Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Shepton Mallet

Thinking about open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Shepton Mallet?

Buyers in Somerset sometimes take on a house divided into small rooms and plan a knock-through first, so the new kitchen can be designed for the larger space.

If your Shepton Mallet 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. Homes right across Shepton Mallet are covered, as are nearby places such as Wells, Glastonbury and the villages in between.

What is included in the work?

After the survey visit we write the scope down. For open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Shepton Mallet it usually covers:

Building Regulations approval arranged, or a building warrant before work starts in Scotland
Cables, pipes and radiators in the wall rerouted by qualified trades
Structural engineer arranged to design the beam, padstones and temporary propping
In England and Wales, party wall requirements checked where a beam bears into a shared wall
Free survey visit to check the wall, the floors above and the services running through it
Temporary props set, the wall removed and the steel beam bedded on padstones

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices in Shepton Mallet

Typical open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices for homes in Shepton Mallet, including VAT and adjusted for the South West. Your own figure depends on the size of the kitchen, the layout and what is moving. Prices across the South West are broadly in line with UK averages.

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices in Shepton Mallet
Typical project	Guide price
Non-load-bearing wall removed and made goodStud or light partition, minimal services	£820–£2,100
Load-bearing wall with a steel beamStructural engineer's design and making good; building control or warrant fees listed separately	£3,100–£8,800
Knock-through with a new kitchen-dinerSteel beam, new kitchen, new floor throughout	£26,000–£56,500

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%.

What kind of kitchens do we fit in Shepton Mallet?

You will find Georgian townhouses, Victorian terraces, stone cottages and post-war estate houses throughout Somerset. Georgian townhouses in Bath often have kitchens at lower-ground level or in flats on upper floors, while Victorian terraces in Taunton and Yeovil tend to have a narrow back galley.

Steep streets and controlled parking in Bath, upper-floor flats without lifts and narrow village lanes can each make delivering worktops slower. Somerset's mains water is mostly hard, so limescale on taps and boiling water taps is common, and a filter or softener can help keep them working well.

Building regulations, electrics and gas in Shepton Mallet

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.

Bath is a World Heritage city with many listed buildings, and homes in Exmoor National Park or conservation areas may need consent for new vents or internal changes.

Worth knowing before the fit

Check your home insurance and mortgage terms before structural work in Shepton Mallet; some insurers and lenders ask to be told about alterations like this.
Choose the new floor finish before the wall comes out, so the strip where the wall stood can be levelled and covered in one go.
Clear both rooms completely before the opening is made in your Somerset home, and seal doors to the rest of the house with dust sheets and tape.
Check what runs through the wall: sockets, switches, radiator pipes, gas pipes and sometimes a soil stack all need rerouting first.

Questions about open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Shepton Mallet

How much do open-plan kitchen knock-throughs cost in Shepton Mallet?

For removing a non-load-bearing wall and making good, budget around £820 to £2,100 including VAT in Shepton Mallet. That reflects typical costs in the South West; we confirm the actual figure in writing once we have measured up.

Which parts of Shepton Mallet do you work in?

All of them. Our Somerset coverage takes in the whole of Shepton Mallet, including the BA4 postcode district, as well as surrounding towns such as Wells. If you are unsure, send us your postcode.

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.

Do I need approval to remove a wall between kitchen and dining room?

For a load-bearing wall, yes, everywhere in the UK. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland that means Building Regulations approval through building control; in Scotland a building warrant must be granted before work starts, followed by a completion certificate. A non-load-bearing partition is simpler, although a listed building may need listed building consent and a leasehold flat usually needs the freeholder's written consent.

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs near Shepton Mallet

We also carry out open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in these towns near Shepton Mallet: