Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Tiverton

Is open-plan kitchen knock-throughs right for your Tiverton kitchen?

Parents across Devon often want to see the garden and the children from the hob, which a knock-through between the kitchen and family room can make possible.

If your Tiverton 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. We work throughout Tiverton (EX16) and across the wider Devon area.

What does the job involve?

The exact scope is agreed after the survey, but a typical job in Tiverton covers:

Cables, pipes and radiators in the wall rerouted by qualified trades
New kitchen fitted once the opening is made good and the structural work inspected
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
Structural engineer arranged to design the beam, padstones and temporary propping
Beam boxed in, the opening plastered and the floor joined where the wall stood

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices in Tiverton

As a starting point for Tiverton, these ranges include VAT at 20% and allow for typical labour costs in the South West. For the South West, these ranges are close to the national figures.

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices in Tiverton
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%.

Local homes and their kitchens

The housing mix across Devon includes cob and thatched cottages, Victorian terraces, post-war houses and flats and seaside bungalows, so no two kitchen fits are quite alike. Victorian terraces in Exeter and Torbay often have a narrow back kitchen, while post-war houses and seaside bungalows usually have a square room that suits an L-shape.

Much of Devon has soft mains water, which is kind to taps and appliances, though some eastern parts are harder, so check with your supplier. Single-track lanes, steep town streets and cottages with no parking can make deliveries slow, so long worktops and tall units need a planned route into the house.

Regulations for kitchen work in Tiverton

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.

Homes within Dartmoor or Exmoor national parks, listed thatched cottages and conservation areas may need consent before a new extractor vent goes through an outside wall.

Worth knowing before the fit

Keep the completion certificate somewhere safe after the work, as a buyer's solicitor will usually ask for it when you sell your Tiverton home.
Tell your neighbours early if a beam may bear into a wall you share; in England and Wales a party wall notice may be needed before work starts.
Clear both rooms completely before the opening is made in your Devon home, and seal doors to the rest of the house with dust sheets and tape.
Find out whether the wall is load-bearing before planning the layout; joists landing on it or a wall directly above are common clues.

Questions about open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Tiverton

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

Guide prices in Tiverton are about £820 to £2,100 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 work near Tiverton as well?

Yes. As well as Tiverton itself, we cover the rest of Devon and nearby towns such as Exeter and Honiton. The process is the same wherever the kitchen is.

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.

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.

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.

Also covering nearby towns

The same service is available a short drive from Tiverton, including: