From new openings to replacement joists and underpinning, GS Renovation carries out structural alterations across Kentish Town's Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Working in NW5 for over 30 years, we understand how these bay-fronted homes with their rear closet wings and side returns are built, and we alter them without compromising the structure that holds them up.
Supported openings across Kentish Town homes
Many alterations in Kentish Town start with a new opening: a wider doorway between reception rooms, an opening into the side return, or a link through the closet wing to a rear extension. Each new opening in a solid wall needs a lintel or beam sized by an engineer to carry the masonry above, bearing onto padstones at each side. We form the opening with the load temporarily propped, then build in the support before removing the props.
Older terraces off Fortess Road and the streets towards Highgate often hide tired timber. Ends of floor joists built into damp party walls can rot, and original bearers sag over long Victorian spans. We replace joists, add steel where spans demand it, and renew bearings so floors feel solid again. Every structural change is designed to the engineer's specification and inspected by Camden building control.
Underpinning and foundations in NW5
The clay subsoil across much of North London shrinks and swells with the seasons, and the shallow Victorian footings under Kentish Town terraces can settle or crack as a result, sometimes made worse by nearby trees between here and Hampstead Heath. Where an engineer confirms movement, we underpin in short, sequenced bays, digging out and casting new concrete beneath the existing wall so the load transfers down to firmer ground.
Underpinning and any alteration touching the shared party wall are notifiable under the Party Wall Act, so you serve the correct notices on the adjoining owner before work begins. The structural design is signed off by Camden building control against the Building Regulations. We coordinate the engineer, the party wall process and the groundworks ourselves, keeping one point of contact throughout an unsettling job.
- Load paths carried down to foundations on new piers and pads
- Bressummer and bay window support to period frontages
- Steel goalpost and portal frames to the engineer's design
- Steel beam and RSJ installation
- Drainage diversion and build-over agreements where required
Trusted Structural Alterations in Kentish Town
GS Renovation is the single team behind every part of a structural alteration in Kentish Town. We commission the engineer's design, serve party wall notices on neighbours, arrange Camden building control inspections and carry out openings, joist replacement and underpinning ourselves. That means correct beams, proper padstones, safe sequencing and a tidy site, all backed by more than 30 years of NW5 experience.
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Fully insured, with cover in place on every site
- Founder-led team with 30+ years of hands-on experience
- Every alteration certified rather than quietly built over
- Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs
- Trial holes dug to confirm what is under the building