We are in the process of renovating and want to open up the floor plan according to the sketch and pictures. According to the information from previous owners, only the exterior walls are supposed to be load-bearing with a self-supporting construction with a hipped roof. When we started the renovation and removed the cladding on interior walls, we noticed that the walls consisted of 7 cm thick planks. We can also see that the cross beams in the attic do not go across the whole house in one place near the chimney (see picture according to item 1).
How should this be handled if one wants to remove the red-marked wall in the picture?
1. Install a beam from above (preferably) or from below - what dimension?
2. Pillar (preferably not)
3. Other?
Sincerely, Agneta
Hello Agneta!
I don't believe you have any self-supporting roof trusses. Nor are the beams in the attic flooring sufficient for a 7-meter span. The roof construction also means that a lot of roof loads are transferred to these beams. The load-bearing wall you are about to demolish definitely has an important load-bearing function. Although the planks are about 70 mm, it's more accurate to say 3 inches, as that was the measurement used when the house was built.
Beams usually need to rest on columns, whether they are in the attic or part of the roof. You will need two beams and four columns to meet your needs since beams cannot go straight through the chimney. No load-bearing structures can be attached to a chimney. Original drawings always facilitate the assessment in such cases.
Thanks for the response. We are considering placing a steel beam vertically next to the chimney and then a steel beam horizontally over the area where it is about 4 m, and then a steel beam vertically. And then we can tear down the wall. See picture. We will bring in a structural engineer on site...
