Hello!
We have bought a villa built in 1938, a split-level house with 2.5 floors, and are undergoing a complete renovation. There are no blueprints available, so we've sketched some on our own (they are not complete, as we have drawn based on what we can see now). When we removed the chipboard on the upper floor, we saw that the previous owners had completely cut off two beams to run a 110-sewer pipe, and when we sketched the floor plan, it appears that these beams now have no support at all (circled in red, yellow is the sewer line, red is brick walls on the floor below). The beams have dimensions of 50x200 mm and a varied center-to-center distance between 400-600 mm.
1. What is holding up the beams now?? We are thinking of moving the sewer pipes from that location and reinforcing the beams, how should we proceed to reinforce the beams? They have also notched several beams for other penetrations such as radiator pipes, between 60-80 mm from the top, will we need to reinforce these as well? It has held up for several years, but now we plan to have tiles in the bathroom instead of the plastic matting that was there before, which means a bit more load than before, and we want to be on the safe side.
2. We want to demolish walls/parts of walls on the entrance level, marked with green dashes as per the image below. They are currently plastered brick walls 150 mm thick. The wall that runs counter to the beams' load-bearing direction obviously supports the beams as they are joined above the wall (or would have been if they weren't cut off). There we will need to install a load-bearing beam. But the other two walls that run in the same direction as the beams, could they have any load-bearing function?
It is difficult to say anything more precise based on this report. I would like to know a bit more about the general structure. Are there masonry exterior walls in the basement level and a plank frame in the upper floors? Half-brick walls (120 mm brick and 15+15 mm plaster) are rarely load-bearing, but here they seem to be. This should be checked. Sawed-off floor joists that are only held up by floor and ceiling boards tend to sway significantly. It is probably best (= simplest and safest) to insert new joists between the existing ones. 110 mm sewage pipes (WC waste) should not be laid for long distances in a floor structure for several reasons. Notches (if absolutely necessary) must be made after competent assessment. A well-thought-out plumbing reconstruction usually leads to the need for new shafts to accommodate all the pipes.
It is difficult to say anything more precise based on this report. I would like to know a bit more about the general structure. Are there brick outer walls in the basement floor and plank frame in the upper floors? Half-brick walls (120 mm stone and 15+15 mm plaster) are seldom load-bearing, but here they seem to be. This should be checked. Cut-off floor beams that are only kept up with the help of floor and ceiling boards tend to sway considerably.
Probably it is best (= easiest and safest) to insert new beams between the existing ones. 110 mm sewage pipes (WC sewage) should not be laid over long distances in a floor structure for several reasons. Notches (if absolutely necessary) must be made after expert assessment. A well-thought-out plumbing renovation usually leads to a need for new shafts to handle all the pipes.
There are brick walls in the basement/souterrain floor and floor 1, floor 2 consists of wood frame walls. I have now drawn up the walls on floor 2 on the plan (what we can see from the inside, then there are attic spaces that we have not inspected closer), so the red ones are brick walls on floor 1 (and the dashed ones are the ones we want to demolish), and the blue ones are wood frame walls on floor 2. It is a hipped roof with two dormers. In total, the house is approximately 9.5 x 7.9 m. The walls in the basement/souterrain floor are divided in the same way as the brick walls on floor 1.
The strange thing about the cut-off beams is that they do not sway, so we do not quite understand how it all fits together. But we will probably reinforce with whole beams in between to secure it anyway! And give some thought to a new pipe installation.
A sweet house. Unusual with a split-level solution from 1938. Stylistically, it doesn't quite match the year of construction either. The client or the builder probably had their own ideas. Do as you wrote, reinforce with new beams and carefully plan the plumbing.
A cute house. Uncommon with a basement solution in 1938. Stylistically, it also doesn't quite match the construction year. The client or builder probably had their own ideas. Do as you wrote, reinforce with new beams and think through the plumbing.
It was originally a milk store, maybe that's why it doesn't look like the typical villa from '38
Status: After consulting with a colleague who is an experienced small house builder, we concluded that walls 1 & 3 should not have any load-bearing function. Therefore, we started tearing down wall 3 today, which went without any issues.
Jonas ”Snabbe” Andersson said:
Now I might be foolish, but split-level houses are supposed to be built on a slope, right? The house seems to be on a flat plot (as it appears)?
Olsenelm said:
No, it's on a slope!