GS Renovation carries out structural alterations throughout Hendon, working on the 1930s semi-detached and interwar suburban houses that define NW4 and the streets running towards Finchley and Golders Green. Across more than 30 years we have formed new openings, replaced tired joists, underpinned settling foundations and installed supported openings that keep these solid period homes sound.
Structural work on Hendon's suburban houses
The interwar houses on Hendon's generous plots lend themselves to widened openings between kitchen and dining room, new door openings into side-return extensions, and replacement joists where original timbers have sagged or been weakened over ninety years. Every alteration begins with a structural engineer's assessment, because the internal walls in these 1930s homes frequently carry real load rather than being simple partitions.
For a new opening The engineer designs the steel beam or lintel bearing onto padstones, prop the structure temporarily and cut through in safe stages so the load is never left unsupported. Where old floor joists have failed we splice or replace them to the correct span and grade. Underpinning follows the same discipline, excavating in short sequenced bays to strengthen foundations without undermining the wall above.
Regulations and party walls in NW4
Structural alterations inside a Hendon house are controlled under the Building Regulations rather than requiring planning permission, so Barnet Council's building control is the body that inspects and certifies the work. Planning consent only comes into play for exterior changes in a conservation area or on a listed building, which is a separate matter from the internal steelwork and beams we install day to day.
Many of these interwar semis share a party wall with the house next door, so forming an opening near that wall, underpinning alongside it or bearing a new beam into it makes the work notifiable under the Party Wall Act. You serve the correct notices on your neighbour, coordinate the engineer's drawings and calculations, and line up building control inspections so the alteration is signed off cleanly from start to finish.
Forming a new opening in an outside wall
Widening the back of a Hendon house for glazed doors is a different job from an internal opening, because an external wall is doing more than carrying load. It also keeps water out, so the lintel over the new opening has to be the right type for the wall construction, and in the cavity walls of these interwar houses a cavity tray with stop ends and weep holes goes above it to take any water that gets in back out.
The other consideration is the corner. Removing a long stretch of a rear wall can leave a slender return of masonry carrying the beam at one end, and the engineer may call for a column or a wider pier rather than accepting it. Insulation continuity around the new reveals matters as well, since a cold bridge at the jambs is where condensation and black mould appear a year later. All of it is inspected by Barnet building control.
- Lintel replacement and repair over failed openings
- Chimney breast removal and support to the stack above
- New door and window openings in solid masonry
- Load paths carried down to foundations on new piers and pads
- Temporary works, propping and needling
Why Hendon Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Homeowners across Hendon trust GS Renovation for structural alterations because one team owns the entire job. We commission the engineer, serve any party wall notices on the adjoining semi, manage Barnet Council building control and carry out the propping, beams and underpinning ourselves, tidily and safely. More than 30 years of NW4 experience means the certified result is right first time.
- Load paths carried properly down to foundations
- Founder-led team with 30+ years of hands-on experience
- Trial holes dug to confirm what is under the building
- Our own trades on site rather than a chain of subcontractors
- Underpinning carried out in sequenced bays, never one long trench
- Waste cleared as we go, not left piled in the garden