Crosswall construction

[deadweasel]

Hi all,

I have a crosswall contruction property and have been told that side walls are the only supporting walls. The downstairs consists of a hallway, kitchen and lounge and all walls between them are hollow sounding.

I want to knock down the wall between the kitchen and lounge. Is this safe to do?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[John D v2.0]

No one can tell from here, but an easy clue is look at the joists above and see if they break over the wall. Look at the section sizes and the span, and see if they are sufficient for the larger span

 

[^woody^]

It depends if you are using the term "crosswall construction" as a generic build method, or as part of a non-traditional system. It's not a guarantee either way.

But if you

have been told that side walls are the only supporting walls

, then if anything falls down, you must surely be able to blame the person who told you that

 

[damianjc]

Hello
Joining this thread with a similar query to Deadweasel.
We are in the process of buying a 60s terrace house (cross-wall construction). See images attached.
We're keen to knock out the internal wall on the ground floor (shown with a serving hatch) between the kitchen and the living room.
I can't tell if it is a stud wall or single brick. It is only about 100-120mm wide. It does not sound hollow. I am wondering what the chances are of this not being a load bearing wall. If it is load-bearing I gather from other threads that it won't be contributing to supporting the roof, but could be helping to support the first floor load, and perhaps also helping to brace the main load-bearing party/cross-walls?
I realise that the only way to know for sure is to cut away some ceiling and see if the 1st floor joists rest on this wall. But we cant do that until we own it! (which is still some months off). The span of house (between the two party walls) is 5.24 meters, and the length from kitchen to living area (partitioned by the wall in question) is just under 9 meters.
Any thoughts or advise appreciated
.