Leytonstone Victorian Terrace: Kitchen Extension and Re-Roof, East London

Project Overview

The house is a three-bedroom Victorian mid-terrace with a cellar. The owners wanted a kitchen and dining room that opened properly onto the garden, somewhere for the laundry, and a sound, insulated roof over the whole house. The original rear extension roof was in poor condition.

The architect's design and the engineer's drawings set the scope; we built to them, on staged valuations.

The Roof First

The programme started at the top. The main roof was stripped and re-slated with new insulation between and under the rafters, under a temporary tin hat roof on the scaffold so the house stayed dry. The attic was insulated as part of the re-roof, ready for the owners to finish as a playroom later.

Over the first floor bathroom the ceiling was opened up into a vault, with a new Velux rooflight set in portrait so only one rafter had to be cut; a second Velux lights the stairwell.

A Kitchen on the Garden

The old extension roof came off and a new timber pitched roof went on, built as an insulated warm deck with integrated gutters. New openings, lintels and a flank window brought in the light, and triple-glazed sliding doors, fixed lights and side-hung windows, with an obscure-glazed window to the WC, were installed. When the kitchen floor was opened up the joists needed repair and levelling, which was done before the new floor went down.

The kitchen and WC sit on insulated tile-backer with wet underfloor heating. A new WC, a laundry and a utility corridor were built alongside, with a fire-rated pocket door and a fire-rated laundry door, and the owners' kitchen was fitted together with birch-ply shelving.

Services Brought Up to Date

The old heating system was at the end of its life, so the owners chose an air source heat pump, fitted by their own installer. We reworked our plumbing to suit: the first fix to the kitchen, WC and underfloor heating, with diversions from the cellar. The obsolete consumer unit was replaced with a new 11-way unit and the circuits brought up to the current wiring regulations, with every circuit RCD protected, while the heat pump kept its own board to protect its certification and warranty.

How the Job Ran

1. Start: scaffold and temporary roof up, re-roof and attic work under way, with the glazing and rooflights ordered straight away.
2. Roof and structure: main roof re-slated, rooflights in, extension roof rebuilt, first fix.
3. Fit-out: glazing, plastering, kitchen joinery and units installed.
4. Handover: practical completion, with the electrical certificate issued and building control inspections complete.

Scope of Works

Certificates and Handover

Practical completion was reached on 8 December 2025. The electrical installation certificate was issued, the building control inspections were carried out, and the dutyholder compliance statement was signed by us as principal contractor, the owners and the architect as principal designer.

The Result

A light kitchen and dining room on the garden, a proper utility space and a warm, dry roof over the whole house, with the attic ready for the next stage.

If you are planning similar work in Leytonstone or nearby, see our Leytonstone page or browse our other projects.