GS Renovation removes load-bearing walls across Hendon, from the 1930s semi-detached homes off the streets around Brent Cross to the interwar suburban houses stretching towards Mill Hill. With more than 30 years of structural experience in NW4, we open up these generously proportioned houses safely, prop as we go and hand you a certified steel.
Opening up Hendon's interwar semis
The 1930s semi-detached houses that fill much of Hendon were built with solid internal walls carrying the floors and roof above, so the wall between the front reception and the rear living room is frequently structural. Because these interwar houses sit on generous plots, homeowners here usually want that spine wall taken out to create one long living space, and every removal starts with a structural engineer confirming exactly what the wall supports.
Our engineer sizes a steel beam to carry the load, and we cast or supply padstones for the beam to bear onto at each end. On site we install temporary props, take the masonry down in controlled stages, lift the steel into position and transfer the load before anything is removed permanently. In a shared semi, one end of the beam often bears into the party wall with your neighbour.
Building control sign-off across NW4
Taking out a load-bearing wall inside a Hendon home is governed by the Building Regulations, not planning permission, so Barnet Council's building control inspects and certifies the work. We arrange the notice, book the inspections at the right stages and make sure the beam, its bearings and any padstones are checked before the ceilings are closed up, giving you paperwork that stands up when you sell.
Where the beam bears onto the party wall shared with the adjoining semi, the Party Wall Act applies and you serve notice on your neighbour before work begins. We coordinate the engineer's calculations and the building control application as one package, so you are not left chasing separate trades across a job that keeps your interwar house standing safely.
What makes one job longer than another
Two Hendon semis on the same road can produce very different programmes for what looks like the same opening. The first factor is what sits on the wall. A chimney breast standing on it adds a point load and often a second decision about whether the breast comes out too. The second is what is directly above: a bedroom floor is straightforward, a bathroom means isolating and re-running waste and supply pipes before anything is propped.
Access is the third. A house with a side passage and a driveway takes deliveries easily; a house where everything comes through the front door adds days of handling. Whether the floor is timber or a later concrete slab affects how the propping is founded and, for a goalpost, how the base pads are formed. We assess all of that at survey so the programme we give you reflects your house, not an average one.
- Dust screens and floor protection through occupied rooms
- Rubble bagged and cleared as the work progresses
- Padstones and correct bearing at each end of the opening
- Party Wall Act notices where the opening reaches a shared wall
- Structural engineer's calculations arranged and followed
The GS Renovation Difference in Hendon
Hendon homeowners choose GS Renovation because we run the whole job as one accountable team. Your structural engineer to the neighbouring semi, and Barnet Council building control sign-off are all handled by us, with propping done properly and dust sheeted rooms kept tidy in an occupied home. It is work backed by more than 30 years across NW4.
- Staged demolition rather than taking a wall through in one go
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Pipework, cables and radiators diverted before demolition
- Paperwork and certificates handed over for when you sell
- Party Wall notices handled where the opening reaches a shared wall
- Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs