Renovations in Balham

A great many Balham addresses are not whole houses. The Victorian terraces around Hildreth Street Market and the streets running towards Tooting Bec Common were divided into upper and lower maisonettes and garden flats decades ago, and that single fact governs how a renovation here has to be approached. Consent, sound, drainage and shared structure all come into play before a wall is touched. GS Renovation works throughout SW12 on flats, maisonettes and whole houses, appointing the structural engineer, building to the issued design and coordinating Wandsworth Council building control.

Renovating a flat in a converted SW12 terrace

In a converted terrace the structure is shared even though the ownership is split. The wall you want to remove in a lower maisonette is often carrying the flat above as well as your own ceiling, and the joists spanning your rooms bear into walls your neighbour also relies on. So the engineer's assessment covers the whole load path rather than your demise, and the freeholder's licence to alter is obtained before anything begins. Long leaseholders frequently also need the other flat's cooperation for access. Access agreements with the other flat are settled in writing beforehand.

Sound is the second constant. Old conversions were rarely built with any real separation, so timber floors transmit footfall and voices straight through. Where we lift a floor for services we take the opportunity to improve it, using resilient layers, dense infill between joists and independent ceiling linings rather than simply nailing boards back down. Where a bathroom or kitchen is moved, we position pipework so waste is not clipped hard against a party structure, which is a common source of complaint between flats. Details of that kind decide whether neighbours stay on good terms.

Lower ground floors, damp and useful space

Garden flats in SW12 typically sit part below the external ground level, and that is where the moisture problems concentrate. A path raised by successive layers of paving, a gully choked with leaves, an air brick rendered over during a past facelift and a rear addition with no cross ventilation under the floor will between them produce the musty smell people assume is rising damp. We look for the cause before proposing a cure, because a tanking system installed over a live external defect only relocates the problem. We photograph the evidence so you can see it for yourself.

Once the fabric is dry and ventilated, these lower floors make excellent space. Floors are relaid with insulation and a damp proof membrane where levels allow, rear walls are opened into the garden with a designed beam, and a bathroom or utility is added where drainage can reach the existing run. Any excavation to gain headroom is a structural operation designed by the engineer and inspected by building control, not something to be attempted by degrees with a shovel. Party wall notices are served before any excavation near a shared boundary.

Where most Balham projects start: whole-house refurbishment in Balham, everything we cover across Wandsworth, renovations in Battersea, renovations in Putney and building regulations explained.