Our Services
Open up your ground floor without opening up a problem, every beam sized by a structural engineer, every bearing designed, every opening propped and signed off through building control.
40 years
of building experience behind the work
Family run
since 2013, you deal with Wayne Nolan
£2,000,000
public liability insurance in place
10-year guarantee
insurance-backed QANW cover on structural work
Mon–Sat, 9am–6pm
when you can reach us
Structural alterations change how a building carries its own weight. In domestic work that usually means removing a load-bearing wall to join two rooms, forming a wide opening between a kitchen and a dining room, taking out a chimney breast, widening a doorway in a supporting wall, or altering floor structure to reposition a staircase.
None of these are decorating jobs. When a wall comes out, the load it carried, floor joists, the wall above, sometimes the roof, has to be transferred into a beam and down through bearings into masonry and, ultimately, foundations capable of taking it. That chain is what the structural engineer's calculations set out and what building control inspects.
Homeowners who like their house but not its layout. Older properties across Cannock, Rugeley, Lichfield and Stafford were planned around separate rooms: a small kitchen, a dining room used twice a year, a lounge at the front. Removing one or two walls converts that plan into the open kitchen-living space most households now want, at a fraction of the cost of extending.
It also comes up as part of bigger projects: extensions that need the rear wall opened, loft conversions that need a staircase opening formed, and kitchen refits where the layout only works if a wall goes.
The load path is not visible. A wall that looks like a stud partition may be carrying a floor. A chimney breast removed at ground floor leaves the stack above it needing support. A beam that is strong enough not to fail can still deflect enough to crack the ceiling and jam the doors above it: deflection limits, not just strength, are part of the design.
We prepare architect's drawings and structural engineer's calculations, install temporary propping before anything is cut, build padstones onto masonry proven able to carry the load, fire protect steelwork where required, and deal with building control through the work.
What goes wrong
The immediate risk is collapse during the work. The slower risk is progressive deflection: cracking above the opening, sticking doors upstairs and a floor that bounces. Neither can be certified, and both are expensive to reverse.
A correctly sized steel resting on inadequate masonry simply moves the failure point. Padstones and bearing design exist precisely to spread that concentrated load.
Taking out a breast at ground or first floor while leaving the stack above unsupported is one of the most common serious defects found in surveys. Gallows brackets are not always acceptable and the remedy is major work.
Exposed structural steel in a domestic setting usually requires fire protection. Missing it can prevent sign-off and compromises the structure's performance in a fire.
Structural alteration is notifiable work. Without approval and a completion certificate, the alteration becomes a conveyancing problem and, for some lenders, a valuation one.
How we work
Step 1
We establish what the wall is carrying, what sits above it, where the load goes, and whether foundations at the bearing points are adequate.
Step 2
A structural engineer sizes the beam and specifies bearings, padstones and any additional support. Drawings are prepared for building control.
Step 3
An itemised estimate priced from the design, and the building control application made before work begins.
Step 4
Temporary support installed, opening formed, padstones built, steel set and packed, load transferred, then fire protection and making good.
Step 5
Building control inspects the exposed structure and issues completion. Structural work is covered by a 10-year QANW insurance-backed guarantee.
What you get
Reconfiguring the existing footprint is the lowest-cost way to change how a home lives day to day.
Beam sizes and bearings come from calculations, so the structure performs and can be certified.
Designing to deflection limits, not just strength, is what stops cracking and sticking upstairs after the props come out.
Calculations, drawings and a building control completion certificate are handed over at the end.
Plastering, flooring junctions, skirtings and decoration are part of the work, so the room is finished, not just opened.
£2,000,000 public liability during the works and a 10-year QANW insurance-backed structural guarantee after.
In detail
Load-bearing walls usually run perpendicular to floor joists, sit above a wall or beam on the floor below, continue through more than one storey, or support a roof member. Thickness and material are indicators but not proof: a 100mm blockwork wall can be structural and a thick lath-and-plaster partition may carry nothing.
Establishing the load path means checking joist direction, looking at the storey above and, where necessary, opening up small areas to see the construction. That investigation happens before pricing, because it determines the entire scope.
Steel beams, typically universal beams or, where depth is limited, parallel flange channels or flitch arrangements: are sized by the engineer against span, load and deflection limits. The bearing length at each end is specified, and concrete padstones are built into the masonry to spread the point load over an area the wall can carry.
Where the bearing wall itself is inadequate, the design extends downwards: a pier may be built, a pad foundation may be needed, or the load may be picked up on a second beam. This is why calculations sometimes reveal that a straightforward-looking wall removal is a larger job than expected, and why finding that out on paper is cheaper than finding it out mid-demolition.
Removing a chimney breast requires supporting everything above it. Full removal from ground to roof is often the cleanest solution structurally. Partial removal means the remaining stack must be supported by a designed system, and roof and flashing work follows at the top.
Floor structure alterations, trimming an opening for a new staircase, replacing joists, or increasing spans, are designed on the same basis as wall removals, with trimmers and hangers specified rather than improvised. Acoustic and fire separation between floors is maintained where the alteration disturbs it.
Exposed steel in habitable areas normally needs 30 minutes of fire protection, achieved with board encasement or intumescent treatment as specified. Where an alteration affects the escape route from upper floors, for example opening a stairwell into a kitchen, fire safety strategy has to be reconsidered as part of the design.
Where work affects a wall shared with a neighbour, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may require notice to be served. We flag that at survey. Building control approval is required for structural alteration, and we manage that process from application to completion certificate.
We carry out internal and structural alterations across Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley, Lichfield, Stafford, Birmingham, Solihull, Telford, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent and Derby, both as standalone projects and as part of extensions, loft conversions and kitchen installations.
Questions
It depends on span, the load carried, whether the bearings need strengthening, and the extent of making good. We survey first, get the calculations done and then price from the design rather than guessing.
The structural work itself is usually the shorter part; propping, forming the opening, making good, plastering and decoration take the rest. A realistic programme is given with the estimate.
Joist direction, what sits above, and whether the wall continues through storeys are the main indicators. We check properly at survey, including opening up small areas where necessary.
Yes, structural alteration is notifiable. We prepare the drawings and calculations, make the application and deal with building control through to the completion certificate.
Yes. Structural calculations are part of what we provide, so you are not commissioning an engineer separately and coordinating between them and the builder.
Yes, either fully or partially. Partial removal requires designed support for the remaining stack, which is set out in the engineer's calculations.
Beams are designed to deflection limits, not just to strength, specifically to avoid that. Minor decorative settlement can occur, and any making good in scope is included.
If the work affects a shared party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may require formal notice. We identify this at survey so it is dealt with in good time.
Yes: a 10-year insurance-backed guarantee through QANW, with £2,000,000 public liability insurance in place during the works.
Cannock, Lichfield, Stafford, Birmingham, Solihull, Telford, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and the surrounding towns.
Single and double storey extensions that add genuine living space and lasting value to your home.
Full kitchen fits including joinery, plumbing, electrics, tiling and making good.
Unused roof space turned into a bedroom, office or en-suite, with building control sign-off handled.
Plans and engineer's calculations prepared for you, so planning and building control run smoothly.
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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.
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