GS Renovation installs RSJs and steel beams across Southwark, from the Victorian terraces of Peckham and Camberwell to the Georgian townhouses of Dulwich and the warehouse conversions of Bermondsey. With more than 30 years of structural experience in SE1, SE5, SE15, SE16, SE17, SE21 and SE22, we remove load-bearing walls safely and sign the work off with building control.
Steel beams for Southwark period homes
Most steel beam jobs in Southwark involve opening up the ground floor of a Victorian or Georgian terrace in SE5 or SE15, where the wall between the front and rear reception rooms carries the floors and often a chimney stack above. Our structural engineer sizes the beam to the actual loads, we prop the structure temporarily, then carry out staged demolition so nothing is left unsupported. The beam bears onto padstones calculated for the masonry.
Because Southwark terraces share dividing walls and chimney breasts with the house next door, most of these projects fall under the Party Wall Act. you serve the correct notices on adjoining owners in good time, whether you are in a Peckham terrace or a Dulwich townhouse near Dulwich Park. Everything is inspected and signed off by building control, so when you come to sell, the paperwork on the structural alteration is complete and correct.
Load-bearing wall removal in Southwark conversions
Steel work in Southwark is not limited to houses. In the warehouse conversions around Bermondsey and Borough, and in mansion flats across SE1 and SE16, structural change is possible but tightly controlled. Many of these are leasehold, so before any beam goes in you usually need the freeholder's licence to alter and coordination with the managing agent. We work within building-management rules and the sound insulation standards that apply between flats.
For houses, the process is more straightforward but no less careful. We handle knock-throughs between kitchens and rear rooms, chimney breast removals that need a beam or gallows bracket, and full-width openings for rear extensions. On the older Georgian and listed stock in Dulwich and Camberwell, we take extra care with lime mortar, original joists and lath and plaster, keeping the character of the property intact while the new steel does the structural job quietly behind the finishes.
Hot works and why we prefer bolts
Welding inside an occupied house is something we avoid where the design allows. A welded connection produces sparks, heat and fumes next to timber joists, old lath and plaster and a century of dust in the floor void, and the fire risk continues after the work stops. Where hot works are unavoidable, they run under a permit with the area cleared and screened, an extinguisher to hand and a fire watch kept for a period afterwards.
The alternative is usually straightforward. Most connections in a Southwark house, whether beam to beam, beam to column or a splice in a section brought in in two pieces, can be designed as bolted joints and fabricated in a workshop where the welding is done properly and inspected. It arrives ready to assemble. That means less risk, less smell through the house, and a connection whose quality does not depend on conditions in a cramped opening.
- Building control applications and inspection sign-off
- Load-bearing wall removal and knock-throughs
- Temporary propping and staged, controlled demolition
- Bearing checks into party walls and shared masonry
- Party Wall Act 1996 notices and awards handled
Trusted RSJ and Steel Beam Installation in Southwark
Southwark homeowners choose GS Renovation because we combine engineer-led steel design with 30+ years of hands-on structural work across SE1 to SE22. We manage the propping, the padstones and the building control sign-off as one accountable job, working cleanly in occupied period homes and staying within the leasehold rules that govern the borough's conversions.
- Fully insured, with cover in place on every site
- Levels and deflection checked before the props come out
- Our own trades on site rather than a chain of subcontractors
- Steel ordered cut, drilled and primed to the schedule
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Building control inspected at the propping and beam stages