Steel BeamInstallers
Grey steel goalpost frame installed where a rear wall has been removed

Steel goalpost frames · Hastings

Steel goalpost frames in Hastings

Steel goalpost frames for homes in TN34, TN35, TN37, designed by a structural engineer.

  • Survey, design and installation in one
  • Covering TN34, TN35, TN37
  • Inspected before it is covered

Free survey in Hastings

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  • Free survey visit
  • Engineer's calculations arranged
  • Building control handled
  • Fixed written price once scope is agreed
  • England, Wales, mainland Scotland & NI

Steel goalpost frames in Hastings: how it works

Our steel goalpost frames service in Hastings covers everything from the first visit to the completion paperwork. The wider East Sussex area is covered as well. Postcode districts we cover here include TN34, TN35, TN37 and TN38.

We arrange the engineer's design, building control, the foundation pads, temporary propping and the fabricated frame, then box it in and make good. Everything is set out in one itemised written quote, and the price is fixed in writing once the layout and specification are agreed.

Things to plan for

  • Goalpost frames are made to measure, so accurate site dimensions matter. Floor-to-ceiling height, the finished floor level and the width between column positions are taken before fabrication, because a frame that is a few millimetres out cannot simply be trimmed on site.
  • Column pads can clash with drains, gas pipes and underfloor heating runs below the floor. These are located before digging, and if a drain runs where a pad needs to go, the engineer may move the column or redesign the pad.
  • Columns are commonly universal columns or square hollow sections, welded to steel base plates at the foot and cap plates at the head. Holding-down bolts fix the base plates to the pad, and grout fills the gap beneath once the frame is level.
  • Columns can be boxed in with fire-rated plasterboard to look like small piers, built into new stud walls, or left exposed and painted. Where an extension wall continues past the opening, a column can often sit within it out of sight.
  • While the old wall or piers come out, the floor, walls and roof above are held on props and needles. These stay in until the frame is fully bolted, levelled and packed, so the structure is never left without support.

What happens, step by step

  1. Survey in Hastings

    We visit, look at the wall and what sits above it, measure the opening and note services, access and how the steel can be brought in.

  2. Engineer's design

    A structural engineer sizes the beam, padstones and any posts, and sets out the temporary support needed while the wall is out.

  3. Building control

    We submit a building notice or full plans application to the local council's building control team, so approval is in place before the wall is touched.

  4. Install and sign-off

    Props go in, the opening is formed, the steel is set and packed, building control inspects it, and we make good.

Guide prices for steel goalpost frames in Hastings

As a guide, budget £2,250–£6,700 including VAT for steel goalpost frame in Hastings, based on published UK cost guides adjusted for prices in the South East (+12%).

JobTypical guide rangeWhat it usually covers
Steel goalpost frame£2,250–£6,700Two posts and a beam bolted as a frame, pad foundations, base plates and fitting
Opening into a rear extension£2,800–£7,850Original rear wall removed with a beam or goalpost, approvals and propping, coordinated with the extension build
Rear wall opening for bi-fold or sliding doors£2,800–£7,850External wall opened up to about 5 m with steel, propping, cavity tray and making good (doors supplied separately)
RSJ supply and fit (single beam)£900–£2,800 per beamBeam supplied, delivered, lifted and packed on padstones, with propping (calculations and approval priced separately)

Figures include our approximate regional adjustment for prices in the South East (+12%) and are rounded. How these figures are worked out.

Building control and neighbours in Hastings

For Hastings, building control is provided by the local council's building control team, or by a registered building control approver if preferred. We send them the engineer's calculations with a building notice or full plans application and book the inspections. Work done without approval can cause problems at sale and is far dearer to put right later.

Terraced and semi-detached homes often need party wall notices, because cutting into a shared wall to take a beam end is notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Allow at least two months for the notice period unless your neighbour agrees sooner.

Building rules in England

Steel goalpost frames near Hastings

Steel goalpost frames in Hastings: your questions

Do I need a party wall agreement for steel goalpost frames in Hastings?

Yes, if the beam bears into a shared wall: the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies in England and Wales, and a party structure notice must be served at least two months before that work starts. We arrange it through a party wall surveyor.

Do you cover Hastings for steel goalpost frames?

Yes. We carry out steel goalpost frames in Hastings and the TN34, TN35, TN37 and TN38 postcode districts. Book a free survey visit and we will check the wall, arrange the engineer's calculations and send an itemised written quote.

Do I need building regulations approval for a goalpost frame?

Yes. Installing a goalpost frame is structural building work. In England it needs building regulations approval through a full plans application or building notice, in Wales an application under the Welsh regulations, in Scotland a building warrant must be granted first, and in Northern Ireland the council's building control is applied to before work begins. We arrange the application and inspections.

How long does it take to install a steel goalpost?

Allow around one to two weeks on site for a typical job. Breaking out and digging the pads, the foundation inspection, pouring concrete and letting it gain strength take up much of that time. Erecting and bolting the frame itself is often done in a day, followed by inspection and boxing in.

What is the difference between a goalpost and a portal frame?

A domestic goalpost is a simple version of a portal frame. Both use columns and a beam joined together, but a full portal frame has rigid joints designed to resist sideways loads on its own, as used in steel-framed industrial buildings. In a house, the engineer decides how rigid the goalpost joints need to be for that opening.

Can you work on older or listed homes in Hastings?

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.

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.