Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Worthing

Who usually needs open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Worthing?

Plenty of Worthing homes have a small back kitchen beside a dining room that only gets used at Christmas, and joining the two gives one room the household actually lives in.

Parents across West Sussex 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. Worthing sits about 22 miles south of Crawley, and our West Sussex coverage takes in everything in between.

What does the job involve?

Here is what usually goes into open-plan kitchen knock-throughs, adjusted to your Worthing kitchen after we have measured it:

Beam boxed in, the opening plastered and the floor joined where the wall stood
Cables, pipes and radiators in the wall rerouted by qualified trades
Free survey visit to check the wall, the floors above and the services running through it
In England and Wales, party wall requirements checked where a beam bears into a shared wall
Building Regulations approval arranged, or a building warrant before work starts in Scotland
Structural engineer arranged to design the beam, padstones and temporary propping

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices in Worthing

Typical open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices for homes in Worthing, including VAT and adjusted for the South East. Your own figure depends on the size of the kitchen, the layout and what is moving. Expect costs in the South East to sit somewhat above UK averages, reflecting local labour rates.

Open-plan kitchen knock-throughs prices in Worthing
Typical project	Guide price
Non-load-bearing wall removed and made goodStud or light partition, minimal services	£920–£2,300
Load-bearing wall with a steel beamStructural engineer's design and making good; building control or warrant fees listed separately	£3,400–£9,800
Knock-through with a new kitchen-dinerSteel beam, new kitchen, new floor throughout	£28,500–£63,000

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 around Worthing

The housing mix across West Sussex includes 1930s semis, flint and brick cottages, post-war new town houses and seaside bungalows, so no two kitchen fits are quite alike. Crawley's new-town houses often have a compact galley, while seaside bungalows in Worthing and Bognor Regis tend to have a small square kitchen beside the dining area.

West Sussex has mostly hard water, so limescale on taps, sinks and boiling water taps is common and a filter is worth considering. Coastal flats may have no lift, and village lanes on the edge of the Downs can be narrow for delivery lorries, so the delivery route is checked at the survey.

What rules apply to open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Worthing?

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 in the South Downs National Park, listed flint cottages and conservation areas such as central Chichester may need consent for a new external vent.

Practical advice for Worthing homeowners

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.
Keep the completion certificate somewhere safe after the work, as a buyer's solicitor will usually ask for it when you sell your Worthing home.
Plan the heating for your new Worthing kitchen-diner; removing a wall can also remove a radiator, and the larger room may need more heat.
Expect dust and noise for several days; clearing both rooms and sealing doors to the rest of the house saves a lot of cleaning.

Questions about open-plan kitchen knock-throughs in Worthing

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

Guide prices in Worthing are about £920 to £2,300 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.

Which parts of Worthing do you work in?

All of them. Our West Sussex coverage takes in the whole of Worthing, including the BN11 postcode district, as well as surrounding towns such as Lancing. If you are unsure, send us your postcode.

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.

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.

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.

Nearby places we cover

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