Steel beams, structural openings, chimney breast removals, underpinning and load-bearing alterations — designed by a chartered engineer, executed with proper temporary works, and signed off by Building Control.
Establishing what the wall actually carries — floors above, a roof, a stack, or nothing at all. A surprising number of walls homeowners assume are structural are not, and the reverse is more common still.
A chartered structural engineer sizes the beam and the bearings, and specifies the padstones. Calculations go to Building Control before any work starts.
Full plans or building notice, with the structural calculations submitted for approval and inspection stages agreed.
Cutting a bearing into a shared wall is notifiable work. Notice served two months ahead, award agreed before we start.
Needles through the wall onto props either side, taking the load before a single brick is removed. This is the phase where corners get cut on bad jobs and it is the phase that matters most.
Opening formed, beam lifted in, seated on padstones, packed and pinned solid to the masonry above so the load transfers without settlement.
Steel encased or boarded to achieve the required fire resistance, then inspected by Building Control before it's covered up.
Not every crack is structural. Most are shrinkage, thermal movement or old plaster failing, and the right response is to fill them. But some patterns are worth a proper look rather than a decorator's.
You need an engineer. Any beam supporting a load requires calculations, and Building Control will not sign the work off without them. We work with chartered structural engineers routinely and will arrange it — but no reputable builder installs a beam to a size they've guessed at.
The physical work on a single opening is typically one to two weeks including temporary support, beam installation, making good and fire protection. The design, calculations, Building Control application and any party wall notice in front of it usually take longer than the build.
Yes, on any floor. What matters is what happens to the stack above the point of removal — it has to be supported, normally on gallows brackets or a beam, and that support has to be designed. Removing a breast and leaving the stack above unsupported is one of the more dangerous things done to London houses and it turns up in surveys constantly.
No, and it's often not. Where movement is caused by a tree drawing moisture from clay, or by a leaking drain, the correct first step is removing the cause and monitoring. Underpinning is expensive, disruptive and affects future insurance — it should follow a diagnosis, not substitute for one.
Yes. You receive the engineer's calculations and the Building Control completion certificate. Keep both — they are the first things a buyer's surveyor will ask for.
What it costs, what consent you need, and what to check before taking a quote.
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