Steel BeamInstallers
Two installers seen from behind lifting a steel beam onto a padstone

RSJ installation · Ashton-under-Lyne

RSJ installation in Ashton-under-Lyne

RSJ installation for homes in M34, M43, OL5, designed by a structural engineer.

  • Survey, design and installation in one
  • Covering M34, M43, OL5
  • Inspected before it is covered

Free survey in Ashton-under-Lyne

Tell us about the RSJ installation job in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Please enter your name.
Please enter a UK phone number.
Please enter a valid email.
Please enter a UK postcode.
Please tell us a little about the job.
  • Free survey visit
  • Engineer's calculations arranged
  • Building control handled
  • Fixed written price once scope is agreed
  • England, Wales, mainland Scotland & NI

About our RSJ installation service in Ashton-under-Lyne

We cover RSJ installation in Ashton-under-Lyne (M34, M43, OL5) and the streets around it. We also work in nearby Oldham, roughly 3.7 miles away. Each job is designed by a structural engineer and approved through Tameside Council before work begins.

People still call almost any steel beam in a house an RSJ, even though the sections fitted today are usually universal beams with parallel flanges. Whatever the name, the job is the same: a length of structural steel, made to an engineer's specification, carrying floors, walls or roof over a space where support used to be.

Worth knowing before you start

  • Padstones spread the concentrated load from each beam end into the masonry below. They may be concrete, engineering brick or a steel plate, depending on the engineer's design and the strength of the wall beneath.
  • Sometimes two beams are bolted side by side with spacers, either to carry a thick wall or to fit through a tight space. Bolt spacing and spacer type come from the engineer's design rather than being decided on site.
  • Steel for internal use is normally delivered with a primer coat to protect it during installation. Beams in damp positions, within external walls or exposed outside need a more robust coating or galvanising, as the engineer specifies.
  • If you already hold calculations from an architect or engineer, we install to those. Where something on site differs from the drawing, such as a weaker wall or a different joist direction, the engineer is asked to confirm before work carries on.
  • Packing is what makes the beam work. Steel shims and dry-pack mortar fill the gap between the top flange and the structure above, so the load transfers onto the steel without the floor or wall settling down onto it.

From survey to sign-off in Ashton-under-Lyne

  1. Look and measure

    We check the wall, the span you want and what the wall is carrying, and photograph anything the engineer needs to see.

  2. Design and price

    Calculations come back from the engineer and we confirm your fixed written price, line by line.

  3. Building control

    We submit a building notice or full plans application to Tameside Council, so approval is in place before the wall is touched.

  4. Fit, inspect, finish

    The work is propped and the steel installed and packed tight. After inspection the opening is boxed, plastered and left clean.

Guide prices for RSJ installation in Ashton-under-Lyne

As a guide, budget £770–£2,400 per beam including VAT for rSJ supply and fit (single beam) in Ashton-under-Lyne, based on published UK cost guides adjusted for prices in the North West (-4%).

JobTypical guide rangeWhat it usually covers
RSJ supply and fit (single beam)£770–£2,400 per beamBeam supplied, delivered, lifted and packed on padstones, with propping (calculations and approval priced separately)
Temporary works and propping£140–£480Props, spreaders, needles and sole plates for a typical opening, installed and struck
Steel goalpost frame£1,900–£5,750Two posts and a beam bolted as a frame, pad foundations, base plates and fitting
Structural calculations for a beam£240–£720Site measure or photos, beam and padstone design and calculations for building control

Figures include our approximate regional adjustment for prices in the North West (-4%) and are rounded. How these figures are worked out.

Building control and neighbours in Ashton-under-Lyne

In England, taking out a load-bearing wall or putting in a beam is building work under the Building Regulations 2010. It needs approval from building control, either Tameside Council or a registered building control approver, through a full plans application or a building notice. Part A covers the structure and Part B covers fire safety, which is why steel in homes is usually fire protected.

If the beam bears into a wall you share with a neighbour, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies, and a party structure notice must be served at least two months before that work starts. We arrange this through a party wall surveyor.

Building rules in England

RSJ installation near Ashton-under-Lyne

Questions about RSJ installation in Ashton-under-Lyne

Do you cover Ashton-under-Lyne for RSJ installation?

Yes. We carry out RSJ installation in Ashton-under-Lyne and the M34, M43, OL5, OL6 and OL7 postcode districts. Book a free survey visit and we will check the wall, arrange the engineer's calculations and send an itemised written quote.

Can you work on older or listed homes in Ashton-under-Lyne?

Yes. Older homes often have lime mortar, timber lintels or shallow footings, which the engineer allows for. Listed buildings need listed building consent for internal structural changes as well as building regulations approval, and that must be in place first.

Is an RSJ the same as a steel beam?

In everyday use, yes. Builders and homeowners call most steel beams RSJs, whether they are universal beams, channels or columns. Technically an RSJ is one particular older section shape, but the engineer's drawing names the exact section type, so there is no confusion on site.

Does an RSJ need to be painted or boxed in?

Usually it needs fire protection, most often by boxing in with fire-rated plasterboard and skimming. If you want the steel on show, an intumescent paint system can be applied to the specified thickness and then top-coated in your chosen colour. The fabrication primer is not fire protection on its own.

What is included in an RSJ supply and fit price?

Our itemised written quote sets out the calculations, building control, steel and fabrication, delivery, lifting, padstones, propping, labour, fire protection and making good as separate lines. Once the specification and scope are agreed, the price is fixed in writing, so you know the full cost before work starts.

Planning to take a wall out?

Book a free survey visit. You get an itemised written quote covering calculations, building control, steel and making good.