Practical ideas for planning building work, choosing materials and understanding older homes in Chester, Cheshire, Wirral and North Wales.
Explore local supplier guides, renovation checklists and notes from our work. For a proposal tailored to your property, tell us about your project.
Local guides
Builders’ Merchants in Chester and North Wales: A Local Guide
A practical guide to builders’ merchants and reclamation suppliers around Chester and North Wales, with questions to ask before ordering.
Buying Reclaimed Building Materials Around Chester and North Wales
Where to begin local enquiries and what to check about reclaimed bricks, timber, stone and fittings before committing to a purchase.
Materials & heritage
The Bricks of the North West and North Wales: History and Matching
From Chester’s contrasting brick streets to Ruabon and Accrington: a regional introduction to brickwork and what it means for repairs and extensions.
How to Match Existing Bricks When Extending Your Home
A step-by-step approach to comparing brick size, colour, texture, mortar and sample panels before an extension starts.
Reclaimed or New Bricks? What to Consider Before Buying
Compare appearance, available quantities, suitability and the full delivered cost when choosing reclaimed or new bricks.
Keeping Original Character During a Modern Renovation
Decide what to retain, record important details and coordinate modern services before work begins on an older home.
Renovation planning
Renovating a Victorian Terrace in Hoole: Where to Start
Start a Hoole renovation with a clear survey, a list of features to retain and a practical plan for access, services and room layouts.
How to Compare Building Quotes: What Should Be Included?
Compare the scope, allowances, exclusions, payment stages and variation process behind each building quotation—not just the final total.
Can You Live at Home During a Renovation?
Work through room access, essential facilities, dust separation, noise and the disruptive stages before deciding whether to stay during a renovation.
What to Prepare Before Your Builder’s First Visit
Bring together your priorities, photographs, drawings, budget range and questions so the first visit can focus on the decisions that matter.
Extensions & conversions
Planning a House Extension in Chester: Your First Decisions
Set your priorities, explore the existing layout and establish the design and approval work needed before requesting a detailed extension quotation.
What Affects the Cost of a House Extension?
Understand why access, groundworks, structural openings, specification and unfinished decisions can change the price of an extension.
Garage Conversion or Extension: Which Suits Your Home?
Compare the room you need, usable dimensions, existing construction, garden space and approval requirements before choosing an approach.
Kitchens & joinery
Planning a Kitchen Renovation: What to Decide Before Work Starts
Resolve the layout, appliances, lighting, service positions and temporary arrangements before the kitchen installation begins.
Fitted Storage Ideas for Alcoves, Understairs Spaces and Awkward Rooms
Plan useful fitted storage around what you own, how often you use it and the practical constraints of your room.
Project notes
Behind the Build: Our Victorian Renovation in Hoole
A closer look at the work-in-progress photographs from Pinnacle’s Hoole renovation, and the questions they can help homeowners ask about their own project.