Builders in Battersea, SW11

What we build in Battersea

The standard SW11 project is the same combination that works across the Victorian terraces of south west London: a side return infill to widen the kitchen, and a rear or L shaped dormer to add a bedroom and ensuite in the roof.

Alongside that, a large part of our Battersea workload is remedial. Correcting an extension that leaks at the junction with the original roof, replacing a flat roof that was never falls correctly, or regularising work that was done without building control approval and is now blocking a sale.

• Side return and rear extensions
• Dormer and L shaped dormer loft conversions
• Kitchen renovations and structural openings
• Bathrooms, ensuites and wetrooms
• Remedial work to previous extensions
• Full house renovations

Between the Commons

The grid between Clapham Common and Wandsworth Common, sometimes called the Toast Rack because of the parallel street pattern, is the heart of family Battersea. The houses are consistent Victorian terraces with back additions, and almost every one of them is a candidate for the same alterations.

The density is the constraint. Frontages are narrow, parking is controlled, and on most streets there is no scope for a skip outside the door without a permit and a bay suspension. We arrange those in advance and sequence deliveries so vehicles are not sitting on the road.

Buying a house with existing building work

If you are buying in SW11 and the house has already been extended or converted, the questions worth asking are whether building control signed it off, whether the structural calculations exist and whether a party wall award was made.

Missing paperwork is common and it is not always fatal. Regularisation is possible in many cases, and indemnity insurance covers some situations. What you do not want is to discover the gap at the point you are trying to sell. We are happy to look at what you have and tell you where you stand.

Flat roofs, and why so many fail here

Every side return and rear extension in Battersea has a flat or near flat roof over part of it, and flat roofs are where most of the remedial work we do originates.

The failures are consistent: insufficient fall so water sits rather than runs, a poorly detailed upstand where the new roof meets the original rear wall, and inadequate flashing at the junction with the neighbouring property. We build falls properly, detail the upstands correctly and use systems appropriate to the pitch, because the cost of getting it wrong is the whole ceiling below.