Taking a wall down?

marshmallow79

I was just wondering if anyone knows how much it will cost (roughly) to take down a non load baring wall?
We are looking to take down the wall between our kitchen and hallway to make the kitchen space more usable but we have not a clue as to what we'd be looking at costwise. There are 2 elecrtricity sockets that would also need to be relocated (but not to far away from their current locations) and we'd obviously wan't it all finished (plastered but not painted).
I know with extentions you can work on £1000 per sq metre, is there anything like this for taking walls down?

fluffymuffy

When you say "non load bearing" do you mean it's made of timber stud? Even stud walls can be loadbearing. If I wanted rid of a non-loadbearing wall I'd take it down myself. But then as an architect I wouldn't mistake a loadbearing one for a non-loadbearing one. To get the sockets moved I'd be paying under £100. There wouldn't be much plastering to do - that's a DIY job too.

marshmallow79

fluffymuffy wrote: »

When you say "non load bearing" do you mean it's made of timber stud? Even stud walls can be loadbearing. If I wanted rid of a non-loadbearing wall I'd take it down myself. But then as an architect I wouldn't mistake a loadbearing one for a non-loadbearing one. To get the sockets moved I'd be paying under £100. There wouldn't be much plastering to do - that's a DIY job too.

I'm not 100% what its made of but it sounds hollow unlike the other wall that runs throught the middle of my house. To be fair I'm assuming it's non loadbearing but I don't like to get builders around to give me quotes and waste their time incase I can't afford to have it done. I just want a rough idea of what it would cost to take a wall down before I go calling builders.

fluffymuffy

There are other condiderations too. If you have a three storey house then your stair well and route to the exit door is a protected shaft for fire purposes and you can't remove your kitchen wall. If you live in a flat and that hallway leads to the only exit then the same applies.

Do you have a door closer on the kitchen door which was there when the house was built? That would be a sign you've got a protected area which shouldn't be tampered with.

marshmallow79

fluffymuffy wrote: »

There are other condiderations too. If you have a three storey house then your stair well and route to the exit door is a protected shaft for fire purposes and you can't remove your kitchen wall. If you live in a flat and that hallway leads to the only exit then the same applies.

Do you have a door closer on the kitchen door which was there when the house was built? That would be a sign you've got a protected area which shouldn't be tampered with.

Both my front and back door are in that one hallway so are in the same room anyway. I currently don't have a kitchen door it's just an archway (very 1980's!:p) so I guess they're technically in the same room as the kitchen at the momnet to (if that makes sence!).

fluffymuffy

OK - a big guess here - between £200 and £500. I'm assuming it won't need a skip and you'll be taking the mess to the tip yourself and that the floor won't need much making good.

Last time I took a non-structural wall down the floorboards ran straight under it and I moved the sockets myself (before new legislation cam in to prevent electrical DIY). The pile of plaster and brick went into several sacks and the into my car. (Yes, it was a brick wall built on the floorboards, and not even across or on the joists!) You might have plasterboard and timber to dispose of. It's much cheaper to shift it yourself than get the builder to take it away as he has to pay to dump it.

Just get some quotes and don't worry about wasting their time. It's not wasting their time - it's giving them the opportunity to quote. Make sure you pick their brains too.

ormus

i agree, best guess is around 200 quid for a small wall plus the cost of a skip. and the sparks costs, say another 100 quid.
simple job like this is really a DIY one.