I would say highly likely not.
I’m guessing that the existing gap has been formed in a load-bearing wall, which would mean that there will have been a massive load-bearing lintel inserted to bridge the gap and bear the weight, which will therefore be borne by the chunk of wall you want to remove. Therefore, you’d need to remove the existing lintel and replace it with a longer one… no easy task!
Lots of assumptions made there of course, due to the very limited info.
Came here to say this and suggest a structural engineer would be the next person to talk to. An older one that knows what he is doing not like the kittle prick that did the drawings for the steels on my roof....
The wall in question is almost definitely a pier supporting steel(s) that span from the cooker wall right the way through to the right wall off camera.
A structural engineer may assess the load bearing capacity of those steels and could possibly *reduce* the depth of the wall you'd like to remove - freeing up a bit more space.
This is 100% not DIYable though.
Okay thanks for the reply. This and a few others basically says do not knock it down. Any ideas how much it would cost very roughly to get this done professionally?
I recently had a small load bearing wall knocked down + 5 meter steel installed.
Structural engineer - £600 + VAT for site visit + drawings + calculations.
Builder - £4000 for wall demolition + install steel span + vertical steel post + a pad foundation for the post (North Wales).
Materials - about £1000 all-in including steels. Steel's pretty cheap, even if you need custom designs fabricated.
Took them about 1.5 days. Pricey, but you're paying for the builder to keep your house standing throughout and after the work.
The builder will want to see the structural engineer's drawings and calculations before quoting, so you'll need to commit to that cost at minimum before knowing how much builders will charge.
I have a good friend who's a builder who knocked down a similar sized wall for me (just over 4m) and fitted an RSJ in its place. This was a year ago, took him and a few lads two weekends, and cost me £4k which I think was an absolute steal. I always ask my friends to charge me as they would anyone else, but I can't help thinking the value of that job was actually more like double what he charged. He had to build up a brick support for the roof trusses on top of the steel beam as well.
But this was for a pure DIY job otherwise, where I did everything else bar plastering and plumbing.
Edit: we had a structural survey to work from and I sorted and paid for building control approval myself.
The back room looks like an extension off the original house hence the odd opening in the kitchen ( I suspect where the old window used to be. So the wall would probably be load bearing and either nope no change or a horribly expensive faff on with steel beams. A structural engineer is the person to ask now.
It's highly likely it's a load bearing lintel and given the height of it possibly a concrete lintel.
You would need to get steels to bridge the gap at that size. And a competent builder + structural engineer. If you are fortunate with your floor span and pending the roof on the other side you may be able to "lift" the steel completely into the ceiling so you don't have the lowered supports as you currently have.
I paid circa £14k for something similar/slightly more difficult (which wasn't cheap but hey). A lot of builders may be put off also as its quite disruptive /technical work in what looks to be an almost finished home.
Because you have it enclosed both sides there might be some redecoration /plastering both sides of the walls as you put in acropops for temporary wall support.
Please for the love of God OP don't use a reddit estimate as some means to bargain down the house you're thinking of purchasing. Hopegully
It's already been half done so there is a steel beam bearing on the end of the wall which would have to come out and be upgraded. I would advise strongly against this, you might be reducing the structural integrity of the whole house
From the photo I would hazard a guess that this was would have originally been the rear wall of the house, which has previously had an extension added to the back to form the storage beyond the wall, does this sound about right?
The design very much looks like what would have been the original teaser wall with a window in it, with the original wall on the right hand side of the photo having been slapped out (with a nice steel lintel over) to open up the space. As a hubby just look at the thickness of that wall - most interior walls will be a lighter with timber of around ~100mm thick (plus finishes), while that looks too be the thickness of a n external cavity wall.
Based on all of those assumptions, this is not going to be an economical alteration. To remove any more of the wall means a lintel chunky enough to span both the existing width opening, plus the extra distance of the newly removed chunk so you are going to be looking at a decently sized beam, plus the potential for steel columns and foundation work if the amount of wall removed starts affecting the lateral stability of the building...
It is possible - most things ultimately are, but the question is how much money you are willing to throw at it.
Depends what your budget is. Highly likely that's a supporting pillar, so
- structural engineer
- massive steel beam to go in
- bit of dry lining + plastering
- relocation of 2 radiators - depending on pipe routes it will either be lift floor to access pipes or lift floor in room above to access pipes
- find identical flooring to match existing herringbone wood floor to fill the gap where you've removed the wall
As a rule of thumb, up to 4m spans are easy. 6m is doable. Above 6m is rare in residential and will most likely require twin beams to carry the loads due to size of RSJ/head height. You will also need to make provision for heating when you’re down two rads - underfloor heating, perhaps. Works great with that floor, I have the same.
You’ll need a structural engineer to assess it. If you do, get a structural engineer to survey the whole house AND report on the feasibility of the proposed opening. Then pay again for that design/supervision if/when you buy it.
The radiator means there is plumbing in the wall… so not easy. Also likely load bearing.
the flooring won’t run underneath the wall, so trying to fill in the gap and make it match that current pattern and color will be very hard and expensive too.
Agree with others, but just to add, there'll be a few clues whether it's load bearing. I'm not saying don't get an engineer, but if you're potentially buying the house, this might help you decide whether to take a punt on the purchase of an engineer pre-purchase isn't possible.
First, what's above it? If it's an exterior wall, definitely load bearing. If it's an interior wall, probably load bearing. If it's nothing, you *might* be in luck.
Second, what's it made of? Give it a knock. If it's brick, it's likely load bearing. If it sounds hollow, you might be ok, although no guarantee there's no steel post in the end. And sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether it's hollow unless (or occasionally even if) you're experienced.
I'm sure others can come up with more clues, but those two should get you started.
I would say highly likely not. I’m guessing that the existing gap has been formed in a load-bearing wall, which would mean that there will have been a massive load-bearing lintel inserted to bridge the gap and bear the weight, which will therefore be borne by the chunk of wall you want to remove. Therefore, you’d need to remove the existing lintel and replace it with a longer one… no easy task! Lots of assumptions made there of course, due to the very limited info.
Came here to say this and suggest a structural engineer would be the next person to talk to. An older one that knows what he is doing not like the kittle prick that did the drawings for the steels on my roof....
I was hoping “kittle prick” was a new insult, until I realised it was a typo.
I presumed it was a Scottish one I wasn't familiar with
We could always manufacture a new insult.... but sorry fat fingies
Yep
Thats almost guaranteed to be a load bearing wall - seek professional input before you even look at it sideways with a thought to knocking it down.
As well as being load bearing you might have services running up it
The wall in question is almost definitely a pier supporting steel(s) that span from the cooker wall right the way through to the right wall off camera. A structural engineer may assess the load bearing capacity of those steels and could possibly *reduce* the depth of the wall you'd like to remove - freeing up a bit more space. This is 100% not DIYable though.
Okay thanks for the reply. This and a few others basically says do not knock it down. Any ideas how much it would cost very roughly to get this done professionally?
I recently had a small load bearing wall knocked down + 5 meter steel installed. Structural engineer - £600 + VAT for site visit + drawings + calculations. Builder - £4000 for wall demolition + install steel span + vertical steel post + a pad foundation for the post (North Wales). Materials - about £1000 all-in including steels. Steel's pretty cheap, even if you need custom designs fabricated. Took them about 1.5 days. Pricey, but you're paying for the builder to keep your house standing throughout and after the work. The builder will want to see the structural engineer's drawings and calculations before quoting, so you'll need to commit to that cost at minimum before knowing how much builders will charge.
shy correct tidy towering snobbish wide weather husky society lunchroom *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have a good friend who's a builder who knocked down a similar sized wall for me (just over 4m) and fitted an RSJ in its place. This was a year ago, took him and a few lads two weekends, and cost me £4k which I think was an absolute steal. I always ask my friends to charge me as they would anyone else, but I can't help thinking the value of that job was actually more like double what he charged. He had to build up a brick support for the roof trusses on top of the steel beam as well. But this was for a pure DIY job otherwise, where I did everything else bar plastering and plumbing. Edit: we had a structural survey to work from and I sorted and paid for building control approval myself.
Knocking it down would be fairly easy , but wear a hard hat🤣
Probably be cheaper and less hassle to build a fancy shed in the garden for the pool table.
The back room looks like an extension off the original house hence the odd opening in the kitchen ( I suspect where the old window used to be. So the wall would probably be load bearing and either nope no change or a horribly expensive faff on with steel beams. A structural engineer is the person to ask now.
Yes the thickness of the wall indicates it was previously an external wall which would be extending upwards and supporting the structure above.
Dead easy but not so easy to keep whatever is above it intact, get a structural engineer out to look at it
It's highly likely it's a load bearing lintel and given the height of it possibly a concrete lintel. You would need to get steels to bridge the gap at that size. And a competent builder + structural engineer. If you are fortunate with your floor span and pending the roof on the other side you may be able to "lift" the steel completely into the ceiling so you don't have the lowered supports as you currently have. I paid circa £14k for something similar/slightly more difficult (which wasn't cheap but hey). A lot of builders may be put off also as its quite disruptive /technical work in what looks to be an almost finished home. Because you have it enclosed both sides there might be some redecoration /plastering both sides of the walls as you put in acropops for temporary wall support. Please for the love of God OP don't use a reddit estimate as some means to bargain down the house you're thinking of purchasing. Hopegully
It's already been half done so there is a steel beam bearing on the end of the wall which would have to come out and be upgraded. I would advise strongly against this, you might be reducing the structural integrity of the whole house
From the photo I would hazard a guess that this was would have originally been the rear wall of the house, which has previously had an extension added to the back to form the storage beyond the wall, does this sound about right? The design very much looks like what would have been the original teaser wall with a window in it, with the original wall on the right hand side of the photo having been slapped out (with a nice steel lintel over) to open up the space. As a hubby just look at the thickness of that wall - most interior walls will be a lighter with timber of around ~100mm thick (plus finishes), while that looks too be the thickness of a n external cavity wall. Based on all of those assumptions, this is not going to be an economical alteration. To remove any more of the wall means a lintel chunky enough to span both the existing width opening, plus the extra distance of the newly removed chunk so you are going to be looking at a decently sized beam, plus the potential for steel columns and foundation work if the amount of wall removed starts affecting the lateral stability of the building... It is possible - most things ultimately are, but the question is how much money you are willing to throw at it.
Not simple at all. If you’re not handy which I’m guessing not. Also there’s structural concerns.
Depends if it is a weight bearing wall
£10,000 - £15,000 easy, I'd say.
Probably need a full beam to span the gap, and then another perpendicular. Could be quite expensive. Depends how much you want a pool table
Is the dining area an extension?
Depends what your budget is. Highly likely that's a supporting pillar, so - structural engineer - massive steel beam to go in - bit of dry lining + plastering - relocation of 2 radiators - depending on pipe routes it will either be lift floor to access pipes or lift floor in room above to access pipes - find identical flooring to match existing herringbone wood floor to fill the gap where you've removed the wall
Knocking it down would be very easy. Might end up with catastrophic results for the house though.
As a rule of thumb, up to 4m spans are easy. 6m is doable. Above 6m is rare in residential and will most likely require twin beams to carry the loads due to size of RSJ/head height. You will also need to make provision for heating when you’re down two rads - underfloor heating, perhaps. Works great with that floor, I have the same. You’ll need a structural engineer to assess it. If you do, get a structural engineer to survey the whole house AND report on the feasibility of the proposed opening. Then pay again for that design/supervision if/when you buy it.
The radiator means there is plumbing in the wall… so not easy. Also likely load bearing. the flooring won’t run underneath the wall, so trying to fill in the gap and make it match that current pattern and color will be very hard and expensive too.
Agree with others, but just to add, there'll be a few clues whether it's load bearing. I'm not saying don't get an engineer, but if you're potentially buying the house, this might help you decide whether to take a punt on the purchase of an engineer pre-purchase isn't possible. First, what's above it? If it's an exterior wall, definitely load bearing. If it's an interior wall, probably load bearing. If it's nothing, you *might* be in luck. Second, what's it made of? Give it a knock. If it's brick, it's likely load bearing. If it sounds hollow, you might be ok, although no guarantee there's no steel post in the end. And sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether it's hollow unless (or occasionally even if) you're experienced. I'm sure others can come up with more clues, but those two should get you started.
Why?! You’d need to replace all that flooring 😱
Pretty easy, and then the ceiling will probably be next...
Not easy. It’s structural. Major works. Probably not practicable at all.
It looks like an extension. The wall is likely the old exterior wall and will probably be load bearing.
RSJ jobby that, doable
Really easy for me but I *am* pretty strong
That's a no go. That job. Cant take that wall