The questions homeowners actually ask.

Domestic building work: extensions from a single added room up to multi-storey with a large footprint; renovations from one room to a complete overhaul, including rewiring, plumbing, structural changes, kitchens, bathrooms, plastering and decorating; and one-off new builds. We do not chase commercial contracts.

For anything structural, yes — we need to be quoting the same job you are asking about, and that means drawings and, where there is a beam or an opening involved, engineer's calculations. If you are earlier than that, ring anyway: a site visit and an honest conversation about what is realistic costs you nothing.

Many single-storey rear extensions fall under permitted development, but it depends on the size, the position, what the house has had done to it already and whether you are in a conservation area — which parts of Henley are. Building regulations approval is needed either way. We will tell you what we think applies and where you need the council or a planning consultant to confirm it.

We are based at Sonning Common and work across Henley-on-Thames, Caversham, Emmer Green, Gallowstree Common, Kingwood Common, Peppard Common and Watlington. If you are just outside that and it is worth the journey, ask — you will get a straight answer rather than a maybe.

We do not publish rates, because a price per square metre for an extension is close to meaningless — ground conditions, access, the amount of glazing and the level of finish move the figure enormously. What we do commit to is a clear, detailed and itemised quotation with no hidden costs, so you can see where the money is going and change your mind with real numbers in front of you.

Probably not, and we would rather say so. One client wrote that our quote “was not the cheapest but it was comprehensive, transparent and coherently structured” — which is the trade-off. A low number that omits half the job is not a saving, it is a deferred argument.

Yes. Scope, stages, payment points and terms are agreed in writing before anything starts. It is one of the things membership of the Federation of Master Builders expects of a firm, and it removes what most building disputes actually turn on.

The company carries full insurance for the work it does, and we are happy to show you the cover before you sign anything. Ask every builder you speak to — how readily they answer is informative in itself.

James and the team, plus our own regular trades for specialist work — electricians, plumbers, kitchen fitters and glaziers we have worked with repeatedly. We deliberately do not quote a headcount, because it changes with the stage of the job.

For most single-storey extensions, yes — the disruption is concentrated at the knock-through. For whole-house renovations and major structural work it is usually quicker, cheaper and far less miserable to move out for a defined period. We will tell you which yours is before you commit, not after.

You hear about it that day, with the options and what each one does to the programme and the price. Every older house has something behind the plaster; the only real variable is whether your builder tells you early or works around it quietly.

Dust protection and sheeted routes through the house, noisy work kept to sensible hours, and the site tidied at the end of the day rather than at the end of the job. It is a building site, but it is also still your home.

A snag list walked with you rather than posted to you, certificates collected from each registered trade, building control sign-off, the site cleared, and a conversation about anything in the finished building that needs looking after — heating, ventilation and controls included.

New plaster needs to dry before it takes paint properly, and on a large extension that can be several weeks. We will tell you how long yours needs. Decoration onto damp plaster is the single most common reason a finished job looks tired within a year.

The Federation of Master Builders. FMB member firms are professionally vetted and independently inspected, and the membership is checkable on the FMB's own register — linked from our footer. We hold no other trade accreditations, and we would rather tell you that than imply otherwise.

Silver Stag Construction Ltd, company number 11600959, incorporated 2 October 2018, registered office Easter Barn, Blackmore Lane, Sonning Common RG4 9NU. All of it is public on Companies House, and the link is in our footer.