Wall resting on floorboards

[Bluesbreaker]

Hi

As part of a project i'm currently working on, I removed a ceiling in my downstairs kitchen. On doing so, I noticed that about 2m of the dividing wall in the bedroom above (engineering brick, 2.7m high) is not coincidental with the downstairs supporting wall and is merely resting on floorboards, braced between two 9x2 floor joists at 15" centres.

What's more, a 6x2 timber tying both ends of the principal roof truss rests partly on this wall. Our structural engineer didn't seem too bothered, but I am interested in what people think/what their experiences are. Is this a danger? Can I take reasonable steps to prevent a disaster? Apparently rermoving the wall is not an option.

Thanks

 

[Shytalkz]

If the SE is not bothered, then presumably the dividing partition is not that far away from the wall at ground floor level, there is no sign of distress to this structural arrangement and there will be no increase in loading to this wall. As in, if it ain't broke...

Remember, that in them there old days, they built in significantly differing ways from the ways we do now. It doesn't necessarily make it wrong, or unsafe. Modern day design standards are geared up for highly stressed materials, which is why they bear no relevance to older properties and their construction, a fact of which many SEs lose sight.

If he's not worried, neither should you be.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

Thanks for the advice, it makes sense that things weren't necessarily done wrongly, just differently. As you say, if it ain't broke....

It always pays to seek others' opinions, I find. I'm sure my SE knows his business, but he made a couple of fundamental errors in his calcs, stemming from mis-measuring.

I can't really do much about the arrangement anyway, so i'd best just putmy ceiling back and forget I ever saw it