GS Renovation installs steel beams in Cockfosters houses, from a single short RSJ over an internal opening to a bolted goalpost frame across the back of a 1930s semi. The section is sized by the structural engineer we appoint. Our job is to prop correctly, form the bearings and get the steel in without disturbing anything it should not.
Sizing and seating a beam in an EN4 house
The size of a beam follows the span and the load, and in a Cockfosters house the load is often more than the floor above. A cut roof with purlins and struts can put roof weight down through the bedroom wall onto the very line you are opening, which is why two houses with identical ground floor plans end up with different sections. Padstones spread the end reaction into the brickwork so the beam does not punch into it, and on a cavity wall they sit on the inner leaf only.
Getting the steel to where it is going is a practical matter in EN4. The wide frontages and long side accesses on most Cockfosters plots mean a beam can normally be carried through to the rear of the house without dismantling anything, which is not true of a terrace. Where the section is too heavy or too long to handle safely, the engineer can specify it in two pieces with a bolted splice, designed as a proper connection with a specified bolt pattern rather than improvised on site.
Fire protection, propping and inspection
A steel beam holding up a floor needs fire protection under Approved Document B, normally achieved with two layers of plasterboard and a skim, or with intumescent paint where the steel is being left on show. It is not a detail to skip because nobody will see it; it is what stops the beam softening and losing capacity in a fire. Barnet Council building control checks the encasement as well as the bearings, so the inspection is booked while both are still open to view.
Propping is what keeps everyone safe while the wall is out. Acrows and strongboys go in on both sides, taking the joists rather than the ceiling, on spreader boards so the load is not concentrated on a couple of floorboards. The wall comes down in stages, the beam is lifted, packed and pinned tight to the masonry above, and only then do the props come out in the order the engineer specified. Nothing in the house is left standing on temporary support overnight without being checked at the end of the day.
- Access and lifting plans for restricted London sites
- Structural engineer's calculations arranged and followed
- Making good, plastering and finishing around the new steel
- Beam boxing, fire protection and plasterboard encasement
- Temporary propping and staged, controlled demolition
Trusted RSJ and Steel Beam Installation in Cockfosters
GS Renovation has been putting steel into North London houses for a long time, and the founder brings 30+ years of hands-on structural experience to it. We appoint the engineer, build to the calculations, form proper padstone bearings on the inner leaf, protect the steel to Approved Document B and get Barnet building control in before anything is boarded over. Certificates are handed over at completion.
- Founder-led team with 30+ years of hands-on experience
- Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages
- Dust screens and floor protection in occupied homes
- Restricted London access planned before the steel arrives
- Party Wall Act notices served where a beam bears into a shared wall
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records