Hello everyone! Professional builders and amateurs!
We're planning to install a new kitchen and with that remove a wall that is 320cm. The house we live in is a brick house from '65. It's 8 meters wide and 12 meters long. The attic is uninsulated with "wooden slats" that run along the ridge and slats that go across. I don't know the technical terms. The wall we're considering removing is adjacent to our current living room and according to the plans, it would be load-bearing. It says on the plan "same as the lower floor." That's the only indication we have from the plans that the wall is load-bearing. The wall itself is 8 cm. I spoke with a guy at a construction company and he said that the exterior walls (the brick) are the load-bearing structure and that I could basically tear down all the interior walls. I had considered a laminated beam as an alternative, but he thought it was unnecessary because the roof trusses would certainly support themselves against the exterior walls, is this correct? They do rest against the brick wall, but is that enough? :-[
We're planning to install a new kitchen and with that remove a wall that is 320cm. The house we live in is a brick house from '65. It's 8 meters wide and 12 meters long. The attic is uninsulated with "wooden slats" that run along the ridge and slats that go across. I don't know the technical terms. The wall we're considering removing is adjacent to our current living room and according to the plans, it would be load-bearing. It says on the plan "same as the lower floor." That's the only indication we have from the plans that the wall is load-bearing. The wall itself is 8 cm. I spoke with a guy at a construction company and he said that the exterior walls (the brick) are the load-bearing structure and that I could basically tear down all the interior walls. I had considered a laminated beam as an alternative, but he thought it was unnecessary because the roof trusses would certainly support themselves against the exterior walls, is this correct? They do rest against the brick wall, but is that enough? :-[
Member
· stockholm
· 483 posts
depends on how the roof trusses are braced... it could be that they are braced on top of the wall
Contact a structural engineer who can look at the drawings and possibly on-site, and then advise you on what you can do. This way, an insured professional takes responsibility for ensuring that it will hold. Letting a carpenter "give their opinion" on-site is not a reliable solution. They cannot account for snow and wind loads, etc. Moreover, it's questionable whether they will stand by their word if the roof trusses start to settle...
If the drawing indicates that the wall is load-bearing, you will probably need to at least make a building notification, and in that case, you will likely need a statement from a structural engineer that the wall is not load-bearing. Alternatively, a construction drawing on how you plan to reinforce it. Such a drawing must also be supplemented with strength calculations. I'm quite convinced that saying "the laminated beam should hold" is not sufficient. Get a structural engineer to calculate it.