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barmeysmb1 wrote: »Thanks - i have one SE in mind so far, costs are £120+VAT if no site visit.
With site visit = adding on £180+VAT
total = £300 + VAT - seems reasonable
Price sound about right or should i expect to pay less ?
How can you tell if a wall is load bearing without a site visit?0 -
I don't think you can be sure without a site visit. My structural engineer missed one working from a plan drawn up by an architect. It was the builder who spotted it.0
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barmeysmb1 wrote: »Thanks - the floor boards upstairs do run in the same direction as the wall, so as you say the joists will most definitely run over the wall in that case.
Does that still conclusively make the wall load bearing ?
My builder said it was likely that it meant it wasn't load bearing but he wasn't prepared to chance it without actually looking.0 -
It could be down to me misunderstanding your OP but if there is a wall downstairs and a wall above it upstairs as you say, surely that means it is load bearing?0
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humptydumptybits wrote: »My builder said it was likely that it meant it wasn't load bearing but he wasn't prepared to chance it without actually looking.
Unless your builder was a demolition expert, you've misunderstood something. If the floorboards run parallel then the joists run perpendicular to the wall and the joists are held up by the wall and the load from them is transferred down. It's basic.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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deannatrois wrote: »It could be down to me misunderstanding your OP but if there is a wall downstairs and a wall above it upstairs as you say, surely that means it is load bearing?
The OP has said that the upstairs wall is not solid so is probably not itself load bearing, so the existence of that wall can't be used to decide whether the downstairs wall is load bearing or not.0 -
Essentially i'd had a couple of quotes for load bearing wall removal and RSJ install - and myself guessed the wall was load bearing. The visiting builders also did not say to the contrary. However as i'll need SE calcs - i may as well get final confirmation from the SE that it is definitely load bearing. In the interests of saving a wasted visit from SE (and costs) i was wondering if indeed there is a sure-fire method of a diy'er confirming.
Seems there are a number of ways of 'almost' confirming - but i guess there is nothing more solid than hearing it from a SE.
Although from the kind replies to this post - i'd bet my life now its definitely load bearing.
Thanks all0 -
barmeysmb1 wrote: »Is there a sure fire way of checking ?
I was thinking of removing a section of ceiling (need to change anyway) and check which way the joists are running (ie across and over the wall - but i need some advice as to if this is conclusive enough?
As has been said already, you need a structural engineer. What hasn't already been said is that loads are not just from the roof, walls and floors above. Some walls in buildings also carry horizontal loads, no amount of checking joists and floorboards will tell you for sure whether a wall is loadbearing or not, only the knowledge and experience of a structural engineer will do that competently.humptydumptybits wrote: »I'm no building expert so probably best to ignore me but when we did this the builder took up a couple of floorboards in the bedroom and said it was fine when he looked at the joists."In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"0 -
barmeysmb1 wrote: »Although from the kind replies to this post - i'd bet my life now its definitely load bearing.
Some people have bet their life.... and lost."In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"0
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