Can I knock it down?!?

mrlee

Hello there!

I've been thinking about knocking down a (stud?) wall under our staircase but I'm looking for a little advice. It was an under stairs cupboard when we moved in but I removed the door to open the room up a little. Are all load bearing walls built from brick? This is definitely a plasterboard wall but I don't know if it would be ok to just take down? My gut instinct is that it'll be fine to remove but I'm just looking for a second opinion. It is the wall that runs from the highest point of the staircase down to the ground - it is about 800mm long by about 150mm wide by about 2 metres high. I have used a stud checker which lights up in a few places but I'm guessing this is the framework the plasterboard is attached to? I have taken a few pictures but I don't have anywhere to upload them to...

If anyone can understand my garbled post I'd appreciate any help lol. Alternatively can anyone give me a rough idea on how much a builder would charge for this work?

Thanks a lot,
mrlee

becs

Hi,

As far as I am aware all supporting walls would be brick as I can't see studwork and plasterboard taking any weight. This is certainly the assumption we made when we removed 3 walls in our house. We did them ourselves and was relatively easy. I did the first couple then my husband wanted the satisfaction of the third one! The first thing we did was remove any coving that may be attached to the wall then we just made a hole with the hammer in the wall and started pulling the plasterboard off until you're just left with the studwork. Once this is done it is just a case of sawing into it and removing the frame bit by bit. It took us as novices no more than an hour to get it all out and this was a 2m by 2.7m wall. If you are in any doubt as to whether or not there are pipes or wires through the wall I would advise getting someone in to check first.

andrew-b

For starters it's very important to realise that load bearing walls aren't all brick (or block) - entire houses or extensions to houses can be timber framed and can support massive weights (like a tiled roof) with no probs.

If in doubt get someone in (GSI). You could get a recommended (if possible) reputable builder round to get a quote and ask them if it is load bearing. That way you'll have an idea how much it will cost for the builder to do and by chatting to them pick up some free advice in case you want to DIY it. If you do decide to get a builder in make sure you get at least 3 quotes (rather than estimates) and check they are actually backed by a trade organisation (such as FMB - dont just take their word for it do a check!).

Andy

mrlee

Thanks for your replies. I'm sure that the wall doesn't support any load - if I remove the plasterboard first then find it looks like it is supporting something I'll just keep the post and make a feature of it. I have got something in mind that I would need a builder for but we've not been here long and I don't know of any builders in the area. I looked on yell.com but I'm not sure if all the builders would do a small job like I've in mind or if they are big consruction type companies.

Thanks for your help anyway,
mrlee

HugoSP

Stud walls can be loadbearing, especially near stairs.

Our main staircase is supported on one stringer (side) via nails into a stud wall.

You my find that your staircase is screwed into the stud wall. If so the staircase may not be designed to exist unsupported on that stringer.

My take would be to remove the plasterboard, but leave the timbers and assess the situation. If there are several fixings on the stringer then you may need to strengthen the stringer prior to removing the wall.

In older properties it is quite often the case that timbers that are not designed to be structual, become structural as other timbers etc decay or movement occurs over the years. We had this with a 4" stud wall built of 3x2s that effectively supported part of a floor, as joists at the ends had rotted out.

One house we renovated had half a door forming part of a wall. This helped to hold up the stairs and the floor above.

tomstickland

Rip the plasterboard off and take a look.

mrlee

Hello again!

Just a little bit of an update lol. I've taken off about a square foot of plasterboard near the top of things. There is a corner post that looks to run straight up to become the corner post at the top of the stairs. There is also a framework built inside the wall that runs upto what I believe is the underside of one of the upper steps. Obviously I can't remove the framework as I don't want the stairs to fall down - is there any reason that I can't build shelves in between the framework? The framework is fairly hefty at 4" x 2" & there are 3 uprights over the space of about 700mm.

My current idea is to use some nice wood to build shelves between the framework then use the same wood to cover the framework that is there - the shelves would then be set inside the plasterboard wall - a bit like a bookcase. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks for your help so far :T

mrlee

ormus

i certainly wouldnt remove the newel post without futher investigation.
as for making shelves within the frame. from what youve said, that should be ok.

HugoSP

As Ormus has said, don't remove the newel post, or the post underneath it.

As long as you don't remove or interfere with any of the studwork or any other structural timber work, i see no problem with what you propose.

mrlee

Thanks for the replies :beer:

I'm not going to take down the framework etc,just build inside it and then use some thin wood to cap the front of it - not the outcome I was hoping for but a result that gives us some badly needed storage all the same!

My thanks to everyone that has replied - maybe I'll do some before and after pictures if I ever get it completed

cheers,
mrlee

lapat

if the post goes straight up as you say it has got some sort of a load on it possibly the staircase

you really need to get a builder to take a look