Building Contractors in Barnes

The house already had history in its structure.

29 Merthyr Terrace was not an untouched Victorian house. Earlier alterations had already changed the basement, introduced significant steelwork and converted the original roof space.

The new brief was to make the property work properly as the owners' primary residence: reorganise awkward accommodation, introduce another round of structural change, address damp at basement level, modernise the services and refurbish the house throughout.

That meant understanding what was already carrying the building before anything new could be removed, strengthened or rebuilt.

Four levels. One coordinated refurbishment.

The project was not about adding one isolated room. Different parts of the house had to be rethought together so the finished property functioned as one home.

The previous double-height arrangement was reorganised to create additional usable floor area, including a new bedroom, revised kitchen and dining space, hall, WC and pantry.

The main reception and living rooms remained the principal spaces, while major hidden structural alterations changed how the rear of the house was supported.

Bedrooms, circulation and storage were reconfigured, including a new en-suite and revised bedroom arrangement with new partitions, openings and joinery.

The existing loft conversion was refined rather than claimed as new work, with the upper accommodation reconfigured around the bedroom, en-suite, utility and associated services.

Most of the important work is invisible when the house is finished.

The existing house already contained substantial structural alterations. The new scheme required temporary support, removal and replacement of existing members, new beams and columns, and a new box frame to maintain stability after the layout changed.

The basement had to become dry, stable and useful.

The lower level combined several different problems: awkward existing geometry, a new floor required over part of the previous void, and an existing damp condition that had to be investigated and addressed before finishes were reinstated.

The works therefore combined structural alteration, damp-remediation measures, revised floor construction and a completely reorganised layout rather than treating the basement as a decorating exercise.

Once the heavy work disappeared, it still had to feel effortless.

The engineering was only one part of the job. The house was then finished as the clients' own home, with bathrooms, joinery, plastering, flooring, lighting, heating and decoration coordinated across the refurbished spaces.

The refurbishment went well beyond finishes.

Heating, electrical and plumbing systems were upgraded alongside the building work so the house functioned as a comprehensively renewed home when the owners moved back in.

Heating

The completed scope included a new Vaillant system boiler, new hot-water cylinder, revised heating pipework, radiators, isolation points and associated controls.

Electrical

Lighting, sockets, distribution and life-safety systems were renewed or extended through the refurbished areas, with provision incorporated for specialist equipment where required.

Plumbing

The new bathrooms, WC and revised kitchen layout required coordinated hot and cold supplies, wastes, drainage alterations and sanitary connections through the existing property.

Some packages sat outside the core build. They still had to work with it.

The wider project included a new prefabricated garden outbuilding. Adam Renovations coordinated the relevant specialist subcontractors together with the groundwork, foundations, power interface and the main refurbishment programme.

Air-conditioning works were handled as a specialist package, with the required locations, electrical provision and interfaces coordinated into the loft and roof-level works.

The important part was not who manufactured each specialist component; it was making sure those packages were planned around the structural work, services and finishing sequence rather than arriving as afterthoughts.

Existing houses often have far more potential than their current layout suggests.

Period houses in Barnes often contain a mixture of original fabric and alterations carried out over many years. A well-planned refurbishment can reorganise awkward space, alter or strengthen the existing structure and modernise the services without losing the character that made the property worth buying in the first place.

Adam Renovations delivers substantial residential refurbishments, structural alterations, house extensions and roof or loft projects across Barnes and the surrounding areas.

Planning substantial work in Barnes?

Tell us about the property, the works you are considering and where you are with drawings or planning. We will review the project and come back to you directly.