Removing a load bearing wall means proving what the wall is carrying before it comes out. We appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations and coordinate the building control application and inspections. In Hertford, the stock those walls sit in has already been described in detail by the council and by the neighbourhood plans.
The house types a spine wall sits in here
In Bengeo ward the two largest categories are semi detached and terraced houses. At the 2011 census, Hertford Bengeo ward had 3,347 household spaces, of which 32.8 per cent were semi detached, 30.8 per cent terraced and 16.6 per cent purpose built or converted flats. The Bengeo neighbourhood plan records more than seventy streets and roads in the ward, with Victorian housing on the narrow streets of Lower Bengeo and on Folly Island.
A terrace and a semi do not behave the same way when a spine wall goes. In a terrace the wall can be carrying joists from both sides, with a party wall standing either side of you. We survey what is above before the engineer sizes anything. Where the work sits against a shared wall, notice on a neighbour may be needed, and that is a matter for a party wall surveyor rather than for us.
Bengeo Street walls that need looking at before they are priced
Two Bengeo Street terraces are described building by building in the 2017 conservation area appraisal. Numbers 8 to 18 are a 19th century terrace of yellow brick with slate roofs, carrying a central plaque reading WATERLOO TERRACE PORT HILL 1851. Numbers 26 to 28 carry a central plaque reading ALEXANDRA PLACE 1863, dating a group of five pairs of houses. Numbers 22 to 40 are built in rat trap bond, bricks laid on edge, which the appraisal says should not be painted or rendered over.
Those descriptions shape the making good as well as the steel. Rendering over the bond to hide a new opening would run against the appraisal. We plan the reinstatement alongside the engineer's detail, so the finished job answers the calculations and the character of the street.
When removing masonry needs consent as well as calculations
Not every wall is yours to take down. In a conservation area, walls and railings are protected. Permission for demolition is needed where they are 1 metre or more high abutting a highway, footpath, bridleway, waterway or open space, or 2 metres or more elsewhere.
There is a second layer in one part of town. In the Tamworth Road, Fairfax Road and Ware Road extension to Hertford Conservation Area, the Kingsmead neighbourhood plan records 52 unlisted buildings. Two of them are in Fairfax Road, and the plan says they contribute to the area and should be protected from demolition. That is a planning question, separate from building regulations, and we establish which applies to your address before a programme is agreed.
- Electrics, pipework and radiators diverted out of the wall
- Joist ends supported where the wall carried the floor above
- Final level checks before the temporary props come out
- Nib walls and piers formed where the engineer requires them
- Party Wall Act notices where the opening reaches a shared wall
Trusted Load-Bearing Wall Removal in Hertford
What decides a wall removal here is the stock. A Bengeo terrace in rat trap bond, a 1950s semi and a converted flat give you three different answers about loads, bearings and making good. We survey the house, appoint the engineer, build to the calculations issued and coordinate the building control side. You get one point of contact throughout, and a free quotation with no obligation.
- Plastering, skirting and making good included in the price
- Pipework, cables and radiators diverted before demolition
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- Site left safe and secure at the end of every day
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf