what makes up a load bearing wall? builder problems...

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hi all, found this forum while looking for help with a problem. I had a builder renovate my house but to be honest its turned out to be the biggest nightmare ever. He ended up ripping me off, and taking money leaving job unfinished and since then when i investigated i found so much poor work its untrue, all this is made worse by this being a friend of 10 years and me having a 4 week old baby at the time with nowhere to live.

anyway, i found he had removed a wall as planned and replaced with h beam girder but now the neighbour who is a SE has told me he thinks the wall was load bearing, and it should have had building regs done, and doesnt know if its been done properly.

now there is no wall directly above it, there was no foundations under it, as I seen the floor, it was all ashphelt straight across. I dont know if the joists met at that point, or if they run straight across outside wall to outside wall.

how would i find these things out without pulling it apart? i was gonna speak to barrat who built the house, see if there is a plan available? would this be a possibility ?

I am in the process of getting all receipts together and maybe takin the guy to court so this is just one more thing i need to know about, someone said call the council building regs people and someone said i should definitely not do that, i dont have money to start pulling the house apart after the mess just now

any advice appreciated

thanks in advance

The way the h beam girder has been proped up was 2 pieces of timber
 
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if there was no foundation its unlikely to be load bearing.your could lift a floor borad at the point of where the wall use to be and then you'll be able to see if the joists rested on the wall,which i doubt as you would have noticed as soon as you walked upstairs.
your neighbour should know all the ins and outs of load bearing walls etc.

its possible barrett would have old plans,if not you could try the Planning dept.
 
hi, thx for the reply.

I guess takin the f boards up would be the route if i vannot get the plans? I know they are hard to take up as i have took some up before, its liike they were put down before the walls were built, so very awkward to take up.

How would i have noticed it soon as i went upstairs?

I dont wanna keep bothering the neighbour, get the feeling he doesnt wanna get involved.

I say there were no foundations but, to be honest I should ask, how would I know? it was just an asphelt floor, it had a slight 'trench' where the wall was, which was filled in with concrete before the floor was then tiled.

If it wasnt a load bearing wall, why would he even bother putting the rsj up? doesnt make sense as he cut corners on everything else.

thanks :)
 
with so many reservations about this guys work i think i would go to your local council,Building Control and get them involved.they may be able to get a copy of the plans and that would answer the load bearing wall/foundation question.Once you have the answer to this question will dictate what you shoudl do next.
 
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I was gonna do that but someone suggested i may end up in a situation where i "HAVE TO" have the work done, how does it work if the reg person says its not right? do i have time to fix do they do anything? or report you?

if not then i will do that on monday

thanks
 
they wont be dragging you off to court on monday if thats when they come out.i think they will be sympathetic and try and help you resolve the problems.they wont be looking for corrections to be done overnight,IF there is something not to spec.
 
I'm sorry to inform you Jason but it is the homeowners responsibility to involve b'regs and not the builder.

However the builder has a professional obligation to inform a client as to when they need reg's.
 
buy the bloke next door a nice bottle off whisky ask if he has time to spare if he can suggest where you should check or what to look for
and the chances are he will probably help you as he wont feel like you are taking the pee
 
ok ill speak to him tomorrow and see if he can help, just will offer to pay for his services and see what he says,

so i take it from what you guys are saying, he has to calculate the load of the house from the size and dimensions to decide whether or not that wall should be load bearing? its not based on whether there is a wall above it or whether or not the joists meet at that point?

thanks for all the advise, i now realise after reading its my responsibility, its my first house and i was well took for a ride, i didnt even know the wall was a block wall till i came round and seen the props holding it up, builder didnt tell me
 
It all seems a little suspect to me.

Firstly, the works should have followed a Building Regulation application as already mentioned. The homeowner/client should sort this out but any reputable builder should make the client aware of his/her responsibilities. However, I'd be lying if I said all builders warn clients of planning/building regulation issues. Many just want to get on with the work as quickly as possible, get paid and move onto the next job.

It's strange a beam went up as this wall was removed, which seems to have been load bearing. Maybe the first floor sat on this wall? Floor boards normally run at right angles to floor joists so if your boards run in the same direction to this removed wall, the joists would or may have sat on it, hence why a beam was introduced.

The building regulation department are there to help. Ok, they will ask you to submit an application, which could be done on a Building Notice as the works are currently progressing or a regularisation application if the works have now been completed. Any works that have taken place may need to be exposed and checked in order for a completion certificate to be issued at the end of the job. Any structural work would need to be backed up by calculations/details and maybe you could engage your neighbour formally for this as he has already provided you with some advice?

Hope you get it sorted.
 
its all a big mess really, the job is finished i am living here with my partner and 8 week old baby, i dont have any money because the builder who dissapeared with my 24k before the job was done left me with alot to do, the job cost me another 2-3k to finsh and then i also found lots of substandard work, tiles all fitted wrong, big gaps, small gaps, different coloured grouts, no tanking system, dangerous electrics, poorly fitted kitchen, badly plastered walls, ceiling.

To expose it would be expensive to me, im already taking the guy to court, or getting evidence, which this will help but everyone i have spoke to said waste of time, you wont get anything.

I was in hospital every day while the work was going on, as our baby was premature or i would have been here watching, so its all really a big mess for me now to sort out.

the floorboards do run same way as the joists in that part of the house, they seem to change somewhere close to that and the joists run the other way.

there is nothing directly above the rsj, its the middle of the back room, but I suspect there must be a reason he put it in. So with it being propped up on 2 pieces of timber, no padstones and so on, i am guessing i would have to start knocking main walls down in my house and rebuilding, i dont think there is an easy solution which is what worries me i guess

thanks for the advise
 
may not be that drastic.you could construct 2 new piers,will impact on the new opening admittedly but wouldnt be that costly.i would say,dont panic until you find out for sure whats going on.
hope you get it sorted and you might get something out of him but could be a long process.
 
I don’t know what you’ve had done but £24k is a lot of money & I appreciate you want the pain to stop but you need to get it sorted now by getting professional help & making either a Building Notice or Regularisation Submission to your LABC. Building Control is unlikely to give you grief & you have no way of knowing if your property is even safe to live in at the moment. If you just ignore it, it won’t go away & if you cannot produce the necessary paperwork to prove that all the work you’ve had done is in accordance with Building Regulations & been tested where applicable, it’s likely to bring an immediate halt to any future sale. There is also a real possibility that your insurance company will not cover a claim where unauthorised building work is considered to have been a factor.
 
so if i have got it right now then?

building inspector from council 1st explain sitaution, get help with plans to see what the wall was and if its safe?

if it was load bearing then i need to ask the SE nextdoor or another one to come up with calculations?

then get work done?

in that order?

thanks
 
First, get an S.E. on board.

Have him look at the steel, the steel end bearings, the supporting masonry and any loads above.

If things look good and everything is ok then it is a matter of calc'ing the job up and providing you with the relevant paperwork to present to B.C.

He may need a fair amount of information regards the steel before he puts his name to it though.
 

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