Should I gut the house or renovate around what is there?

Renovate around what is there, unless the structure itself is compromised. Gutting erases the irreplaceable craft along with the dated systems. The skill is separating the two and keeping the first.

How do I know if my walls are lime or cement plaster?

A simple test: lime plaster is softer, slightly chalky to the touch, and feels cooler; it often shows fine surface crazing rather than the deep cracks cement develops. A mason who has worked on older houses can tell within minutes.

Are the old teak doors worth restoring or should I replace them?

Almost always worth restoring. Solid teak from that era is denser than most timber sold today and far more expensive to buy new. Planing, re-hanging, and re-oiling brings them back; only replace if the wood is genuinely rotted through.

What is the most expensive thing to get wrong in an older house?

Waterproofing and electrical. Both are hidden, both fail slowly, and both are far costlier to fix after the finishes go back on. Refresh them fully while the walls and floors are already open.

Can I keep the character and still make the house feel modern?

Yes, and the contrast is usually the point. A restored teak door against a clean lime-washed wall, an old stone floor under modern layered light: the older elements read as more considered, not less, when the systems around them are quietly current.

Renovating an Older Independent House in Hyderabad

An older Banjara Hills house already holds craft you cannot buy again today. The work is reading which elements to keep, which systems to refresh, and what the house was never built for.