Load bearing wall question

[bzh]

Hi;

I live in 2nd floor flat built in the late 70's

I have a door between my living room and kitchen. It has been suggested that the wall may be load bearing.

I decided to remove the wood door frame to make the opening a little bigger. Both sides of the frame were removed without much issue, however at the top a horizontal crack appeared 4 inches above the top of the door. I have looked at the section that is threatening to fall and it seems to be a wooden section. Above that (and the crack), there seems to be a concrete lintel block that goes all the way to the celling. I hope that makes sense?

My question is do I need to worry? Can I just remove the plaster and wood below the crack? Or is this part of the load bearing wall?

Thanks

 

[tony1851]

Perhaps you should post a few pics before you end up demolishing the whole building.

 

[bzh]

@tony1851 - good point

I have attached a number of photos of the the area (I hope they make sense). Please excuse the black tape - I wanted to have a temporary solution to stop it falling in the middle of the night.

I have also attached a diagram of how I believe the wall is configured from looking closely at the area.

I have numbered the diagram and all the pictures to try help you guys understand what I am looking at.

A few items that I have noted, which may or may not be helpful and/or correct are:
* Last night I also cut away some of the plaster to get a closer look at the concrete section (#1) to see if did continue past the edge of the door - as you can see from the pictures, it does and is sitting directly on the brickwork for the wall.
* In section #3 there are horizontal wooden blocks that are not connected at all to either wall (section #2 & #4)
* Section #3 i believe is only really being held up by the kitchen tiles on the other side

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[freddiemercurystwin]

This seems appropriate

 

[bzh]

@ freddymercurystwin - thnaks for the reassuring message

Any other thoughts?

 

[tony1851]

(just ignore him and he might go away )


Doubtful that 3 is a beam - it looks like a concrete block. #

My guess is that there is probably no concrete beam over that opening, and that it is all blockwork supported on that timber beam (the one with the nails sticking downwards).

If that's right, you have removed support to the lower course of blockwork and it has slipped - that would explain the small horizontal gap which has opened up.

You should consider temporarily supporting the timber beam to restore some support to the lower course of block, otherwise it could drop. In the meantime, you should really get someone to have a look at it before you go any further. The building won't collapse, but you can get a nasty injury from just one block coming away - it needs a little more than Duck tape, BTW.

 

[bzh]

@ tony1851 - Many thnaks for your reply. Yeah, I do think I may need more than Duck tape - that was all I had at 8pm last night

I have got in touch with a structural engineer to see his thoughts on the matter.

Thanks again

 

[bzh]

@ tony1851

Thanks again for your advice. after speaking to a strustural engineer and sending him the photos he felt it was OK for me to remove the section as it seems there was a lintle covering the gap.

I have now done this (see attached) and it all seems to be OK....

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However on inspecting the lintel I found a single hairline crack in it (see pics). I have looked at all the plaster around the lintel and it all seems to be intact.

I assume this is not a major issue, but would appreciate your advice. I am very new to this, I only purchased my flat a few months ago and have decided to do as much as I can myself.

Thanks again

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