GS Renovation has installed steel beams across Greenwich for more than 30 years, from the Georgian townhouses near Greenwich Park to the Victorian terraces of Charlton and Woolwich. Many SE3, SE10 and SE18 homes have solid load-bearing walls and shared party walls, so removing them safely calls for engineered RSJs, careful propping and building control sign-off.
Steel beams for Greenwich period homes
Greenwich's Georgian and Regency townhouses were built with thick solid brick walls that carry the floors and roof above. When you want to open up a room in SE3 or SE10, that wall cannot simply come out. Our structural engineer sizes an RSJ to carry the load, and we cast concrete padstones at each end so the beam bears properly onto sound masonry rather than crushing old brickwork.
Before any brick is cut we install temporary propping, needle the wall where required, and demolish in careful stages so nothing moves. Once the steel is seated and levelled, we build in the padstones, fireproof the beam and hand everything to building control for inspection. Across Woolwich, Charlton and Eltham this staged method keeps period floors and ceilings intact while the new opening is formed.
Party wall notices across Greenwich
In Greenwich terraces the wall between you and your neighbour is usually a shared party wall, and chimney stacks often straddle it. If your beam bears on that wall, the Party Wall Act applies and your neighbour must be served notice before work starts. We help you identify which walls are shared, so the legal side is handled early rather than holding up the build in SE7 or SE18.
Listed status and conservation areas are common near Greenwich Park and Blackheath, and while internal steelwork is a building regulations matter rather than planning, listed buildings need extra care and sometimes listed building consent. We coordinate the engineer's calculations, the padstone details and the building control inspections, then finish the opening neatly so the new steel disappears into the room.
What changes once the steel is in
The first thing owners notice in a Greenwich house is that two rooms start behaving as one, and that has consequences beyond the view. Heat moves freely, so a room that used to warm quickly now takes longer, and radiators sized for two small spaces may not suit one large one. Sound carries from end to end, which matters a great deal if one half of the new space is a working kitchen. Insulation on the exposed rear wall is worth reviewing at the same time, while the room is stripped and the access is easy.
The room also gains something less obvious, which is usable wall. A dividing wall with a door in it wastes both sides of the doorway, and once it has gone the furniture can sit where it makes sense rather than where circulation allowed. In SE10 and SE3 houses with a good rear aspect, the biggest single change is that the garden becomes visible from the front of the house for the first time.
- Access and lifting plans for restricted London sites
- Building control applications and inspection sign-off
- Bearing checks into party walls and shared masonry
- Existing pipework and cabling diverted around the new opening
- Making good, plastering and finishing around the new steel
Why Choose GS Renovation in Greenwich
Homeowners across Greenwich choose GS Renovation because we treat structural work as the serious job it is. One team manages the engineer, the propping and building control, with 30+ years of removing walls in SE3, SE9, SE10 and SE18. You get safe staged demolition, correctly sized steel and a clean, signed-off opening.
- Making good and plastering priced in, not treated as an extra
- Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs
- Site left safe and secure at the end of every day
- Building control inspected at the propping and beam stages
- Paperwork and certificates handed over for when you sell
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover