Cost of removing load bearing wall?

cyclonebri1

gazfocus wrote: »

We are in the process of buying a house. The garage has been converted into living space, however, at present, you have to go through the living room, dining room and kitchen to get to the converted garage.

So... we want to do one of two things:

1. Remove the wall that runs along the stairs between the stairs and the downstairs 'bedroom' (converted garage). This will probably involve replacing the staircase as I'm guessing the wall supports the stairs as well. If we were to do this option, we may look at relocating the stairs and making the living room wider but that's another story.

2. Knock through the wall, leaving enough of the wall to support the stairs but opening up enough space to create the larger hallway.

I am assuming the wall is load bearing so will need to be replaced with an RSJ.

The wall is approx 4m long.

Can anyone give me some guidance to how much both options are likely to cost?

Rough layout from Estate Agents below.

So you want the stairs to be open into the bedroom??

Your post is causing confusion, why not try again with your objectives clearly stated??

Rodney_Trotter

gazfocus wrote: »

Well that's why I'm asking on here

I wasn't sure if it would be better to have an open staircase with spindles rather than a solid wall.

Though, no-one has actually answered my question

What was the question?

The cost? About a mornings work to remove it. Supporting it will be different but you didn't make it clear what you wanted to do.

gazfocus

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

So you want the stairs to be open into the bedroom??

Your post is causing confusion, why not try again with your objectives clearly stated??

Please see this post: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64405810&postcount=7

Rodney_Trotter

gazfocus wrote: »

Please see this post: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64405810&postcount=7

#7 would have done it.

cyclonebri1

gazfocus wrote: »

Please see this post: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64405810&postcount=7

Yeah, ok, got it now, didn't see the before and after plan. Question still remains, what is the objective, value increase or liveability??

Rodney_Trotter

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Yeah, ok, got it now, didn't see the before and after plan. Question still remains, what is the objective, value increase or liveability??

Less of a walk with the weekly shop?

Looking at the first plan the developments aren't very well thought out.

teddysmum

If you want a door-free wall for a worktop, how removing the kitchen to conservatory door, as there is access to the latter from the dining area ?

System

assuming the garage is single storey?
It would be good to see an accurate drawing as I don't think the walls would line up like the sketch shows... but it is doable, imo I don't think the investment in all that steel just to give you an open staircase would be worth it - if you just removed a portion of wall (as per the sketch) then you would still have a decent hall wall and it wouldn't cost as much - however I'm not sure exactly what benefit you will get from having more hallway and reducing the size of a bedroom.
Putting a door straight into the bedroom would be (imo) the best option as you have a backdoor into the kitchen, you are eating a lot of space to create a hallway into the kitchen from the front door...
does the cupboard in the kitchen open all the way under the stairs? you might have an option to put a door through from the lounge which would give you access to that bathroom without going through the dining room
also, what age is the house? not sure the stairs will be attached to the walls at all...

cyclonebri1

Rodney_Trotter wrote: »

Less of a walk with the weekly shop?

Looking at the first plan the developments aren't very well thought out.

For the 1st time I do agree with you, ie, the point is? ;)

gazfocus

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Yeah, ok, got it now, didn't see the before and after plan. Question still remains, what is the objective, value increase or liveability??

The point is, we want a larger hallway. We don't want a house where there's very little space when you walk through the door. We have 4 dogs and when we've been out for walks, we want somewhere to put our shoes and to clean the dogs paws before going into the living room.

We're not bothered about increasing/decreasing value as it's going to be our forever home. We have no intention of selling.

Rodney_Trotter wrote: »

Less of a walk with the weekly shop?

Looking at the first plan the developments aren't very well thought out.

I agree, the developments aren't well thought out at all, so we want to improve on that.

teddysmum wrote: »

If you want a door-free wall for a worktop, how removing the kitchen to conservatory door, as there is access to the latter from the dining area ?

This is one consideration, but our longer term plans are to replace the conservatory with a 2 story extension, the ground floor part will form a new kitchen while the current kitchen will be open to the new extension so we're a bit reluctant to brick up a door to then knock a whole in that wall in about a years time.