supporting walls,,,

emmaroids

ok i been out today and i came home to find the missus had knocked down our archway between the living room and dining room :eek:
ok i said it looks good and seems more spacious, but our neighbour says its a supporting wall and should have been left ><
but he is a bit of a nosey !!!!!! who thinks he knows it all lol
the width of the gap is now 5 foot 5 inches, now i think its ok cos its not wide enough to be dangerous.
i can post a picture if that will help?

so should i be worried??

thanks for a (hopefully) quick responce lol.

Doozergirl

Is there a wall on the first floor, directly above where your wall used to be?

If so, can you lift the carpet upstairs and see which way the floorboards run; parallel or at right angles?

emmaroids

ok the room upstairs is about 2 foot wider, meaning the wall does not run along the gap, and the floorboards run at right angles to the wall.

milkydrink

That don't mean its not a supporting wall.

My walls upstairs do not follow the walls downstairs, but the walls downstairs are/were still supporting & we had to get a architect work out the size & thickness of RSJ needed, pay for permission, inspections & a cert from building control (or regs).

I'm not trying to scare you, but you can't just knock down supporting walls without putting in beams.

Is it a new house & the walls upstairs are just wood & plasterboard?? But I suspose not as the walls downstairs would have been that too???

Get a professional to look at it ASAP.

emmaroids

ok i just spoke the the previous owner (she a mate of mine) and she says as long as i havent removed the skirting round the edge it will be ok and the archway was just made out of mdf and plywood with a few 2x2 posts thrown in (its them posts that threw me tbh)
and if i knock on the ceiling where the archway was it sounds hollow so theres nothing but floorboard above it :money:
thanks for your help.

milkydrink

So you didn't knock out bricks then, just a load of wood & plasterboard??

Thats why I was worried for you:D

emmaroids

yeh it was the virtacle posts either side of the archway that made me think it was supported and having an annoying neighbour that thinks he knows it all doesnt help matters lol.

thanks again.:D

Doozergirl

Bits of wood won't be sufficient to hold the weight of the structure, if the arch is original, I doubt that it's structural.

I was imagining your wife covered in brick & platerdust; thought she was brave!