Supporting / load bearing wall upstairs?

[PE]

Hi
We are looking at moving an 8 foot long bedroom wall about 18inches back into a larger bedroom to make a built in wardobe for the smaller room.
Question is the walls seems to be of blockwork and not timber stud walls so how can i check out the lielihood of these being load bearing

The house has a W (fink) truss roof which I understand normally means no supporting walls below?

The joists in the loft run perpendicular to this wall which is what is worrying me. There would also originally have been a wall between the kitchen and dining room directly below the wall we are considering, but that room we opened up before we bought the house (not sure if relevant or not)

if I wanted someone to have a look and give an informed opinion (aside from the obviously very informed opinions on here!) would I need a general builder or a structural engineer?

Also once that is all resolved what would be best to build the new wall from - timber stud work or lightweight blocks? ideally we would want as thin as possible a wall but still with reasonable sound insulating properties as it separates 2 kids bedrooms

Thanks

 

[DevilDamo]

Is this in a typical/traditional two-storey dwelling? Having blockwork at first floor level is quite rare. You may be able to call a Building Control officer from the LA out to have a look because if it is structural, you'll have to submit a Building Reg's application.

Better to be safe than sorry

If it is load bearing, then a beam will have to be put in to support whatever it's supporting above and this new wall can be constructed from timber and there's no reason why you couldn't use 75x50mm studs at 400mm c/c with one layer of 12.5mm plasterboard with skim finish both sides (approx. 100mm overall).

 

[PE]

Hi thanks

Yes 1979 4 bed detached typical 2 storey house

Hmm as you say might be worth a check with BC and see if they will come out.

Its definitely not the only solid block wall upstsirs although a couple are stud - seems to be a real mix!

 

[DevilDamo]

Just give the BC department a call and say...

"Hi. We're thinking about removing an internal wall on the first floor and we're not sure whether or not it's load bearing. Is there any chance a BCO could pop by just to provide us with some futher information/clarification and then if the wall's deemed to be load bearing, we'd follow it up with a Building Notice."

I can't see why they'd say no because the BCO's are always out and about.

 

[noseall]

There are thousands of homes built with masonry partitioning upstairs.

Typical walls consist of a timber sole plate onto which 3" blocks were laid. These would be either cinder-block (granular ash) or pulverised aerated ash blocks. Both are classed as lightweight.

Being masonry does not mean they are load bearing.

Can you ascertain the thickness of the walls? A good clue is the width of the door casings.

 

[PE]

There are thousands of homes built with masonry partitioning upstairs.

Typical walls consist of a timber sole plate onto which 3" blocks were laid. These would be either cinder-block (granular ash) or pulverised aerated ash blocks. Both are classed as lightweight.

Being masonry does not mean they are load bearing.

Can you ascertain the thickness of the walls? A good clue is the width of the door casings.

Cheers noseall walls about 4.5 inches so with the plaster etc that could be possible then. Would you recommend getting BC to check aswell?

 

[noseall]

I would 95% say they are not load bearing........

......but you never know.

It would do no harm to let a pro have a peek before wielding the sledge.

 

[PE]

Cheers- would timber studs as suggested above be best for new walls bearing in mind we need some insulation for noise purposes between bedrooms

 

[noseall]

Timber stud walls do not offer the best sound proofing but filling with dense fibreglass helps. If you were really bothered about noise transfer you could always double board with staggered joins.

From a practical point of view through, timber stud is very difficult to beat.