Newark, fifteen miles out
Newark-on-Trent is one of the further towns we cover, but comfortably inside our 30-mile radius. Its houses span centuries. The conservation area, first designated in 1968, was only the second in England. Near the Magnus School are late-Victorian and Edwardian planned streets such as Hatton Gardens, Winchilsea Avenue and Milner Street, and further out are new estates at Fernwood and Middlebeck, as well as housing on the former Balderton Hospital site.
Fitting an en-suite
Adding an en-suite is a common reason for a new partition, and the wall needs a little more planning than one that simply divides a room.
- Board. The shower side takes moisture-resistant plasterboard. If it will be tiled, the studs go in closer together so the board stays rigid under the weight.
- Extraction. A new shower room needs an extractor fan under building regulations, wired by a qualified electrician along with the lights. The plumbing is for your plumber.
- The door. In a small en-suite a swinging door can eat space. A sliding pocket door, which disappears into the wall, needs a special frame kit built into the partition from the start.
- Fixings. A basin, towel rail or wall-hung toilet frame needs solid backing, so noggins or a fixing board go in at the right heights before boarding.
Once the frame, board and pipework are in, the bedroom side is skimmed to match the rest of the room.
Victorian and Edwardian streets
A 2022 council review proposed adding the planned housing around the Magnus School, the 19th-century houses on Crown Street and the late-Victorian and early 20th-century houses on Lime Grove to the conservation area. Conservation area rules are about outward appearance, so an internal partition is not normally affected, though a listed house needs consent for internal changes. In older houses the head plate goes into joists rather than old ceiling plaster, and the frame is scribed to walls that are rarely square.
Fernwood, Middlebeck and Balderton
New homes on these estates usually have plasterboard walls on a frame already, so a partition joins on neatly. Common changes are a study taken from a living area or a wardrobe walled off a bedroom. Read your new-build warranty first, and make sure the new layout leaves every room with a window and ventilation.
Ring 07877 353120 or use the enquiry form to tell us about the room. We work every day, 7am to 5pm.
