I have an apartment in an old brick building, where all the walls (exterior and interior) are made of brick. The apartment's floor plan is roughly like the Swedish flag, with exterior walls along the short sides, and neighboring apartments along the long sides. The interior walls are like the yellow cross. The shorter of these interior walls is very thick (about 30-35 cm), while the one crossing is about 10 cm thick.
On the wall that is 10 cm thick, there is a doorway between the bedroom and living room, which I would like to move to another place on the same wall. Can I assume that the wall is not load-bearing since it is relatively thin?
Regards
Rickard
On the wall that is 10 cm thick, there is a doorway between the bedroom and living room, which I would like to move to another place on the same wall. Can I assume that the wall is not load-bearing since it is relatively thin?
Regards
Rickard
Yes, there should not be any load-bearing walls running from the short side to the short side in the apartment; the load-bearing walls run along the roof ridge, i.e., the short, thick interior wall. Which might not be load-bearing either, but may contain stammar and such.
As mentioned, when it comes to stone houses, you can get a pretty strong indication of what is load-bearing by looking at the wall thickness...
BUT, like you, I would absolutely contact a structural engineer for consultation. From him/her, you will receive a certificate that you need to get permission from the board for changes in the floor plan (if it is a housing association). Furthermore, if something were to happen as a consequence of tampering with the wrong wall, you might not be in a good position legally. This could result in settlement or even collapse as a consequence of such actions...
It should also be done by competent people who first scan the wall to ensure no fixed installations run through it.
Good luck!
BUT, like you, I would absolutely contact a structural engineer for consultation. From him/her, you will receive a certificate that you need to get permission from the board for changes in the floor plan (if it is a housing association). Furthermore, if something were to happen as a consequence of tampering with the wrong wall, you might not be in a good position legally. This could result in settlement or even collapse as a consequence of such actions...
It should also be done by competent people who first scan the wall to ensure no fixed installations run through it.
Good luck!