Just a swift one really before we call the BCO out ot look at our house: we live in a fairly standard '30s semi-detached with two reception rooms and are looking to knock the supporting wall down between them to create one room. We'd therefore install an RSJ etc.
My question is: the wall between us and our neighbours is two standard bricks thick (ie. around 180mm + mortar) and I assume we're allowed to embed the RSJ halfway (ie. 90mm), in case they want to do the same one day on their side. Is this enough, because it doesn't seem an awful lot to rest a steel beam on that's going to support the wall above? Also, would this use a spreader installed in the wall to spread the load? I've heard that a pillar can be built with padstones, but we really want to avoid this as this would encroach into the hall space. The span is around 3.5 to 4 metres. Any light anyone could shed would be massively appreciated.
Cheers!
My question is: the wall between us and our neighbours is two standard bricks thick (ie. around 180mm + mortar) and I assume we're allowed to embed the RSJ halfway (ie. 90mm), in case they want to do the same one day on their side. Is this enough, because it doesn't seem an awful lot to rest a steel beam on that's going to support the wall above? Also, would this use a spreader installed in the wall to spread the load? I've heard that a pillar can be built with padstones, but we really want to avoid this as this would encroach into the hall space. The span is around 3.5 to 4 metres. Any light anyone could shed would be massively appreciated.
Cheers!