Wall removed with no building regulations

emma_spaghetti

Here is a floorplan of the house - it is the divider wall between the dining room and kitchen which has been removed. Having looked at the floorplan again, there is a wall directly above where it would have been - separating one of the bedrooms with the smaller bedroom, which I believe could indicate it was a load bearing wall...

emma_spaghetti

bclark wrote: »

We removed a wall a couple of years back and got building regs, although to be fair when I say we got it I mean we notified the council and wrote them a cheque.

That's all it is in these circumstances, you merely tell the council what you did, they don't come and look or check the work. As such if it's the standard of the work you are worried about then them having building regs would make no difference at all to that. It's just a rubber stamp really.

Hiya, thanks for the response. Does it make a difference if its the previous owners who made the alterations rather than us?

securityman

Dont bother with indemnity insurance. Get a builder to open it up and have a look for a RSJ at the sellers cost.

Sapphire

emma_spaghetti wrote: »

Here is a floorplan of the house - it is the divider wall between the dining room and kitchen which has been removed. Having looked at the floorplan again, there is a wall directly above where it would have been - separating one of the bedrooms with the smaller bedroom, which I believe could indicate it was a load bearing wall...

I had a similar situation in my place and I did have to have steel reinforcements put in. I engaged a structural engineer initially, who assessed the work, and the council came to inspect the work twice. It needed a massive beam and was a very big job.

notanewuser

Typical Victorian terrace, right? The wall that's been removed is the original back wall of the house, so yes, it's holding the house up!! You need to get that properly checked out.

How do you get into the dining room though? There's no door marked!!

Fire_Fox

Given the layout IMO you need professional confirmation whether that wall was load bearing and whether sufficient supports have been installed. Indemnity only covers you financially, it doesn't address every issue associated with that from the risk of permanent injury or death, the upheaval and stress of having lost your home or camping somewhere else.

emma_spaghetti

notanewuser wrote: »

Typical Victorian terrace, right? The wall that's been removed is the original back wall of the house, so yes, it's holding the house up!! You need to get that properly checked out.

How do you get into the dining room though? There's no door marked!!

Hiya, yes it's more of an L shaped room plan now, without the wall so it's been fully opened up.

SecondTimeBuyer

That is almost definitely a load bearing wall. I would suggest that you go round there with a builder and check whether any structural support has been installed (ie an RSJ, or concrete lintel). If you don't have a builder mate, I would request that the seller pays for one. Good builders can be found via checkatrade.com

notanewuser

emma_spaghetti wrote: »

Hiya, yes it's more of an L shaped room plan now, without the wall so it's been fully opened up.

I meant from the hall/stairwell.

emma_spaghetti

notanewuser wrote: »

I meant from the hall/stairwell.

Haha, oh yes!