As the topic suggests, my wife and I have a dilemma right now. We don't know what to do about our wall between the living room and the kitchen. Today, we tried creating a "temporary window," you might say, so that you can see into the living room from the kitchen. But what would you have done??? Removed the wall completely or just left it as it was.
Please, as many responses as possible, thanks.
Best regards, Stefan
Please, as many responses as possible, thanks.
Best regards, Stefan
I can just inform you that more info will be requested about how the wall looks/is constructed...
Do you know if the wall is load-bearing? Post a picture where you draw in your wall, the direction of any joists/roof trusses, and some additional information about your house, such as the number of floors, the thickness of the wall you are considering demolishing, and the material it is made of. It does seem to be made of trä, but I could be wrong.
70*70 studs were a slightly unusual dimension, if the wall had consisted of 45*70 I would probably have said it was not load-bearing since such a slight dimension is not usually used for load-bearing walls, but now I'm not 100% sure but likely it is not load-bearing. However, it could be that the wall has a stabilizing effect on the house but it doesn't have to be, but since they used 70*70 studs, it's probably not impossible, but someone else here on the forum might be able to answer this. Admittedly, you shouldn't rule out that it is load-bearing, do you have any idea of the direction of your floor or roof trusses if it's a single-story house you have.
Have you considered opening up half the wall and creating a "bar counter"? We did that at home and thought it turned out really nice, but it does come down to taste! It's perfect to be able to stand in the kitchen and fix things while chatting with guests in the living room!
But why 70*70, they should have some function, one would think. A 70*70 has a higher buckling limit than a 45*70, which would have been commonly used if it has no function as a load-bearing or stabilizing wall. But indeed, an ordinary 70 stud is too weak to be load-bearing, which is why I thought it was a strange dimension for the studs.anaitis said:
Maveric77: excellent suggestion, I have also made a half-wall at home and I agree with you, it turns out very well.
Just for buckling, they are approximately equally strong, they get the same slenderness ratio, which is the factor that determines how much load can be allowed.Ola78 said:
If my memory serves me, though it has been terribly long since I calculated this, at least 95x45 is needed to allow axial load at floor height.
now gentlemen, I have a little more information regarding the wall. Despite it being 70x70 cross beams in the wall, it's not load-bearing. A carpenter of the old school was here today, one of those people who know what they're talking about. (No offense intended) and he immediately said when he saw the wall that this doesn't have any load-bearing function. Even though the house is 1 1/2 stories, the roof trusses are self-supporting and rest solely on the house's exterior walls, so there were no problems at all with tearing down the wall. He sent into the wall and saw that the 70x70 posts rested on a 45x70 at the bottom and top. So now it's just a matter of putting the ax to the wall and tearing it down. Thanks so much for the help so far, and I'll return with pictures of the demolition and renovation.
A bit late with the response to your claim, but indeed, what you wrote is correct. My mistake, apologies. Of course, the rule is equally weak along the wall as it is out from the wall plane. I thought it was a bit harder to buckle than a 45mm rule along the wall, and it probably is, but still not strong enough. This thing with constructions is interesting, how do you calculate the slenderness ratio? Is there any Swedish site online where you can read a bit about calculation and the like... träguiden I know of, but any more? I would love to learn a little more about such things, mostly for fun. Of course, you should contact a structural engineer when building something larger.anaitis said:
Apologies to Ts for hijacking the thread a bit. Glad it worked out for you… good luck, will be exciting to see some pictures.
Why should one stand and talk with guests while cooking? How often do you have guests? How much more disruptive is it to have the dishwasher etc. running when someone is watching TV, as well as cooking smells and frying fat circulating throughout the house?
I vote for a slightly smaller opening in the wall rather than completely removing it.
I vote for a slightly smaller opening in the wall rather than completely removing it.
A bit OT:raveper said:
That varies, but we personally have guests 1-2 times a week, and I don't mean "formal" dinner parties. Sometimes it's maybe my sister and her husband stopping by for a cup of coffee, and then we start getting hungry and ask if they want to stay for a meal. A bit of simple cooking and small talk with the guests!
We usually run the dishwasher at night, plus it's barely audible, and we solved the odor with a fan!
We don't have a TV in the living room but in another room. I see the living room as a space where you spend daily life and socialize. And I don't consider watching TV as socializing... But that varies a lot, I know! I, for example, would never have a small TV in the kitchen (which I know is very popular), but I'd rather listen to the radio when cooking - or preferably - talk with the guests or my girlfriend or daughter!
There are probably suitable textbooks at the nearest library. A book I used last time I taught this was written by Johannesson & Vretblad. I don't know if it's still available.Ola78 said: