Hello. I'm reaching out to the experts for a problem I have.. I'll try to explain.
Currently, we have a large (Nibe EL 400L) horizontal water heater from 1977 that is on its last legs, located in a space under the stairs leading to the upper floor. We have now acquired a new solar panel-ready water heater (Nibe Compact 300 Sol) that is just under 300 liters and is upright. It fits under the stairs, but it takes up the entire space so you won't be able to access the area behind the water heater under the stairs. The problem is that the water pipes run close to the outer wall under the stairs, so you WANT to be able to access and check there occasionally both so that we can later connect the solar panel loop properly, but also to access the space under the stairs and be able to check that the connections and such on the water line look okay without having to tear out the water heater. :S
Therefore, I want to create a small "crawl space" behind the water heater/under the stairs through the wall from the utility entrance to get in there behind. (See the floor plan image, and you might understand what I mean)
The problem I've encountered there, after cutting up the wall, is that the small space that the utility entrance is has beams in the wall with quite (?) close spacing (see images)
Can any handy person see if there's any risk that the wall could be load-bearing, or can I cut off the middle beam and make a hatch there? How do you do it then? Can you cut the beam while making the frame for the hatch without everything collapsing?
What I was thinking is that you might be able to brace it by, for example, adding two extra short studs to the existing studs on the outer edges and then placing, for instance, an upright 45x145 or similar on those studs, bracing the beam at the hatch, roughly like around a window?
As far as I can understand from the floor plan, that wall isn't drawn particularly thick, but on the other hand, one of the bathroom walls is above this wall (the bathroom doesn't have tiles/clinker, and the bathtub stands at the other end of the bathroom, and that would probably weigh the most I assume), but I'm still a bit too unsure to just cut the beam without checking with you first...
"Picture taken up towards the ceiling between the studs in the hole I cut open"
"The wall I want to make the hatch in" (Wall marked in red)
"Floor plan"
How do I proceed? I'm very thankful for all help. :blushing:
Currently, we have a large (Nibe EL 400L) horizontal water heater from 1977 that is on its last legs, located in a space under the stairs leading to the upper floor. We have now acquired a new solar panel-ready water heater (Nibe Compact 300 Sol) that is just under 300 liters and is upright. It fits under the stairs, but it takes up the entire space so you won't be able to access the area behind the water heater under the stairs. The problem is that the water pipes run close to the outer wall under the stairs, so you WANT to be able to access and check there occasionally both so that we can later connect the solar panel loop properly, but also to access the space under the stairs and be able to check that the connections and such on the water line look okay without having to tear out the water heater. :S
Therefore, I want to create a small "crawl space" behind the water heater/under the stairs through the wall from the utility entrance to get in there behind. (See the floor plan image, and you might understand what I mean)
The problem I've encountered there, after cutting up the wall, is that the small space that the utility entrance is has beams in the wall with quite (?) close spacing (see images)
Can any handy person see if there's any risk that the wall could be load-bearing, or can I cut off the middle beam and make a hatch there? How do you do it then? Can you cut the beam while making the frame for the hatch without everything collapsing?
What I was thinking is that you might be able to brace it by, for example, adding two extra short studs to the existing studs on the outer edges and then placing, for instance, an upright 45x145 or similar on those studs, bracing the beam at the hatch, roughly like around a window?
As far as I can understand from the floor plan, that wall isn't drawn particularly thick, but on the other hand, one of the bathroom walls is above this wall (the bathroom doesn't have tiles/clinker, and the bathtub stands at the other end of the bathroom, and that would probably weigh the most I assume), but I'm still a bit too unsure to just cut the beam without checking with you first...
"Picture taken up towards the ceiling between the studs in the hole I cut open"
"The wall I want to make the hatch in" (Wall marked in red)
"Floor plan"
How do I proceed? I'm very thankful for all help. :blushing:
Self-builder
· Stockholm
· 8 605 posts
That doesn't look like a load-bearing wall at all. Perhaps parts of the staircase rest on it?
If you're unsure, you can support it, but as mentioned, it doesn't seem, judging by the drawing, like it should be a concern...
If it had been a load-bearing stud, you could have propped it up while you cut it, and then supported it with a similar stud on either side (together with the others, and a crossbeam resting on these so that the forces from the middle stud are transferred to the crossbeam (which should be positioned height-wise) down to the sides and down to the floor/foundation.
/K
If you're unsure, you can support it, but as mentioned, it doesn't seem, judging by the drawing, like it should be a concern...
If it had been a load-bearing stud, you could have propped it up while you cut it, and then supported it with a similar stud on either side (together with the others, and a crossbeam resting on these so that the forces from the middle stud are transferred to the crossbeam (which should be positioned height-wise) down to the sides and down to the floor/foundation.
/K
Now it's done. For safety, I switched it against the slats next to it, but now I can continue building on the hatch. Thanks for the help. =)