GS Renovation installs RSJs and steel beams across Highgate, where N6's bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces sit on the edge of Hampstead Heath. With more than 30 years of structural experience, we remove load-bearing walls safely, prop temporarily and open up period homes without disturbing the character these houses are known for.
Steel beam installation in Highgate terraces
Removing the wall between the front and rear reception rooms is the classic Highgate steel job. In a bay-fronted N6 terrace that dividing wall usually carries the floor above and often the chimney breast, so a structural engineer sizes the RSJ to suit the span and load before any demolition begins. We install padstones to spread the bearing into the solid brickwork, then take the wall down in careful, propped stages.
Temporary propping holds the structure while we lift the beam into place and build it in level. Because the dividing and chimney walls in these terraces frequently sit within a shared party wall, a party wall notice to the neighbour is usually needed, and you serve it in good time. Every beam is signed off by Camden building control, so your structural change is fully documented and compliant.
Load-bearing removal in Highgate homes
Highgate's Victorian and Edwardian houses were built with load-bearing masonry, so almost any wall you want to remove downstairs is doing structural work. Chimney breasts, spine walls and the wall to the rear closet wing all carry load, and taking them out without a properly sized beam risks cracking and movement. We start every project with an engineer's calculations rather than guesswork, which keeps your home safe and the works insurable.
Staged demolition matters just as much as the beam itself. We prop above and to the sides, cut pockets for the padstones, then remove the masonry in controlled sections so nothing is left unsupported. Dust protection and floor coverings keep the rest of your occupied N6 home clean while we work. Once the beam is bedded and the propping struck, Camden building control inspects before we plaster and make good.
- Load-bearing wall removal and knock-throughs
- Goalpost frames where two walls meet at a corner
- RSJ and structural steel beam installation
- Temporary propping and staged, controlled demolition
- Flitch beams where a slimmer steel and timber solution suits
The GS Renovation Difference in Highgate
Highgate homeowners trust us because we treat structural work as engineering, not guesswork. Every RSJ is sized by a qualified structural engineer, bedded on proper padstones and signed off by Camden building control. With 30+ years removing walls in N6 terraces, we handle propping and making good as one accountable team, tidily and on time.
- Restricted London access planned before the steel arrives
- Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you
- Levels and deflection checked before the props come out
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Temporary propping in place before anything is cut
- Honest updates if a date or a detail has to move