, the view, the thickness of the walls and the structural elements are visible. Now it is cheap to change the layout: move an opening, add a window to the courtyard, leave a brick vault exposed.

On the visit, walk through each room and check three things: where future furniture and passages will go (the floor can be marked with masking tape), the direction and strength of light at different times of day and the feel of the ceiling height. In old Eixample flats, demolition sometimes reveals Catalan vaults, beams and mosaic: the owner decides whether to keep them, depending on the technician's inspection and on the impression itself. How beams and floor structures are checked is covered separately.

This is the best moment for the first trip: the structure is visible, decisions are still cheap and the orders for stone and windows have not gone into production.

How is stone chosen at the warehouse?

You go to the warehouse, look at each slab in full and mark those that will go into the project. The pattern of marble and quartzite changes from slab to slab and cannot be chosen from a catalogue photo: veining, patches and tone are visible only on the real slab in natural light.

At the warehouse three things are checked: the pattern and colour on every slab, the thickness and flatness, and cracks and fills (natural defects are sealed with resin, and their position matters). For a book match, adjacent slabs from the same series are chosen so that the pattern continues as a mirror image. The slabs are photographed with their numbers, it is noted which is which and what exactly has been reserved is confirmed in writing.

After selection, the layout of the pattern against the drawing begins: which part of each slab goes to which surface. These decisions are approved before cutting, because afterwards they cannot be corrected. We cover this in our guides to slab selection and to marble varieties.

Why do you need a mock-up of tile and lighting?

A mock-up is a piece of real finish about 1 m² in size and a trial light fitting on site. Tile in the shop, tile on the wall and tile under your own light look different, and the difference can be strong: the shade of the grout, the depth of relief, sheen, the reflection of the lamp.

On the tile mock-up check the grout colour (lighter, darker or matching), the joint width and the junction with a corner, the sheen in window light and in the evening, the layout and cuts. On the lighting mock-up check the colour temperature, brightness at different dimming levels, the shadow on the face at the mirror, light on wall and floor. An evening inspection is essential: the light you will live with is switched on in the evening.

Mock-ups cost time and a little material, but they protect against redoing a finished bathroom. If you cannot travel, the mock-up is filmed at different hours and discussed on a call; for the final decision it is still better to stand beside it. Fixtures and lighting zones in the bathroom are covered in our guide to bathroom lighting.

What should you check before the walls are closed?

The position and height of sockets, switches, light and water points, recesses and blocking. Stand where the bed, sofa or desk will be and check that the socket is nearby, the switch to hand and that the bedside lamp has power. Heights on a drawing and in reality feel different.

With the technical professional, walk through every room with the electrical and ceiling plan. Furniture dimensions can be cut from cardboard and laid out on the floor. Check the bathroom: where the shower head, thermostat and towel rail go, where the mixer exits. Photograph the walls with wiring and pipes before closing, with dimensions.

If you cannot travel, this stage is done by live video with a tape and marks on the walls; the person responsible on site films each room and each point according to your list. The order of works before closing is described in our guide to services before closing the walls, and control of the structural stage in our guide to the client's review of the frame stage.

What does the final handover in person involve?

You walk through the flat with the person responsible, check how each element works and draw up a snagging list. Open and close all doors and windows, switch on the lighting scenes, run the water, check drains, climate, extraction, sockets, entry phone, locks, material junctions and paintwork in raking light.

We recommend doing this by day and in the evening, with a list prepared by room. Defects are photographed and entered in the certificate with a description and a deadline for rectification; the certificate is signed after significant defects are corrected, not before. The handover documents include equipment manuals, material data sheets, manufacturers' guarantees and service diagrams.

A handover in person is the best insurance against hidden problems and should not be postponed. If you cannot travel, your representative does it with your list and accompanied by a technician, and you follow by video. The detailed procedure is described in our guide to renovation handover.

How do you fit the visits into one or two trips and prepare for them?

First trip after demolition and second for the final handover; for large projects a third is added before the walls are closed. If there is only one visit date, stone, mock-ups and sockets are combined into a single trip of 2 to 3 days with confirmed appointments. Draw up an hour-by-hour timetable with the person responsible: stone warehouse, lighting supplier, tile showroom, the site.

Before arriving, receive a pack: drawings with questions, a list of decisions, samples, price comparisons. On site, do not discuss what could have been settled by email. Bring a tape, a phone with a good camera, a notebook and, at night, a torch to see raking light.

Can you skip travelling altogether? Yes, if you have a strong representative, samples have arrived by courier and handover is recorded through video and certificates. But some decisions will be taken from photos, and the risk of a material swap or a layout error rises. The owner chooses, weighing the price of a ticket against the price of redoing work; we recommend at least one trip.

How does BCN YARD prepare an owner's visit?

We draw up the visit programme in advance: what we will look at, which decisions are needed, whom we will meet and which samples and drawings will be to hand. One person responsible for the site guides you around the route in Russian or Spanish and records the decisions in writing. Write to us and, after the visit and survey, we will agree a programme that shows when your trip is needed.