Knocking down a section of inner wall - Is there regulations

[abestravels]

Hi everyone,

I have an internal load bearing wall that separates my dining room and my kitchen. The wall is roughly 3 m wide by 2.5m high.

My original plan was to knock down the majority of this wall and go through the process of having a structural engineer for the calculations and the councils building department involved. I have realized that this will cost me £500 without the cost of the steel and the building work.

As another option i am considering only opening a section up of the wall (centrally placed) instead, maybe 180cm wide by 180cm high.

My questions is is if i do this, do i still need to have calculations and inspections done or can i just use a lintel/rsj to support the load?

I guess i need to know if there are any restrictions in regards to how wide and high you can make an opening without having to pay out for calc's and inspections?

Any advice or guidance would be hugely appreciated

 

[jeds]

There's no rule on it. You can apply common sense to the actual work. An opening of 1.8m with a suitable off the shelf lintel is unlikely to cause any issue. But when you come to sell your house, if a solicitor discovers that there has been a structural alteration, that common sense will be worth about as much as an ash tray on a motorbike.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

My questions is is if i do this, do i still need to have calculations and inspections done

Maybe not and yes.

or can i just use a lintel/rsj to support the load?

That will depend on the load.

I guess i need to know if there are any restrictions in regards to how wide and high you can make an opening without having to pay out for calc's and inspections?

It's a load bearing wall. Do you know what the load is, and how it's transmitted through the wall? I don't know for sure, but I'd be more surprised if you could get a design done using the tables published by lintel makers than if you couldn't.

But however you get the design done, you will still need to get Building Regulations approval, which will therefore mean an inspection.

I can see why you'd be keen to avoid SE fees, if you can realistically do so, but why don't you want any inspections?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There's no rule on it.

Err.... The Building Regulations?

You can apply common sense to the actual work. An opening of 1.8m with a suitable off the shelf lintel is unlikely to cause any issue.

In which case a BR application can easily be made, and compliance with Part A proved by the use of common sense and whatever the maker of the off-the-shelf lintel is prepared to say.

But when you come to sell your house, if a solicitor discovers that there has been a structural alteration, that common sense will be worth about as much as an ash tray on a motorbike.

And the solicitor will discover it unless Abe lies. Surely you would not suggest that somebody lies about a material fact in a transaction with a value of £100,000's?

 

[tony1851]

Surely you would not suggest that somebody lies about a material fact in a transaction with a value of £100,000's?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What's the problem with what I wrote?

 

[tony1851]

Nothing at all - grammatically-speaking.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Nor in any other aspects.

 

[abestravels]

Thanks everyone....appreciate your comments

I don't have nothing to hide in respect of getting the work inspected, just figured it would be cheaper if i didn't have too. I can understand why i would though and i'm not a good liar!

Does the section of brickwork in which the ends of the lintel/RSJ sits on need to be a minimum width?

There is a bedroom wall above so that is the "load".

I guess this is a pretty routine sort of thing for most of you but the more advice i get the better so thanks again.

 

[jeds]

Nothing at all - grammatically-speaking.

I wouldn't even bother trying to explain tony. Given the complete lack of understanding nothing short of simple pictures is going to sink in.

 

[jeds]

Thanks everyone....appreciate your comments

I don't have nothing to hide in respect of getting the work inspected, just figured it would be cheaper if i didn't have too. I can understand why i would though and i'm not a good liar!

Does the section of brickwork in which the ends of the lintel/RSJ sits on need to be a minimum width?

There is a bedroom wall above so that is the "load".

I guess this is a pretty routine sort of thing for most of you but the more advice i get the better so thanks again.

Forming small openings in load bearing walls is usually simple work but there are still a lot of possible variables. For a 1.8m opening, nine times out of ten you should be able to come to an agreement with an inspector without the need for a SE. My advice is put a building notice in, get the inspector around, explain what you plan to do and see how you go. He might want structural calcs or he might not - trust me there are no rules on this. If he wants structural calcs it will be because he feels it's necessary - in which case get them done. But for a small opening like this he'll most likely use his judgement.

I would suggest a 178x102 steel beam. This is massively over sized for what you need, won't cost too much and the 102mm width is perfect for sitting on brick or blockwork. You need to know what it's sat on to decide on the bearing? A padstone would be over the top. For small works like this a solid engineering brick or a dense concrete block is usually sufficient. Again, get it exposed and agree it with the building inspector.

 

[Cabbyfan]

I have just done exactly what you want to do, I opened up about 2m of a load bearing wall between my kitchen and dining room. Building control advised beam size and padstone was needed in my case. Clad in 12.5mm fireboard after inspection by BC job done. Steel was about £40 delivered.

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