Hello.
In the townhouse I live in, we have an interior wall that was previously an exterior wall. The house was extended in the past, and because of that, the old exterior wall became an interior wall. What was once the front door is now just an opening to the extended part, and similarly, the old window is now just an opening. The picture below shows the wall as it looks now.
What I would like to do is open up the "window opening" (where there used to be a window) so that the opening goes all the way down to the floor, just like the old doorway next to it. My concern is whether this would affect the load-bearing capacity of the wall or not? In my mind, it shouldn't affect the load-bearing capacity, but I don't know enough about the subject to be sure. Is there someone knowledgeable here who can provide an assessment? And do I need to file a building notification with the municipality? And if so, do I maybe need to contact a structural engineer for a formal assessment?
As you can understand, I'm new to this, so any advice is appreciated.
If you cut straight down from the sides, it will be fine, the load-bearing is at the top and the post that ends up on the left is the one that supports the entire outer wall. That must remain.
As others have said, it is never load-bearing under a window, so you can remove that part without any problems. There might be a thicker beam/stud against the floor, but it is not load-bearing in that case either.
