Knocking through a wall to open up lounge and dining room

pinkteapot

adonis10 wrote: »

That isn't the one we are buying, but very similar layout.

Oops, sorry - will edit my post. Looked just like the one in your photo on the other thread.

adonis10

shopaholicz wrote: »

Hi adonis10, we have builders coming in next Monday to take out the supporting wall between our kitchen and dining room. Our house is very similar to the one on rightmove. We already have double doors from living room through to dining room and a conservatory on the back. We don't use our dining room much at all as it's the furthest away from the kitchen, bad planning.

Anyway, when we contacted a builder he said he needed a structural engineer to come and calculate the weight the steel beams needed to support before he ordered them. The more weight they have to support the thicker they need to be and the more they then cost. Once he's got that report he can order the beams, then pass info onto building control at the council. After he's done the job the council come in and inspect. You have to pay the structural engineer and the building control inspector over and above the builders costs.

We've been told the work to take out the wall and make good the floor will take 2 weeks.

We also need to remove 2 radiators before the work can be done and get a water pipe moved. Do you have any radiators or pipes around the wall you want to remove?

In total we're expecting it to cost us £350 structural engineer, £75 building control, £2,500 builder, £300 skips. Flooring and decorating will be extra to this.

Thanks for the info, helpful advice.

Surprising contrast to what I've been told so far, a couple of days for the builder, plasterer a day and around £1500 all in. If it's over 3k I might not bother.

shopaholicz

I suppose it depends on if it's a supporting wall and how long and high it is. I'll try and update you after they start work next week if the cost is any different.

mrsmazza

We knocked 2 rooms into 1.

Costs £ 600 ish for structural engineer.
Builder was £1200 ish including material s.
Then the council fee for building regs,
Paint, flooring etc.

We lived near London, so tradesmen etc cost more.

Andypandyboy

We are considering doing it too.

We currently have a large lounge diner with a conservatory off which we rarely use. The dining room is quite dark so our thinking is that if we make the whole downstairs open plan but with doors that can be opened up or closed off it will produce a really social space which is much lighter. We want to retain the option of a separate sitting room, which it would probably be used as for most of the time.

Our thinking is to relocate the dining table into the conservatory and re do the heating system to ensure it is warm enough in there year round. This will give us a kitchen with breakfast bar opening into a lounge area opening into the dining conservatory.

I am looking for ideas for modern, functional doors. Any ideas?

jimbog

I was considering this a few months ago as was quoted £2k 'all in'. It was a Victorian house and I was wanting to knock through the dining room to the lounge

Doozergirl

adonis10 wrote: »

Thanks for the info, helpful advice.

Surprising contrast to what I've been told so far, a couple of days for the builder, plasterer a day and around £1500 all in. If it's over 3k I might not bother.

I think over £3k is pretty high. I'd look for about £2k all in.

Moving pipes and cables can add costs, but not another £1000.

missbiggles1

I'm in the process of having a wall put up between the front and back rooms rather than taking an existing one down. Perhaps we should all just swap houses?

Rain_Shadow

Don't underestimate just how much mess this will make. There will be dust everywhere and lots of it.

adonis10

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

Don't underestimate just how much mess this will make. There will be dust everywhere and lots of it.

I'm not, which is precisely why we want to do it before moving in. We want it to be the first thing we do so that we have plenty of time to clear up and also not mess up any new flooring, decorating etc.