GS Renovation installs RSJs and steel beams across Tooting, where the bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces of SW17 were built with load-bearing walls and shared chimney stacks. With over 30 years of structural work in Wandsworth, we open up these period homes safely, from ground-floor knock-throughs to full rear openings.
Removing load-bearing walls in Tooting
The most common structural job in Tooting is taking down the wall between the two front reception rooms, or opening the rear wall into a closet wing. In these SW17 terraces that wall almost always carries load from the floor and roof above, so a structural engineer sizes the RSJ, we install temporary props, then remove the masonry in stages before lowering the new beam onto padstones at each bearing.
Where the wall being removed is a party wall shared with the neighbouring terrace, which is often the case in Tooting's tightly packed streets, the Party Wall Act applies and you serve the correct notices before work begins. Every beam is checked and signed off by Wandsworth building control, so the structure is documented and compliant. We keep the house propped and stable throughout, and make good the ceilings and walls afterwards.
Steel beams for Tooting kitchen extensions
When Tooting homeowners extend to the rear or infill the side return, the original back wall of the house comes out and a steel beam takes the load in its place. The engineer sizes the steelwork with your engineer to suit the new open-plan span, then build in padstones or spreader plates so the load transfers cleanly into the existing brickwork. Larger openings sometimes need a goalpost frame with steel posts rather than a single beam.
Because SW17 terraces sit wall to wall with their neighbours, the beam bearings frequently land in the shared party wall, which means a party wall award before we cut in. We coordinate the propping, the demolition and the beam lift so the house is never left unsupported, and building control inspects the steel before it is cased in. The result is a wide, uninterrupted opening between your kitchen and garden with no visible structure.
- RSJ and structural steel beam installation
- Temporary propping and staged, controlled demolition
- Steel columns, base plates and bolted connections
- Party Wall Act 1996 notices and awards handled
- Access and lifting plans for restricted London sites
Trusted RSJ and Steel Beam Installation in Tooting
Tooting homeowners choose GS Renovation because we have removed load-bearing walls in SW17 terraces for over 30 years and treat the structure as the priority. We work to your engineer's design, prop safely, serve any book Wandsworth building control at every stage, so the beam is right, signed off and hidden in a clean finish.
- High-density concrete padstones bedded at every bearing
- Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages
- Free follow-up visit after completion if anything needs attention
- Site left safe and secure at the end of every day
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Making good and plastering priced in, not treated as an extra