GS Renovation installs RSJs and steel beams across Hammersmith and Fulham, from the bay-fronted terraces of W6 and W14 to the riverside homes near Bishops Park in SW6. With over 30 years of structural work in the borough, we open up period houses safely, from load-bearing wall removal to building control sign-off.
Steel beams for Hammersmith and Fulham terraces
The Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Fulham Broadway and Shepherd's Bush were built with solid load-bearing masonry, so removing the wall between two reception rooms or opening a rear kitchen means carrying that load on steel. Every beam we fit is sized by a structural engineer to suit the span and the weight above, then set to bear onto concrete padstones so the point loads transfer cleanly into sound brickwork below.
Before any wall comes down we install temporary propping and work through a safe, staged demolition, cutting the pockets, seating the RSJ and pinning up to the underside before the props come out. In these tightly built W12 and SW6 homes we protect floors and stairs, keep dust down and leave the structure ready for plastering, with everything sequenced to keep the house stable throughout.
Party walls and building control in Hammersmith and Fulham
Because these terraces share a party wall with the house next door, and chimney breasts and dividing walls often sit within it, cutting a beam bearing into that shared wall usually triggers the Party Wall Act. you serve the correct notices on adjoining owners in good time, which matters on the closely packed streets of Hammersmith and Fulham where neighbours sit only a brick's width away.
Steel beam work is governed by building regulations rather than planning permission, so we notify Hammersmith and Fulham Council's building control or use an approved inspector. The engineer's calculations, the padstone details and the beam sizes are all submitted, and an inspector checks the bearings and fire protection before sign-off. You finish with a completion certificate that protects the value of your home and any future sale.
Choosing and protecting the right section
People say RSJ, but the section your engineer specifies is usually a universal beam, and occasionally a channel, a hollow section or a pair of beams bolted together with a spacer. The choice follows the span, the load and how much depth the room can give up. A parallel flange universal beam is the ordinary answer in a Fulham terrace; a flitched timber beam sometimes suits a lighter span where a steel would be awkward to get in.
Protection matters as much as the section. Steel arrives with a basic primer that is not a long-term finish, so where a beam sits in or near an external wall in SW6 we specify a proper paint system or galvanising, because a beam that rusts in a damp reveal will jack the brickwork above it. Bearings are damp-proofed, and any exposed steel is fire protected to the thickness the regulations require for the storey it sits in.
- Making good, plastering and finishing around the new steel
- Bearing checks into party walls and shared masonry
- Ceiling and floor levels resolved where the beam sits below joists
- Lintel and catnic support to smaller openings
- Goalpost frames where two walls meet at a corner
Why Hammersmith and Fulham Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Homeowners across W6, W12, W14 and SW6 choose GS Renovation because we treat steelwork as one accountable process, from the engineer's calculations through to propping, installation and building control sign-off. Thirty years of opening up the borough's period terraces means we understand these shared walls and solid-brick structures, and we leave the house safe and certified.
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- Making good and plastering priced in, not treated as an extra
- Restricted London access planned before the steel arrives
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records
- Materials priced at options, so you choose the finish
- Party Wall Act notices served where a beam bears into a shared wall