Renovations in Coulsdon

The 1930s semi that fills so much of Coulsdon was built to a plan that no longer matches how the ground floor gets used. A front room, a back room, a small kitchen at the rear and a hall running between them, with the chimney breast on the flank wall and a garden that stretches away towards Farthing Downs and Happy Valley Park. Almost every renovation in CR5 starts by rethinking that arrangement. GS Renovation works throughout Coulsdon on rear extensions, open plan alterations, loft conversions, kitchens and bathrooms, appointing the structural engineer and coordinating Croydon Council building control.

Opening up the back of a 1930s semi

The wall between the back room and the kitchen is the one people want gone, and in a house of this type it is usually carrying the floor above and sometimes a section of roof load brought down through a partition. Removing it means a beam sized by a structural engineer, bearing onto padstones set into masonry that has been exposed and checked, with temporary support in place throughout. Where the rear wall is also coming out to meet a new extension, the two openings are designed as one structural arrangement rather than two.

Chimney breasts complicate the picture more than people expect. In these houses the breast often sits on the flank wall serving both floors, so taking out the ground floor section leaves masonry above needing support from gallows brackets or a beam. If the stack is redundant from top to bottom, removing the lot and making the roof good is frequently the cleaner answer. Either way it is designed and inspected, never simply knocked out over a weekend. The stack above is never left resting on a partly removed pier at any stage.

Replacing tired additions and building new ones

A high proportion of Coulsdon houses already carry an addition from the 1970s or 1980s: a flat roofed rear extension, a lean to conservatory, or a garage brought into the house without much insulation. These reach the end of their life together, with failed flat roof coverings, cold single skin walls and foundations that would not satisfy today's standards. Replacing rather than patching is usually the better investment, and it lets the new work be tied into the house properly instead of bolted onto it. Tying new work into sound existing structure is what makes it feel original.

New extensions on these plots have room to be generous, and the deep rear gardens mean access down the side of the house for materials and a skip on the drive without a highway permit. Foundation depth is dictated by the ground and by nearby trees and inspected in open trench, drainage is diverted and tested before backfill, and insulation is inspected before it is covered. We book each of those visits with Croydon Council building control and attend them on site. Side access also keeps rubble and materials out of your hallway entirely.

Where most Coulsdon projects start: whole-house refurbishment in Coulsdon, everything we cover across Croydon, renovations in Purley, renovations in Addiscombe and how to plan a renovation.