GS Renovation installs RSJs and steel beams across Woolwich, from the bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces off the SE18 streets to the newer riverside apartments near the Thames. With more than 30 years of structural experience in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, We prop and install steel to the engineer's sizing safely and sign it off with building control.
Removing load-bearing walls in Woolwich terraces
Most Woolwich homes are Victorian and Edwardian terraces with a solid dividing wall between the two front reception rooms and another between the kitchen and the rear closet wing. These walls usually carry the floors and roof above, so opening them up needs a steel beam rather than a simple lintel. Our structural engineer calculates the span and section, we confirm padstone sizes, and building control inspects the work at each stage before it is signed off.
Before any brickwork comes down we install proper temporary propping to hold the structure while the wall is removed in a safe, staged sequence. The RSJ is then lifted into position, seated onto concrete or engineered padstones and packed tight so the load transfers cleanly. In older SE18 stock we frequently find soft mortar and uneven bearings, so we make good the surrounding masonry and leave the opening ready for finishing.
Party wall steelwork on SE18 shared walls
Because Woolwich terraces are joined on both sides, the dividing wall to next door and the chimney breasts often sit within a shared party wall. When a beam needs to bear into that shared structure, the Party Wall Act applies and formal notice must be served on the neighbouring owner. We flag this early so the notice period runs alongside the design work rather than holding up the build, and we keep the paperwork straightforward for you.
Chimney breast removal is another common request in these homes, and it is genuinely structural work. The stack above still needs support, so we install a gallows bracket or a beam to carry it, all designed by the engineer and inspected by building control. We work cleanly in occupied houses across SE18, protecting floors and managing dust while the propping and steelwork are in place, then hand back a sound, open space.
The old footing left under the floor
When a wall is removed, its foundation stays in the ground. In a Woolwich terrace with a suspended timber floor that means a brick sleeper wall or a strip footing sitting under where the wall stood, usually a few courses below the boards. It does no harm left in place, but it has to be accounted for when the floor is made good, because the joists that ran up to the wall on each side now need something to bear on.
On a solid floor it matters more. A footing left just below a new screed can telegraph through as a hard line or crack a run of tiles above it, so it is either broken out to a sufficient depth or the floor build up is designed to bridge it. We decide which when the wall comes down rather than when the tiler arrives, since it is half a day of work at one stage and a floor to relay at the other.
- Building control applications and inspection sign-off
- Concrete and high-density padstones at every bearing
- Goalpost frames where two walls meet at a corner
- Steel delivered cut, drilled and primed to the engineer's schedule
- Temporary propping and staged, controlled demolition
Why Choose GS Renovation in Woolwich
Woolwich homeowners choose GS Renovation because we treat steelwork as the structural job it is, not a shortcut. Engineer-designed beams, correct padstones, safe propping and building control sign-off come as standard, and You serve any Party Wall Act notice on your shared SE18 walls. Thirty years across the Royal Borough of Greenwich means we know these terraces inside out.
- High-density concrete padstones bedded at every bearing
- Dust screens and floor protection in occupied homes
- Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you
- Waste cleared as we go, not left piled in the garden
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- Temporary propping in place before anything is cut