- Location
- Altrincham, Greater Manchester
- Main postcode district
- WA14
- Nearby (straight line)
- Sale (3 miles), Urmston (4 miles) and Stretford (5 miles)
- Survey and quote
- Free, with a fixed written quote
A loading house is an insulated steel structure built against the outside wall of a building, containing a dock leveller and usually a shelter or seal at its front. The building door closes at the wall line, while trailers dock against the house. Loading houses suit buildings whose floor is at dock height but which have no room inside for a leveller pit.
How does this suit sites in Altrincham?
Manufacturing businesses around Altrincham adding a dock to an existing building often find a loading house less disruptive than breaking out the slab inside. Units in Altrincham with floors at dock height but no room for an internal leveller pit are typical candidates for an external loading house.
Racked warehouses around Altrincham that cannot spare internal floor space for a dock can move the leveller outside the wall into a loading house instead.
Before anything is ordered, we visit your site in Altrincham for a free survey and then send a written quote with a fixed price. From that point we manage the installation, coordinating delivery, access and any other trades. Fitting is done by specialist installation engineers engaged and managed by us, at times that suit your operation, including out of hours where agreed. You get a tested installation, a demonstration for your team and the manufacturer documentation.
When is a loading house better than an internal dock?
A loading house is usually the better option when the building floor is already at dock height but there is no practical way to form a leveller pit inside. It moves the whole dock outside the wall, leaving the internal floor clear.
- No room inside: racking, production lines or mezzanines sit right up to the wall.
- Difficult slab: the floor slab carries services or is unsuited to breaking out for a pit.
- Thermal control: the building door closes at the wall line, so the leveller sits outside the heated or chilled space when no trailer is docked.
- Security: the building can be closed at the wall line while the house itself stays open to the yard.
- Narrow yards: an angled house lets trailers approach on a diagonal and can fit more bays along one wall.
Where the building floor is at yard level, a loading house alone will not solve the height difference, and a recessed approach or lift table is usually needed instead.
What is a loading house made of?
A loading house is a steel frame clad in insulated composite panels, with a dock leveller built into its floor and a shelter or seal across its front. It is made to suit your building, trailers and yard rather than bought off the shelf.
- Frame: galvanised or painted steel, supported on legs or a sub-frame that sits on concrete foundations.
- Walls and roof: insulated composite panels, usually colour-matched to the building cladding, with guttering to carry rainwater away.
- Floor and leveller: a steel deck with a hydraulic swing-lip or telescopic-lip leveller set into it.
- Front: a retractable or inflatable shelter or a foam seal, with bumpers below to take trailer impact.
- Building door: an insulated sectional door in the original wall opening, closing the building when no trailer is docked.
- Extras: internal lighting, dock lights and traffic lights as required.
The insulated envelope reduces the heat or chill lost around the trailer compared with an open dock.
The same published guide range applies across England; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.
What we look at on site
- Yard gradient and the slope of the approach to the dock
- Control positions, isolators and any existing interlocks
- Headroom above the opening and which track type will suit it
- Drainage on recessed or sloping dock approaches
- Lighting inside trailers and at the dock face
- Working hours, shift patterns and windows for out-of-hours work
Options to discuss
Shelter or seal front
A retractable or inflatable shelter, or a foam dock seal, across the front of the house, chosen to suit your trailers and how tightly the bay needs to seal.
Straight loading house
Set square to the building wall, the simplest layout where the yard has room for trailers to reverse straight in. Usually the most economical arrangement for one or more bays.
Which rules apply in England?
Sites in Altrincham fall under the rules for England. Structural changes such as forming a new opening or a dock leveller pit may need Building Regulations approval, and external structures such as loading houses, canopies or new dock approaches can need planning permission from the local planning authority. We check what applies at survey and build any approvals into the plan.
Questions about loading houses in Altrincham
Do you cover Altrincham for loading houses?
Yes. We take on loading houses for businesses in Altrincham and across Greater Manchester. We survey the site, provide a fixed written quote and manage the installation, with specialist installation engineers working under our management. Visits are arranged in advance at a time that suits your operation, and the same single contact stays with the job through to handover.
Can you work outside our normal operating hours in Altrincham?
Yes, by arrangement. Evening, night and weekend working can be planned so the installation causes as little disruption as possible to your loading schedule. Out-of-hours work can affect the price, so mention it at the survey and we will include it in the written quote. The agreed times are confirmed in the programme before the job starts.
Which building and safety rules apply to a site in Altrincham?
It depends on which UK nation the site is in. England and Wales use Building Regulations approval, Scotland uses building warrants and Northern Ireland uses building control approval from the council. Workplace safety is regulated by HSE in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland, and energy rules differ between nations. For your site in Altrincham, we check what applies at survey and design to it.
Can a loading house be used for a cold store?
Yes. Loading houses suit chilled and frozen operations because the building door closes at the wall line, keeping the cold space sealed when no trailer is docked. The panels, door and shelter or seal are specified to suit the temperatures involved, which we confirm at survey.
Is a loading house cheaper than forming an internal pit?
Not always. A loading house includes a whole steel structure, so the equipment cost is higher, but it avoids breaking out the slab and losing internal floor space. The best comparison is made at survey, taking account of racking, services under the floor and how the building will be used.
Loading houses near Altrincham
The same survey, quote and repair service is available in towns around Altrincham, such as Sale (3 miles), Urmston (4 miles) and Stretford (5 miles).
Other loading bay services in Altrincham
Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Altrincham
Use the quote tool to tell us about the doors, levellers or shelters at your Altrincham site, and we will be in touch to arrange the next step.