Internal wall removal with indemnity policy on another part of the house

Radders_23 · 18 Mar 2019

Hi all,

We are currently in the process of buying a house that has an indemnity policy for planning permission and building regulations for the front porch and also the extension. However, we are now also considering internal walls that we want to knock down such as that containing the airing cupboard and also that separating the bathroom from the separate WC. I understand we need building regulation sign off for this. Does this mean we can never knock these walls down? The extension was built in 1985/6 and the porch in 2009.

Thank you in advance!

tony1851 · 18 Mar 2019

Walls around an airing cupboard, or the separating wall between a bathroom and wc, are usually non-structural, in which case Building Regs would not apply.

Who advised getting the indemnity policy for the porch and extension? They are both well out of time for the council to take any action over them.

Radders_23 · 18 Mar 2019

Would I still need to invite someone round to sign off that this has been checked? If not, will this affect us when we try to sell?

The indemnity was suggested by my lawyer just in case

Nakajo · 18 Mar 2019

By lawyer, I assume you mean 'conveyancing solicitor'?

Radders_23 · 18 Mar 2019

That's correct yes- conveyancing solicitor

^woody^ · 18 Mar 2019

By conveyance solicitor, I assume you mean the office clerk?

tony1851 · 18 Mar 2019

There are 12,672 threads on this forum regarding clueless solicitors/conveyancers advising clients to spend good money on useless indemnity policies.
Your lawyer would have been better advising you that you did not need insurance, so you could save your money, rather than saying 'just in case' - which displays his lack of knowledge.
Solicitors are the only people who charge clients for mistaken advice.

tony1851 · 18 Mar 2019

Radders_23 said:
Would I still need to invite someone round to sign off that this has been checked? If not, will this affect us when we try to sell?

No,because if the walls are partition walls, they are non-structural, so don't come under building regs, so the council won't give you a certificate, so when you sell the house on, you don't bother declaring the alteration.

Radders_23 · 31 Mar 2019

We've now moved in and have removed the fake ceiling in the front room to reveal what looks like a beam going through the chimney breast. I think this is directly below the wall separating the bedrooms upstairs. I attach a picture of the beam and the floor plan. Can we assume this is supporting the wall above?

I cant understand how this can be going through the chimney breast. Looking in the attic I can see the chimney seems to possibly go all the way through from the ground floor through the wall next to airing cupboard (?) and then into the attic. However the size of the chimney in the attic seems to be much smaller than the chimney breast in the front room. Is this normal?

tony1851 · 31 Mar 2019

Yes that's normal. The chimney breast downstairs is usually built wider than the fireplace and flue enclosure itself, for aesthetics rather than anything else. The beam going onto the chimney breast will not be in contact with the flue brickwork.
It might be holding up a partition wall upstairs, and/or possibly the floor joists - no-one here can say - only you would be able to check by measuring, and lifting carpets.
Hopefully you got a reduction in asking price for the chimney finish?

Radders_23 · 31 Mar 2019

Thanks for the quick reply. On initial inspection we quite liked the chimney but have since dramatically changed our mind. We plan to take off the cladding ourselves hopefully

If the beam does support a load bearing wall upstairs does that mean there was originally a wall downstairs too?

Radders_23 · 1 Apr 2019

Just to add to this, if you look at the picture of the beam you can see it's on top of the polystyrene tiles. Not sure what this means..

JohnD · 1 Apr 2019

I wonder if it is a ventilation duct rather than a beam. Measure it and tap it. Plasterboard? plastic? wood?

mrrusty · 1 Apr 2019

And please get rid of the polystyrene tiles - fire risk!

Radders_23 · 1 Apr 2019

Seems to be solid wood, not hollow at all! Polystyrene tile removal in progress

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Internal wall removal with indemnity policy on another part of the house

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