An RSJ is the steel beam that carries the load when a wall comes out. Our part is the survey, the propping, the beam, the padstones, the making good and the inspections that sign the work off. We appoint a structural engineer for the calculations and build to what they issue. We never write those calculations ourselves. This page sets out what an RSJ job on a Beaconsfield property involves, and who checks it.
A brick front in the Old Town can be a facing to a timber frame
That is the first thing to establish before a beam is designed. Buckinghamshire Council's appraisal of the Beaconsfield Old Town Conservation Area says it appears that all the timber framed buildings in the conservation area now have brick infill, in place of the original wattle and daub. The same appraisal records that brick re-fronting there "was often only for show since the backs and flank walls of building were left with their timber frames exposed".
A steel beam has to bear onto something able to carry it down to the ground. Where the front is brick and the flank is frame, the two ends of one opening behave differently, and the engineer needs that recorded before sizing anything. We open up, photograph what is there and pass it to the engineer. Nothing is ordered until the bearing detail is settled.
The brick bond tells you what the beam will bear onto
It is the quickest read on whether a wall is solid or cavity. The council's appraisal records that brickwork in the Beaconsfield Old Town Conservation Area is "almost invariably in Flemish bond", a bond used in solid walls rather than cavity walls. At Malthouse Square the same appraisal records that all the houses are built of mellow brown stock brick laid in stretcher bond, unlike the Flemish bond of the historic core.
Solid and cavity walls take a padstone differently, and they need different propping while the steel goes in. We establish which you have by opening up rather than by reading the street elevation. The engineer then specifies the padstone, the bearing length and any new pier, and we build to that.
Building control for a beam runs to Buckinghamshire Council's timetable
The council runs its own building control service, and work in Beaconsfield is booked through its former Chiltern and South Bucks district area inspection form. It requires notice at least 2 working days before you intend to start work, and a further notice in writing within 5 working days of the works commencing.
Site inspections are asked to be booked the day before they are required, and the council carries them out between 10am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. That window decides when props can come out, so it is built into the programme rather than chased afterwards. We make the application and book the visits around the steel.
- Building control applications and inspection sign-off
- Structural engineer's calculations arranged and followed
- Lintel and catnic support to smaller openings
- Flitch beams where a slimmer steel and timber solution suits
- Steel delivered cut, drilled and primed to the engineer's schedule
Why Beaconsfield Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
We are a contractor, not an engineering practice. For a Beaconsfield beam we appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations they issue, and hold the propping until the steel is in and bearing correctly. The building control application goes to Buckinghamshire Council, and we make it and fit the inspections into the council's own daytime window rather than working around them afterwards. That gives you one point of contact for the engineer, the steel, the brickwork and the sign off. GS Renovation Ltd is fully insured, registered in England, company number 14611254, and quotations are free and without obligation.
- Making good and plastering priced in, not treated as an extra
- Beams boxed and fire protected to the approved detail
- Free follow-up visit after completion if anything needs attention
- Materials priced at options, so you choose the finish
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf
- Steel ordered cut, drilled and primed to the schedule