GS Renovation carries out structural alterations throughout Streatham's Victorian and Edwardian terraced homes, in SW16 and out towards Clapham, Vauxhall and Kennington. Over more than 30 years we have formed new openings, replaced tired joists, underpinned settled walls and installed supported openings, always to a structural engineer's design and always signed off under the Building Regulations.
Common structural alterations in Streatham homes
The alterations we see most often in Streatham reflect how these houses were built. Homeowners want a wide supported opening between the front reception and the middle room, a new doorway punched through a thick internal wall, or replacement joists where a Victorian floor has started to bounce or sag. In the older terraces near Brixton, decades of damp and movement mean joist ends buried in the wall have sometimes decayed and need cutting back and rebuilding.
Underpinning comes up where a bay or a rear closet wing has settled over the years, often on London's shrinkable clay. Whatever the alteration, we work to an engineer's calculations: steel beams over openings sit on padstones, new joists are sized and hung correctly, and underpinning is dug and poured in short, sequenced bays so the wall above is never undermined all at once.
Getting Streatham alterations signed off
Structural alterations are notifiable to building control, so we register the work with Lambeth Council or an approved inspector before starting. The inspector reviews the engineer's design and visits at key stages, checking beam bearings, joist hangers, propping and underpinning bays before they are covered up. You receive a completion certificate that confirms the work meets the Building Regulations, which matters when you come to remortgage or sell.
Because Streatham's terraces share party walls and chimney stacks with the neighbours, alterations that touch or bear onto that shared wall trigger the Party Wall Act. New openings near the party wall, or steels that need bearing into it, mean serving notice on the adjoining owner first. You serve those notices as part of the job, so nothing stalls once the props are up and the work is under way.
- Wall plate, joist hanger and restraint strap installation
- Drainage diversion and build-over agreements where required
- Basement and cellar alterations with retaining support
- Lintel replacement and repair over failed openings
- Load-bearing wall removal and new structural openings
The GS Renovation Difference in Streatham
For structural alterations in Streatham you get GS Renovation as a single point of responsibility: engineer's calculations, Lambeth building control inspections and the physical work all under one roof. We prop and sequence carefully, protect the rest of your home, and finish clean. More than 30 years working on SW16 period houses means we know how these terraces behave.
- Work sequenced around the surveyors' schedule of condition before excavation
- Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs
- Load paths carried properly down to foundations
- Registered in England, Companies House no. 14611254
- One point of contact on the phone, not a call centre
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf