An open plan conversion is a wall removal plus everything that follows it: the beam, the floor, the ceiling line, the services that were buried in the wall and the making good. In Welwyn Garden City there is also a consent check that sits outside the planning system entirely. We appoint a structural engineer, build to the calculations issued, and coordinate the building control side.
The stock you are likely to be opening up
Post-war housing in the town gives you more to work with than the earliest terraces do. Houses along The Reddings are brick built and date from the 1950s through the 1970s. The conservation area appraisal records Sherrards Park Road as typically detached two storey red brick housing dating from the 1950s onwards. The Peartree conservation area combines a mixture of hipped and gabled terraces, and the roof form over an opening changes how load comes down to it.
Where change has been accepted before
Largely at the rear of properties, according to the Peartree appraisal. That appraisal records that little modern development has taken place in the area, and that where it has taken place it has largely occurred to the rear of properties. It records some, but not many, side extensions to end terraces. It also records that there are no designated heritage assets within the Peartree Conservation Area, which is not the same as saying the area carries no constraints.
Check whether the Estate Management Scheme covers the address
The scheme does not cover every property in the town, so the address has to be checked rather than assumed. The scheme's own history page records that it covers most properties in the Sherrards and Handside wards, together with parts of the Haldens, Peartree, Hollybush and Howlands wards. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council publishes a public web map, linked from its Estate Management Scheme page under the heading Find Estate Management Areas on a map, on which you can check whether a property falls within the scheme. A knock through kept entirely inside the house is a different question from one that puts new glazing in a rear elevation.
- Rooflights and glazed roofs to bring light deep into the plan
- Steel beam installation to remove the dividing wall
- Beam depth checked against existing ceiling heights
- Kitchen island services routed through the new floor
- Heat loss and acoustic considerations before the wall comes out
Why Choose GS Renovation in Welwyn Garden City
Open plan work is a coordination job before it is a building job. The engineer, the steel, the propping, the electrics that were buried in the wall coming out, and the floor and ceiling finishes all have to land in the right order. We run that sequence with one point of contact, so you are not managing trades against each other. We appoint the structural engineer and build to the calculations issued. GS Renovation Ltd is rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder and is fully insured.
- One point of contact on the phone, not a call centre
- Broken-plan and Crittall-style options priced alongside full open-plan
- Paperwork and certificates handed over for when you sell
- The layout planned around how you actually use the ground floor
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
- Lighting circuits zoned rather than one pendant in the middle