Where We Work
Extensions, loft and garage conversions and structural alterations across Birmingham's terraces, semis and suburban detached housing: drawn, engineered and built by one family run team.
Family run since 2013 · 40 years of building experience · £2,000,000 public liability cover
Birmingham is not one housing market. A Victorian terrace in Moseley, a 1930s semi in Hall Green, a post-war estate house in Northfield and a 1990s detached in Sutton Coldfield each need a different approach to foundations, structure, access and finish. We price and build against the property in front of us rather than a template.
We work across the north and east of the city in particular, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Great Barr, Perry Barr, Kingstanding, Castle Vale, and south through Hall Green, Moseley, Kings Heath, Selly Oak and Northfield.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces dominate the inner suburbs. Their defining feature is the side return: a narrow strip of unusable outdoor space beside a rear projection. Filling it converts a dark galley kitchen into a wide kitchen-diner and is, pound for pound, some of the best value building work available in the city.
Inter-war semis across Hall Green, Yardley, Erdington and Great Barr typically have a hipped roof, an integral or attached garage and a rear garden of useful depth. Those homes suit a rear extension, a garage conversion, or a hip-to-gable loft conversion adding a double bedroom and en-suite in space that already exists.
Sutton Coldfield and the outer suburbs bring larger detached properties where a two storey side extension is realistic: extra bedroom and bathroom above, wider kitchen or utility below, all on foundations dug once.
Urban building work is as much about logistics as construction. Narrow rear access, on-street parking pressure, shared entries and terraced party walls all shape how a job is sequenced. Skips, deliveries and muck-away have to be planned rather than improvised, and neighbours who are told what is happening in advance cause far fewer problems than neighbours who are not.
Party wall matters are a routine part of Birmingham work. Where an extension involves excavation near a shared boundary or cutting into a party wall, the correct notices need serving at the right time. It is procedural, not dramatic: provided nobody skips it.
What we build here
Single and double storey extensions that add genuine living space and lasting value to your home.
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Solid-roofed, brick-pillared rooms that feel part of the house all year round, not bolted on.
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Designed, built and glazed in-house, from the base up, to suit the age and style of your property.
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Unused roof space turned into a bedroom, office or en-suite, with building control sign-off handled.
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A fast route to an extra room, fully insulated, plastered and finished to match the rest of the house.
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Full kitchen fits including joinery, plumbing, electrics, tiling and making good.
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Wall removals, steel beams and open-plan reconfigurations, calculated and installed properly.
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Plans and engineer's calculations prepared for you, so planning and building control run smoothly.
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The trades your project needs, coordinated on one programme by one point of contact.
Read moreWhy Parker James
Four decades of hands-on building behind the business, family run since 2013, with Wayne Nolan as your single point of contact.
Architect's drawings and structural engineer's calculations prepared, and building control dealt with through the build.
Steel beams, wall removals and open-plan reconfigurations are calculated and installed properly: the part of city extension work most likely to be done badly.
Held on every project and available to view before work starts.
Insurance-backed guarantee on structural work through Quality Assured National Warranties.
Plumbing, heating and electrical works run on our programme, so the shell does not sit unfinished while you chase subcontractors.
Local conditions
Excavating within three metres of a neighbouring structure, or building on the line of junction, triggers statutory notice requirements. Ignoring them is how a straightforward extension turns into a dispute with the people next door.
Many Birmingham terraces have no vehicle access to the rear. Everything comes through the house or down an entry, which affects programme and cost. It belongs in the estimate at survey stage, not as a surprise.
Nineteenth-century terraces were frequently built on minimal footings. Tying modern foundations into that, and underpinning where the design requires it, needs engineer input rather than optimism.
Large parts of the city sit on ground disturbed by earlier development. Trial holes and appropriate foundation depth are the answer; assuming a standard dig is not.
Moseley, Edgbaston, Harborne, Kings Heath and Sutton Coldfield all contain conservation areas where materials, window detail and rear elevation changes are assessed closely, and permitted development rights may be restricted.
Older city housing has often had walls removed or lofts boarded out without certificates. Discovering an unsupported opening mid-project is common. Finding it during the survey is much better.
How we work
Step 1
Wayne visits, measures, looks at ground conditions, access and the existing structure, and talks through what you actually want the finished space to do.
Step 2
Architect's drawings and structural engineer's calculations are prepared, so the design is resolved on paper before anyone prices or digs.
Step 3
You get a priced scope from the drawings, not a figure on a doorstep, so you can see what is included and compare like with like.
Step 4
We submit and deal with building control through the build, and give you a realistic programme with the stages that will be disruptive flagged in advance.
Step 5
One team through groundwork, structure, glazing, plumbing, heating and electrics, then making good, sign-off and the 10-year QANW guarantee paperwork.
In detail
The side return is the classic Birmingham gain. A Victorian or Edwardian terrace usually has a rear outrigger with a strip of ground beside it: too narrow to sit in, too awkward to plant, permanently in shadow. Roofing and enclosing it widens the ground floor across the full width of the plot and turns two cramped rooms into one properly proportioned kitchen-dining space.
The engineering matters more than the footprint suggests. The outrigger wall usually carries load, so removing it needs steel sized by a structural engineer with padstones bearing onto masonry that can take it. Rooflights along the new roof do the heavy lifting on daylight, because a side return extension with no glazing overhead simply produces a wider dark room.
A hip-to-gable conversion with a rear dormer is the standard route for a 1930s Birmingham semi and typically produces a double bedroom with an en-suite. The constraints are head height, stair position and floor structure: the existing ceiling joists were never intended as floor joists, so new structural members spanning to load-bearing walls are part of every proper conversion.
Building control involvement is not optional. Escape routes, fire-rated doors, protected stairwells and insulation values are all assessed, and a converted loft without a completion certificate is a room you cannot legally call a bedroom when you sell.
We are based in Cannock, Staffordshire, and cover Birmingham as part of a regional patch that also takes in Solihull, Lichfield and Cannock itself. Working across several planning authorities keeps us practised at the paperwork side as well as the building side.
If your property sits close to a boundary, the Sutton Coldfield edge toward Lichfield, for instance, we are already working on both sides of it.
Questions
Yes. We work across the city, particularly the northern and eastern suburbs including Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Great Barr and Castle Vale, and south through Hall Green, Moseley, Kings Heath and Northfield.
We visit by appointment, Monday to Saturday between 9am and 6pm. Birmingham is inside our regular coverage area: call Wayne on 07596 484998 and we will arrange a time.
It depends on footprint, ground conditions, the steelwork involved, drainage and specification. We do not quote a rate per square metre because it would mislead. We survey, price from drawings and issue a written itemised estimate.
No: we are a planned building contractor, not a 24-hour emergency service. Our hours are Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, and you can call Wayne directly on 07596 484998.
On terraces and semis, very often yes. Excavating near a neighbouring structure or building on the line of junction triggers statutory notices. We identify it at survey stage so it is handled in the right order.
Yes. Wall removals and steel beam installation are core work for us, with engineer's calculations, correctly sized padstones and proper propping: followed by making good that hides where the wall was.
It affects the method and the programme, not the feasibility. We assess access at the survey and price the job for the site as it actually is.
£2,000,000 public liability insurance, and a 10-year insurance-backed guarantee through QANW on structural work.
Yes. We prepare architect's drawings and structural calculations and deal with building control through the build.
Call 07596 484998 or 01543 401271, email info@parker-james.co.uk, or use the form on this page. We will arrange a visit and put a written estimate together with no obligation.
Extensions, conservatories, orangeries and conversions for homeowners in Solihull.
Extensions, conservatories, orangeries and conversions for homeowners in Lichfield.
Extensions, conservatories, orangeries and conversions for homeowners in Cannock.
Back to the homepage, see all our services or browse every area we cover. To talk to Wayne, call 07596 484998.
One visit, one written itemised estimate, one team from start to finish: backed by £2,000,000 public liability cover and a 10-year QANW insurance-backed guarantee on structural work.
Next step
Send a few details and Wayne will arrange a visit, talk through the options and put a written, itemised estimate together. No obligation.
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