Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs · England
Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Leicestershire
Homeowners and landlords across Leicestershire can book us for open-plan kitchen knock-throughs: walls between kitchen and dining room removed, steel designed by an engineer, then the new kitchen fitted.
What prompts open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Leicestershire?
If your Leicestershire home is an older terrace, the wall between the kitchen and the middle room may well be load-bearing, so an engineer and a steel beam are likely to be part of the plan.
If you are already replacing the kitchen in your Leicestershire home, knocking through first means the layout is planned for the bigger room rather than squeezed into the old one.
What do open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Leicestershire include?
Here is what usually goes into open-plan kitchen knock-throughs, adjusted to your Leicestershire kitchen after we have measured it:
- Free survey visit to check the wall, the floors above and the services running through it
- Structural engineer arranged to design the beam, padstones and temporary propping
- Building Regulations approval arranged, or a building warrant before work starts in Scotland
- In England and Wales, party wall requirements checked where a beam bears into a shared wall
- Temporary props set, the wall removed and the steel beam bedded on padstones
- Cables, pipes and radiators in the wall rerouted by qualified trades
- Beam boxed in, the opening plastered and the floor joined where the wall stood
- New kitchen fitted once the opening is made good and the structural work inspected
How much do open-plan kitchen knock-throughs cost in Leicestershire?
The figures below are guide prices for Leicestershire, including VAT and adjusted for typical costs across the East Midlands. The fixed price comes after we have measured up. For the East Midlands, these ranges are close to the national figures.
| Typical project | Guide price |
|---|---|
| Non-load-bearing wall removed and made goodStud or light partition, minimal services | £780–£1,900 |
| Load-bearing wall with a steel beamStructural engineer's design and making good; building control or warrant fees listed separately | £2,900–£8,200 |
| Knock-through with a new kitchen-dinerSteel beam, new kitchen, new floor throughout | £24,000–£53,500 |
Load-bearing guide ranges include the structural engineer's design for a typical single opening and making good; council building control or building warrant fees, rerouted services, decorating and the kitchen itself are listed separately. Prices include VAT at 20%.
Kitchens in homes across Leicestershire
The housing mix across Leicestershire includes Victorian terraces, 1930s semis, post-war estate houses and new-build estates, so no two kitchen fits are quite alike. Leicester's Victorian terraces often have a long galley behind the back room, while 1930s semis tend to have a small square kitchen with a door to the garden.
Leicestershire's water is mostly moderately hard to hard, so limescale on taps and boiling water taps is likely and a filter or softener can help. Densely parked terraced streets and homes without rear access can make unloading slow, so delivery times and the route for long worktops are worth agreeing early.
Many terraces here have a narrow back kitchen with a bathroom beyond it, so moving or opening up the kitchen can involve plumbing changes. Newer estate houses more often need a straight replacement of the original kitchen with better storage, integrated appliances and more sockets.
Rules for open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Leicestershire
In England, removing a load-bearing wall needs a structural engineer's design and Building Regulations approval through local authority building control or a registered building control approver. Where a beam bears into a party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 means serving notice on the neighbours before work starts. If the new open-plan kitchen opens onto the hall and stairs, building control will check the escape route, and homes with a floor more than 4.5 metres above ground may need extra fire safety measures.
Listed buildings and conservation areas, including some village centres and older parts of Leicester, may need consent for a new external vent or changes to historic features.
Before you start
- Expect dust and noise for several days; clearing both rooms and sealing doors to the rest of the house saves a lot of cleaning.
- Think about fire escape if the kitchen will open onto the hall and stairs, particularly in homes of three storeys or more.
- If a beam will bear into a wall shared with a neighbour in England or Wales, the Party Wall Act may require notice before work starts.
- Allow time for the engineer's design and approval before work starts, especially in Scotland, where the building warrant must be granted first.
- Before asking for prices for your Leicestershire home, look upstairs: a wall directly above the one you want removed is a strong sign it is load-bearing.
- Check your home insurance and mortgage terms before structural work in Leicestershire; some insurers and lenders ask to be told about alterations like this.
Questions about open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Leicestershire
How much do open-plan kitchen knock-throughs cost in Leicestershire?
Guide prices in Leicestershire are about £780 to £1,900 including VAT for removing a non-load-bearing wall and making good. The final price depends on the size of the kitchen and what is moving, and is set out in an itemised written quote.
Do you cover the whole of Leicestershire?
Yes. We carry out open-plan kitchen knock-throughs across Leicestershire, including Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley and Coalville. Every job starts with a free survey visit and an itemised written quote.
Who designs the steel beam for a knock-through?
A structural engineer does. We arrange the engineer, who calculates the loads and specifies the beam size, the padstones it bears on and the temporary propping needed while the wall comes out. Those calculations go with the Building Regulations application or building warrant. We do not design steelwork ourselves; the work follows the engineer's design and is inspected as part of the approval.
Does knocking through to the kitchen affect fire safety?
It can. If the new open-plan kitchen opens straight onto the hall and stairs, a kitchen fire could affect the escape route from upstairs, so building control, or the building warrant process in Scotland, will check how people would get out. In houses with a floor more than 4.5 metres above ground, usually three storeys or more, extra fire safety measures may be needed. We confirm what applies before work starts.
How can I tell if a kitchen wall is load-bearing?
Usually you cannot be certain by looking. Clues include floor joists landing on the wall from above, another wall directly on top of it upstairs, or the wall running down the middle of the house on its own foundation. A hollow knock is not a reliable test, because some stud walls carry loads. We check at the survey, and where there is doubt a structural engineer confirms it before anything is removed.
Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in towns across Leicestershire
Choose a town for local guide prices and postcode coverage:
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Leicester
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Loughborough
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Hinckley
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Coalville
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Wigston
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Melton Mowbray
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Market Harborough
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Oadby
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Earl Shilton
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Humberstone
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Ashby-de-la-Zouch
- Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Lutterworth