Hi!
We have just moved into a house from the '80s. We are the third owners of the house, the first owner built it himself.
According to the house's blueprint, it's prepared for an opening between the living room and the kitchen. The people we bought the house from also said that the builder added a support beam.
Can we trust this?
Is there a risk that the builder just included the future archway in the blueprint without ensuring that it's ready just to cut the hole?
Ps. And what on earth does L40 and the numbers after it mean??
A 1500 mm opening is not particularly large. If the lintel is missing, it is quite simple to add it afterwards. Usually, some extra stud is needed in the wall for the lintel to rest on. The biggest problem is usually any installations in the wall, such as electrical, plumbing, telecom.
Couple: 56 x 255 mm, is that enough? To me, it sounds flimsy but as Anders writes, the opening isn't that big.
I'll have to drive in a few nails and see if I hit a balk
Why not just remove the drywall where the opening should be? If the beam exists - great, if it doesn't - supplement. You're going to tear down the wall anyway, so you're not losing anything.
Yes, that's true, since I am totally ignorant about construction, I just wanted to know if it was possible at all to add support. Now everything is clear and I will start opening the wall and take a look
/Henrik
What I'm thinking about is why such a large beam is needed there and what is above it??
An L40 with those dimensions corresponds to approximately a 150mm wide and 225mm high beam of regular timber, so it goes quite a long way, and then the question is what is weighing it down that makes it so strong.
what I'm thinking about is why such a large beam is needed there and what is above it??
an L40 with those dimensions corresponds to about 150mm wide and 225mm high beam of regular wood so it goes pretty far and then the question is what is weighing it down that makes it so robust
In the drawing, it is quite clear that it is a load-bearing heartwall.
The same reinforcement is also in the other doorway.
And the heartwall is there (presumably) to support the framework trusses for the finished upper floor.
Nice when the floors don't sway or sag!
So for a layperson, the beam (if it's indeed there) is fully sufficient for me to dare to cut a 150 cm wide opening in the wall even though it's a load-bearing core wall?
I missed that there was an upstairs on top and thought it was just trusses there, as they don't bend significantly under load since almost all the load in the bottom chord is tension and does not cause significant deflection. But if there's a floor on top with cc60 that people walk on, it's a completely different matter as it will cause bending between the supports, leading to bounce, which nobody wants.
Hello, yes there is a furnished upper floor on top. I will make a hole in the interior wall on one side and investigate the beam's existence or non-existence.
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