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- 29 Mar 2023
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Hi,
We had a structural engineer visit and tell us the wall we wanted removed was load baring. It was a 3m wall between kitchen and dining room, front to back, parallel with joists. He said it was supporting the timber frame wall above (2.2m in length, directly above) and a joist sitting directly on it and would be a steel beam to replace that support.
We finally had builders come round to knock it down on Monday and when they took the coving/plasterboard etc off, the wall did not have a joist or wall sitting on it and stopped a joist depth short of the floor above. In short, the wall was not supporting anything. The builders (who had previously said it wasn't load baring but we needed to be sure with a structural engineer...) were confused as to why the beam was necessary as it sat below the floor above. It needed a 200mm nib wall too which meant our gas/electrics and kitchen plan had to change to incorporate this (it's not a large space with windows all along one wall).
The builders put the steel as that is what was specified but they said (and I agree) it is pointless!
The SE has responded to my email asking for an explanation as it's not my area of expertise (what is?!) and he is on annual leave. But another member of staff responded to say they'd spoken to him and he said it was needed to support the timber wall above.
My issue/question: How can the steel be needed to support the timber fame wall above when the wall comes down if the wall was never supporting it to begin with? There are joists either side of the steel (450mm spacing before steel).
There was also a small wall (about 60cm) removed that he said was holding up the joist below our bedroom doorway. It wasn't and, again, stopped a joist depth short of the ceiling.
We're now stuck with a nib wall in the way of everything, a large amount of money we don't have to spend on moving utilities for absolutely no reason... If the steel can be removed as well as the nib wall, we can do that (and obviously will get a professional opinion) but am I missing something? Does this steel have some hidden talent? Any advice on on confirming this? I can't move on until I know this nib wall is absolutely necessary.
We had a structural engineer visit and tell us the wall we wanted removed was load baring. It was a 3m wall between kitchen and dining room, front to back, parallel with joists. He said it was supporting the timber frame wall above (2.2m in length, directly above) and a joist sitting directly on it and would be a steel beam to replace that support.
We finally had builders come round to knock it down on Monday and when they took the coving/plasterboard etc off, the wall did not have a joist or wall sitting on it and stopped a joist depth short of the floor above. In short, the wall was not supporting anything. The builders (who had previously said it wasn't load baring but we needed to be sure with a structural engineer...) were confused as to why the beam was necessary as it sat below the floor above. It needed a 200mm nib wall too which meant our gas/electrics and kitchen plan had to change to incorporate this (it's not a large space with windows all along one wall).
The builders put the steel as that is what was specified but they said (and I agree) it is pointless!
The SE has responded to my email asking for an explanation as it's not my area of expertise (what is?!) and he is on annual leave. But another member of staff responded to say they'd spoken to him and he said it was needed to support the timber wall above.
My issue/question: How can the steel be needed to support the timber fame wall above when the wall comes down if the wall was never supporting it to begin with? There are joists either side of the steel (450mm spacing before steel).
There was also a small wall (about 60cm) removed that he said was holding up the joist below our bedroom doorway. It wasn't and, again, stopped a joist depth short of the ceiling.
We're now stuck with a nib wall in the way of everything, a large amount of money we don't have to spend on moving utilities for absolutely no reason... If the steel can be removed as well as the nib wall, we can do that (and obviously will get a professional opinion) but am I missing something? Does this steel have some hidden talent? Any advice on on confirming this? I can't move on until I know this nib wall is absolutely necessary.
