I'm sketching some renovation plans for the basement level of my house built in 1948 entirely out of concrete/lightweight concrete (with concrete floors). My idea, as shown in the attached drawings, is to demolish an old food cellar to create a larger bedroom with its own exit to the yard. The old boiler has already been replaced with geothermal heating, so the coal storage will instead become a walk-in closet (there will also be new bathroom/sauna/relaxation room furnishings, but that's outside the current consideration).
My question is whether the wall I plan to demolish has any load-bearing function. I see it as obvious that it's not one of the main load-bearing walls due to its location in the house, the fact that it doesn't run continuously to the upper floor, and that it's marked as a 10 cm wall on the drawing (where main walls are marked as 15-20 cm). However, the question is whether it might serve a function in supporting the floor/ceiling of the living room on the upper floor.
If so, I have an idea to reinforce the next wall (the one against the current coal storage/future closet) instead of constructing a beam in the middle of the larger bedroom. Is that a feasible solution or am I revealing my lack of knowledge?
If a beam is still necessary, does anyone dare to have an opinion on how strong it needs to be given that it "only" supports the floor in the living room? I naturally want it to protrude as little as possible since the ceiling height down there is only about 2.20 meters. I assume steel is the way to go, but would a pillar in the new bedroom allow me to use a less thick beam?
For clarification: the roof ridge runs horizontally, and the roof trusses are positioned vertically through the attached drawing.
I want to add that I will definitely seek the help of a structural engineer at the slightest doubt in this, and that I apply the philosophy "better safe than sorry" . In the initial stage, it's more a matter of sketching for personal use to get a sense of the extent and start considering which tasks to request quotes for, and which we will undertake ourselves.
Attached are the drawings, showing both the upper floor (with the living room) and the lower floor both before and after the proposed renovation.
. In the initial stage, it's more a matter of sketching for personal use to get a sense of the extent and start considering which tasks to request quotes for, and which we will undertake ourselves.
