Kitchen renovations in Radlett run from a straight refit inside a two storey terrace to a rear extension that moves the kitchen altogether. We carry the structural work ourselves and coordinate the trades, the drainage and the inspections around it.
The kitchens in Radlett's older terraces
They sit in tight footprints, because of how the houses were built. Numbers 5 to 15 Cobden Hill are a row of six red brick cottages of one and a half storeys, with hipped tile roofs and three large decorated chimney stacks. Numbers 17 to 23 Cobden Hill are a row of six red brick and pebble dashed two storey terraced houses, with hipped tile roofs, small end gables and three large chimney stacks.
The Radlett (North) Conservation Area Appraisal describes the section of The Crosspath inside the conservation area as late Edwardian and a few inter war two storey houses, in short terraces or semi detached pairs. It records them in orange or red brickwork, noting pebble dashed and rendered facades among them, under clay or interlocking concrete tile roofs. In houses of that build the constraint is not the units. It is the wall between the kitchen and the room in front of it, the chimney breast eating into one corner, and where the existing drainage actually runs.
Extending at the back to get the kitchen you want
A rear or side extension is the shortest route to a bigger kitchen in a tight footprint house. Hertsmere Borough Council states that rear and side extensions to the Radlett bungalows covered by its Article 4 Directions can still be carried out without a planning application, subject to the relevant permitted development legislation. Permitted development comes with conditions attached rather than being a blanket yes, so we establish the position for your address before a layout is drawn.
The foundations under that extension depend on what is below your plot. British Geological Survey mapping shows the bedrock under Newberries Avenue, Craigweil Avenue and Theobald Street as Lambeth Group, described as clay, silt and sand, rather than chalk. Craigweil Avenue is split, with chalk mapped under part of its length. The engineer we appoint sets the depth from trial holes on site, so the groundworks are priced from evidence rather than from an assumption about the area.
Kitchens inside the Radlett (North) Conservation Area
Inside the conservation area the outside of the house is controlled, and a kitchen project reaches the outside more than owners expect. Radlett (North) covers Watling Street from number 197 south to the Radlett and Bushey Reform Synagogue, plus all of Park Road, Station Road, Upper Station Road, Malt Lane and Aldenham Road. It also takes in The Grove to the north west, Slade Court to the south, and parts of Newlands Avenue, Watford Road, The Crosspath, Gills Hill, Scrubbitts Park Road and Barn Close. Extract terminals, new flues, rooflights and replacement rear doors all change an elevation.
The character being protected is set out in a published document. The Radlett (North) Conservation Area Appraisal was carried out by BEAMS Ltd, the trading company of the Hertfordshire Building Preservation Trust, with Hertsmere Borough Council between July 2008 and June 2009, and the report is dated October 2010. We read it before proposing anything that shows from the street, and we put anything doubtful to the council rather than fitting first and asking afterwards.
- Sink, tap and filter installation with full leak testing
- Open-plan kitchen-diner conversions with steel support
- New circuits and consumer unit work certified under Part P
- Quartz, granite and marble worktops templated and fitted
- Waste, water and gas runs moved before the units are set
The GS Renovation Difference in Radlett
A kitchen is the room a household cannot do without, so the programme matters as much as the finish. We sequence a Radlett kitchen around the structural work first, then drainage and first fix, then plaster, then units, so nothing installed early has to come back out. The structural side, the steel over any new opening and the making good are all carried by the same team, and the building control inspections are booked against the programme. We are fully insured and quotations are free and carry no obligation.
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records
- Straight advice on what is and is not worth spending money on
- Fully insured, with cover in place on every site
- Services moved and tested before the units go in, not after
- Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you
- Old kitchen stripped, disposed of and made good within the price