Builders in Hammersmith, W6

What we build in Hammersmith

In the tighter terracing of Brackenbury Village and the streets off Goldhawk Road, the work is familiar: side return infills, rear extensions and dormer loft conversions, all aimed at the same problem of a narrow dark kitchen and a bedroom short.

Around Ravenscourt Park and towards Stamford Brook the houses are larger and often semi detached with side access and hipped roofs, which opens up hip to gable conversions and double storey extensions that the smaller stock will not support.

• Side return and rear extensions
• Dormer and hip to gable loft conversions
• Double storey extensions on larger stock
• Period house refurbishment
• Flat and maisonette renovation
• Kitchens, bathrooms and ensuites

Brackenbury Village

Brackenbury is a compact grid of late Victorian terraces between Goldhawk Road and King Street, and it is a conservation area. The houses are smaller than the Fulham equivalent and the streets are narrower, which affects both what can be built and how it gets delivered.

Designation means front elevations, roof coverings and windows are controlled. Rear alterations are generally achievable, but anything visible from the street needs consent. Access is the practical constraint: narrow frontages and controlled parking mean skip permits and bay suspensions have to be arranged in advance.

Flats and freeholder consent

W6 has a high proportion of converted and purpose built flats, and there the lease governs as much as the planning system. Most leases require written freeholder consent for alterations, and many restrict changes to layout, floor finishes and anything affecting the building services.

Sound transmission between flats is the usual sticking point, and hard flooring is commonly restricted or subject to an acoustic underlay specification. We work to those specifications and provide the documentation the managing agent will want to see.

Period fabric in W6

The Victorian stock here has the same underlying construction as the rest of south west London: solid brick walls with no cavity, shallow foundations, lath and plaster ceilings and lime plaster on the walls.

The recurring issues follow from that. Cement render applied over solid brick traps moisture and causes the blown plaster we strip out. Gypsum will not bond durably to lime. Where the original construction is lime we repair in lime, because sealing a wall that was designed to breathe simply moves the damp somewhere less convenient.