Where We Work
Considered extensions and glazed rooms for Solihull's higher-specification housing stock, designed, engineered and built by one family run team, with a 10-year insurance-backed structural guarantee at the end of it.
Family run since 2013 · 40 years of building experience · £2,000,000 public liability cover
Solihull is a higher-value, higher-expectation market, and the building work has to match it. Detailing that would pass without comment on a 1970s estate does not pass in Dorridge, Knowle, Hampton-in-Arden or Barston, where brickwork bonds, mortar colour, reveal depth and roof pitch are all read at a glance by anyone valuing the property.
We work across the borough: Solihull town, Shirley, Olton, Knowle, Dorridge, Balsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden, Castle Bromwich and Marston Green, and the specification is set against the house rather than against a standard package.
Much of Solihull's stock is generously built inter-war and post-war detached housing on wide plots, alongside substantial 1930s semis and a strong run of arts-and-crafts influenced properties in the villages. Wide plots make side and wraparound extensions genuinely viable, and full-width rear extensions with a lantern or a set of sliding doors are the single most requested project we see here.
Knowle, Dorridge, Hampton-in-Arden, Berkswell and Meriden contain conservation areas and listed properties. On those streets an orangery with brick pillars and a solid perimeter roof is often the right answer where a fully glazed conservatory would look bolted on, and it is far more likely to be supported by the planning authority.
Newer executive estates around Blythe Valley, Dickens Heath and Cheswick Green bring a different problem: adequate space, poor layout. Internal structural alterations and a modest rear extension usually deliver more than a large addition would.
Solihull property values make the moving calculation stark. Stamp duty alone on a larger house in Knowle or Dorridge is a serious figure before agents, solicitors and removals are counted, and none of it improves a house. Redirecting that money into the property you already own, inside a catchment you deliberately bought into, is the reason most of our Solihull work happens.
The second reason is the garden. Trading up in Solihull very often means trading down in plot size. Extending keeps both the space and the ground.
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 building work behind the business, family run since 2013. You deal with Wayne Nolan directly rather than a sales representative.
Architect's drawings and engineer's calculations are produced for you, which matters where planning scrutiny is heavier than average.
Groundwork, structure, glazing, plumbing, heating and electrics coordinated on one programme by one point of contact.
In place on every project and available to view before work begins.
Structural work carries a 10-year insurance-backed guarantee through Quality Assured National Warranties.
Priced from drawings so you can see the scope, compare like with like, and avoid the variations that follow a number scribbled on a doorstep.
Local conditions
Knowle, Dorridge, Hampton-in-Arden, Berkswell, Meriden and parts of Solihull town centre carry conservation designations. Materials, glazing bar profiles, roof form and window proportions all come under scrutiny, and permitted development rights may be restricted or removed.
Much of the borough outside the built-up area is Green Belt, where extension size relative to the original dwelling is measured closely. Establishing what is achievable before you fall in love with a layout saves months.
Some Solihull streets and newer estates carry restrictions beyond national planning rules. Covenants on modern developments are separate from planning and are enforced privately. Both need checking before drawings are finalised.
The leafy plots that make Solihull desirable also mean deep foundations. Established oaks and horse chestnuts on clay require depth and, in some cases, heave protection: costs that must be in the estimate rather than in a later variation.
A new extension in the wrong brick and mortar reads as an addition forever. Sourcing a genuine match, or making the deliberate contrast work architecturally, is a decision taken at design stage, not on the day the pallet arrives.
In this market the plastering, the joinery lines, the tiling and the making-good are what the house is judged on. Work that stops at 'structurally fine' undersells the money spent on it.
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
In a borough with this much conservation and Green Belt coverage, the orangery is frequently the stronger option. A solid perimeter roof with a central lantern, brick pillars matched to the house and proper insulation gives a room that holds temperature through winter, reads as part of the original building, and stands a better chance in a planning assessment than a fully glazed structure on a period property.
That does not rule conservatories out. On a post-war detached with a plain rear elevation, a well-built conservatory glazed with modern low-emissivity units is excellent value for the floor area gained. The decision belongs to the house, its aspect and how you intend to use the room in January, not to a catalogue.
Solihull's wider plots make two storey side extensions realistic where narrower streets elsewhere would not allow them. A two storey addition can deliver a family bathroom and a fourth bedroom above a widened kitchen, which is usually a bigger uplift in both living quality and value than a single storey addition of the same footprint cost.
Internally, most of the value comes from removing the walls that divide a 1930s ground floor into small rooms. That is steel and engineer's calculations, padstones bearing correctly, and careful propping: followed by plastering good enough that nobody can tell where the wall used to be.
We are based at 5 Hysopp Close, Hednesford, Cannock, and work south into Solihull and Birmingham as part of our regular coverage. Working across both Staffordshire and the West Midlands keeps us fluent in different housing stock, planning authorities and ground conditions rather than one narrow local pattern.
Nearby, we also cover Birmingham, Lichfield and Cannock, so if your project sits on a boundary between authorities we are already familiar with both sides of the line.
Questions
Yes. We work throughout the borough including Solihull town, Shirley, Olton, Knowle, Dorridge, Balsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden, Castle Bromwich and Marston Green, from our base in Cannock, Staffordshire.
Visits are arranged by appointment, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. Solihull is part of our regular coverage area, so call Wayne on 07596 484998 and we will agree a time that suits you.
We price from drawings rather than quoting a rate per square metre. Ground conditions, structural work, glazing specification and finish level all move the number. You get a written itemised estimate after the survey so you can see what is and is not included.
We are a planned building contractor rather than an emergency repair service. Our hours are Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, and Wayne is reachable directly on 07596 484998.
Yes, with the right design. Conservation designation affects materials, proportions and roof form, and can restrict permitted development. We prepare drawings that respond to those constraints rather than fighting them.
It is a constraint rather than an automatic refusal. Green Belt policy looks closely at the size of the extension relative to the original dwelling. We establish what is realistically achievable before design work goes far.
On period and conservation-area properties an orangery, solid roof, brick pillars, central lantern, usually sits better and performs better in winter. On plainer post-war elevations a conservatory gives more room for the money. We advise against the house, not against a product range.
£2,000,000 public liability insurance, and a 10-year insurance-backed guarantee through QANW on structural work.
Yes, both: prepared for you as part of the job, along with dealing with building control through the build.
Call 07596 484998 or 01543 401271, email info@parker-james.co.uk, or use the estimate form on this page. We will visit, talk it through and put a written estimate together.
Extensions, conservatories, orangeries and conversions for homeowners in Birmingham.
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.
Tell us what you have in mind. No obligation, no pressure.