How to know if a basement wall is load-bearing?

[Carwen]

Hello,

As the title suggests, how do I know if a basement wall is load-bearing? The realtor couldn't answer during the showing, so I think the floor plan drawing doesn't say much.

The desire is to remove the walls to the storage where I placed the smiley face. What makes me hesitate even more is that on the floor above, the realtor thought the wall was load-bearing (in the kitchen). Is a load-bearing wall automatically load-bearing on both floors?

I would appreciate an answer so it's possible to know what options are available.

 

[Anna_H]

This drawing cannot be seen on, it's just real estate sketches, we need to see the real drawings.

 

[Carwen]

Unfortunately, I don't have the actual drawings. I was mostly wondering about how it usually is based on constructions. But perhaps it varies a lot from house to house.

 

[Janus82]

It is very possible that one of the longitudinal walls in the basement is load-bearing. Do you know what kind of floor structure it is?

If it is a wooden floor structure, there should be a beam in the middle of "bedroom 4" that gives an indication of which of the walls is load-bearing. If it is instead a concrete floor structure, no beam is needed, but you can often tell by the thickness of the wall to figure out which one is load-bearing.

 

[BirgitS]

Unfortunately, I don't have the actual drawings. I was mostly wondering how it usually is based on constructions. But maybe it looks very different from house to house.

You can ask the real estate agent if they can ask the seller if there are construction drawings and you can also check with the municipality's building permit department, etc., because they should have that type of drawings from when the building permit was granted.

 

[Janus82]

Have you been to the house for a viewing or are there pictures of the basement on Hemnet?

 

[bossespecial]

Most often, the basement walls that are perpendicular to the outer wall serve a bracing function against earth pressure.

 

[justusandersson]

There are absolutely no general rules to adhere to. Everything depends on the construction method. The single most important parameter is the year of construction. As Anna_H points out, realtor sketches are completely useless. Looking at the layout, it seems to be a 1950s house. Then the basement walls are likely made of concrete hollow blocks and the slab between the basement and ground floor of reinforced concrete. You would need to see a reinforcement drawing to determine which basement walls are load-bearing. Even if the walls in question are not load-bearing, it might be inappropriate to remove parts of them due to their stabilizing function (see bossespecial’s post). Basement walls made with concrete hollow blocks should be avoided for removal. Lighter walls were often made in lightweight concrete. No realtor is born who can answer these types of questions. However, you can expect that if it's a 1950s house, all the plans you need access to are available in the municipal archives.

 

[Carwen]

Thank you for all the answers. The house was built in 1960 and I have now obtained a construction drawing.

This concerns MATK.

 

[justusandersson]

It is a standard architectural drawing, but since it is obviously the original, it can probably be trusted. The drawing indicates that two of the pantry's walls are weaker (probably blå lättbetong) and can therefore be demolished without difficulties. If you drill into these walls, you can likely confirm my conclusion.

 

[donjansson]

Sorry to interrupt the thread. I have a similar question where I haven't received any response.
Feel free to check it out: "Removing load-bearing walls in the basement[...]"
https://www.byggahus.se/forum/threa...-kaellare-tillvaegagangssaett-kostnad.344071/

 

[Janus82]

With all certainty, the thick walls on the drawing are load-bearing. Therefore, you won't be able to demolish all the walls around the pantry. Technically, it could be resolved with a beam in the ceiling, but that involves quite a bit of work.