GS Renovation creates open-plan spaces across Havering, turning the divided ground floors of interwar semis in Hornchurch, Romford and Upminster into bright kitchen-diners and knock-throughs. With 30+ years in RM1, RM11 and RM12, we combine reception rooms, open up to the garden, and can frame it with Crittall dividers for a broken-plan finish.
Kitchen-diners in Havering's interwar homes
The 1930s and interwar semis around Havering were laid out as separate front and back rooms with a small kitchen behind, and the generous plots near Raphael Park and Hornchurch Country Park make them ideal candidates for opening up. The most popular change is a knock-through between the rear reception and kitchen to form a family kitchen-diner that looks out over the garden the house was built around.
The dividing wall carrying this layout is almost always load-bearing, so a structural engineer sizes a steel beam and specifies padstones before the wall comes down under temporary props. For those who want light without one vast room, we can set a Crittall-style glazed divider into the opening, giving a broken-plan feel that keeps cooking smells and noise where they belong while the space still reads as one.
Getting an open plan signed off in Havering
Opening up your ground floor is governed by the Building Regulations rather than planning, so Havering Council's building control reviews the beam design and inspects the bearings and propping before certifying the work. Planning only enters the picture for external alterations on a listed building or within a conservation area, which is separate from the structural approval a knock-through needs.
Where the load runs into the wall shared with the adjoining semi, the Party Wall Act applies and we serve notice on your neighbour before cutting in the beam. We coordinate the engineer, the notices, the safe staged demolition and the building control sign-off, then make good, plaster and finish the opening, so your kitchen-diner arrives complete from one team rather than a string of trades.
- Steel beam installation to remove the dividing wall
- Side-return integration for wider spaces
- Broken-plan layouts and Crittall-style dividers
- Structural engineer calculations and building control
- Level flooring and threshold removal across rooms
Why Choose GS Renovation in Havering
Havering homeowners choose GS Renovation for open-plan conversions because we deliver the whole thing under one roof: engineer-designed beams, party wall notices, building control sign-off, safe demolition and a clean plastered finish, with optional Crittall dividers. Tidy working in an occupied home and 30+ years across the borough's interwar streets sit behind every knock-through.
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Over 30 years of experience
- Dedicated project management
- Fully insured and guaranteed work
- Building control and planning support
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople