Hello everyone!
My partner and I have recently bought a house that we are planning to renovate and fix up! Among a thousand other things, we are (hopefully) going to open up an old outer wall towards the porch to get a more open floor plan and more light!
The house itself (except for the porch, more on that later) is built with brick walls with an air gap in between. It is a 1½ story house with galleries upstairs. The roof is clay tiles. The house is about 14x7 meters externally.
About 30 years ago, the previous owner extended the house on the long side with a porch on the long side of the house. This meant the old outer wall on the long side became an interior wall about 5 meters long. The old front door that faced the porch was removed and turned into a small arch. The porch is also poured but has a slightly sloping metal roof. Our thought is that in the future, we will add roof trusses to the porch to give the house a more uniform appearance, but that is a problem for later.
What we are thinking of doing right now is to open up about 4 meters of the old outer wall to have free passage between the kitchen and the porch. We will not open up completely, but only down to about 1.20 meters so that the old wall will be a "bar counter" with kitchen surfaces on one side.
The problem is that, of course, you can't just open up anything without considering structural support. I haven't taken exact measurements yet, but I believe there are about 4-5 roof trusses resting on the part we intend to open up.
Two different solution ideas we have considered are:
1. Install sturdy I-beams resting on the outer walls at the edges, creating two beams since the brick wall has an air gap in between.
2. Install a sturdy wooden beam in the gallery that is significantly longer than the "opening" below, maybe a total of an 8-meter beam. To get it in, we have to open up a hole in the gable end and insert it there. Then place slightly thinner I-beams below to "only" hold up the bricks that would otherwise collapse.
Which solution do you think is best, and is it feasible at all? Of course, we will make the necessary calculations and have access to professionals, but before we think further, I'd appreciate your opinions!
My partner and I have recently bought a house that we are planning to renovate and fix up! Among a thousand other things, we are (hopefully) going to open up an old outer wall towards the porch to get a more open floor plan and more light!
The house itself (except for the porch, more on that later) is built with brick walls with an air gap in between. It is a 1½ story house with galleries upstairs. The roof is clay tiles. The house is about 14x7 meters externally.
About 30 years ago, the previous owner extended the house on the long side with a porch on the long side of the house. This meant the old outer wall on the long side became an interior wall about 5 meters long. The old front door that faced the porch was removed and turned into a small arch. The porch is also poured but has a slightly sloping metal roof. Our thought is that in the future, we will add roof trusses to the porch to give the house a more uniform appearance, but that is a problem for later.
What we are thinking of doing right now is to open up about 4 meters of the old outer wall to have free passage between the kitchen and the porch. We will not open up completely, but only down to about 1.20 meters so that the old wall will be a "bar counter" with kitchen surfaces on one side.
The problem is that, of course, you can't just open up anything without considering structural support. I haven't taken exact measurements yet, but I believe there are about 4-5 roof trusses resting on the part we intend to open up.
Two different solution ideas we have considered are:
1. Install sturdy I-beams resting on the outer walls at the edges, creating two beams since the brick wall has an air gap in between.
2. Install a sturdy wooden beam in the gallery that is significantly longer than the "opening" below, maybe a total of an 8-meter beam. To get it in, we have to open up a hole in the gable end and insert it there. Then place slightly thinner I-beams below to "only" hold up the bricks that would otherwise collapse.
Which solution do you think is best, and is it feasible at all? Of course, we will make the necessary calculations and have access to professionals, but before we think further, I'd appreciate your opinions!