Structural alterations in Woolwich: wall removals, steel beams, knock-throughs and openings. Engineer calculations, Building Control, made good properly.
On any wall carrying load, yes - and more walls are load-bearing than people assume, including some stud walls upstairs. It is a straightforward process, we handle it, and skipping it causes real trouble when you sell.
It usually runs perpendicular to the joists above, sits above a wall or beam below, and sounds solid. But the only safe answer is having it looked at. We would rather come and check than have you take a view.
The opening itself is a day or two. Making good, plastering and drying is the week after. We sheet and screen it so the rest of the house stays usable.
Yes, with the brickwork above properly supported, usually by a steel or brackets designed by an engineer. If the stack is shared with a neighbour, a party wall notice is needed as well.
Rarely. The work is sheeted and screened so the rest of the house stays usable, although there will be noise and some dust for the first few days.
Taking out a wall is the change that most alters how a house feels and the one most often done without the paperwork. A steel needs sizing by an engineer, the padstones need to carry it, and Building Control needs to sign it off, and a buyer's solicitor will ask.
In the Victorian terraces around Woolwich and Plumstead the wall most people want gone is the one between the front and back reception rooms, and in many of these houses it carries the floor above. The chimney breasts are often part of the same question, because removing one changes what the remaining brickwork has to support.
The beam is sized to the actual load, not by eye. It costs little and it is not optional.
The steel is only as good as what it sits on. This is the part that gets skipped and the part that matters most.
Notified, inspected and certificated, so it is not a problem at sale.
The opening finished so it looks like the house was always that way, rather than like a wall used to be there.
The classic Woolwich terrace knock-through, with a steel sized for the floor above and the opening finished to suit the period of the house.
The brickwork above is supported properly, with calculations and Building Control sign-off like any other structural change.
Send a photo or a quick video of the room on WhatsApp, or get a free fixed quote, no obligation, and we’ll tell you straight what it needs.