GS Renovation carries out structural alterations throughout Hoxton, from new openings and replacement joists to supported openings and underpinning. The area's Victorian and Edwardian terraces, with their rear closet wings and side returns, throw up plenty of structural challenges, and over 30 years working in N1 and across Hackney has taught us how these houses behave.
Common structural work in Hoxton homes
Owners of Hoxton terraces come to us for a range of alterations: forming a wide opening between a kitchen and the closet wing, replacing joists that have sagged or been notched to death by past pipework, propping and supporting the wall over a new rear opening, or underpinning where old shallow foundations have settled. Each starts with a structural engineer setting out exactly what is needed.
Side-return infills are especially common on these streets, and they usually mean threading a steel goalpost frame down the flank and picking up the existing rear wall. Bay fronts sometimes need attention too, where the original timber lintels over the bay windows have decayed. We size every beam and lintel properly, bear them onto padstones and never rely on guesswork with the masonry above.
Sequencing alterations safely in N1
Structural alterations in an occupied Hoxton house are as much about sequence as they are about steel. We install temporary props and needles to hold the load, expose the bearings, then cut and remove masonry in stages so the structure is supported at every moment. Underpinning is done in short, hit-and-miss bays so the wall is never undermined along its full length at once.
Because these terraces share a party wall, alterations that cut into or bear onto that wall, or that involve underpinning next to it, are notifiable under the Party Wall Act, and we serve notice on the neighbour first. The work is signed off by Hackney Council's building control under the Building Regulations, with the engineer's calculations on file and inspections booked at each key stage.
- Steel beam and RSJ installation
- Load-bearing wall removal and new openings
- Underpinning and foundation strengthening
- Floor structure, joists and beam replacement
- New door and window openings in solid walls
The GS Renovation Difference in Hoxton
For structural alterations in Hoxton, GS Renovation gives you a single team that owns the whole process: engineer's design, party wall notices, safe staged propping, and building control certification with Hackney Council. We have handled openings, joists, supported walls and underpinning in N1's period terraces for over 30 years, and we keep the site clean and the house safe while you carry on living in it.
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Over 30 years of experience
- Dedicated project management
- Fully insured and guaranteed work
- Building control and planning support
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople