confused!! can anyone help?

[kgray1]

Hello, I have posted a couple of times asking about removing a load bearing wall and am confused with the advice which has been given as some of it is conflicting.

Can anyone tell me definitively if 100mm or 150mm bearings would be required for a 3m span steel beam, not supporting a wall directly above?

I would prefer to only use 100mm as 150mm wrecks my kitchen design as support piers are not possible on one of the ends.

Should I get a structural engineer to spec a beam that will take the load with only 100mm bearing so that building control won't argue?

Please help.

Thanks

 

[r896neo]

yes if you have calculations and a padstone detail drawing to prove the 100mm bearing is adequate then building control will accept that.

 

[tony1851]

You have been advised before that it can be done with 100mm bearing (ie directly into the wall without a pier sticking out).

Some inspectors are experienced enough to know that it would work, and also to know that a 6 x 3 1/2 beam would work. But you might get a young or inexperienced inspector who doesn't know a padstone from a piece of wood, and it's him who will ask for structural calcs to cover himself.

 

[kgray1]

If I did the work anyway, without calcs, what would I do if I got the young and inexperienced inspector who insisted on them?

I am really caught in two minds as I obviously need the work signing off but the budget is very tight, so calcs would be an expense that I would like to avoid if I can.

Tony1851, thanks for all the advice you have given me lately, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[munchingB]

take a look at chudley and greeno construction handbook as they demonstrate a way to work out some rough calcs that should baffle your building control guy.

 

[tony1851]

kgray, you have given a description of the structure in another thread - can you post a rough outline sketch plan of the layout here?

 

[kgray1]

I hope you can make sense of this sketch.

If not I will try and explain what I would to do.

Untitled

• kgray1
• 17 Mar 2014
• 1

 

[tony1851]

With that layout, a 152x89 UB would be ok, and 100 wide x 225 long padstone would be OK, without a projectting pier. Presumably the wall adjacent to the staircase is load-bearing?

 

[kgray1]

Yes, that wall carries on up through the first floor.

Shouldn't be any objection from building control then?

 

[tony1851]

Shouldn't be any objection from building control then?

Ordinarily - no - as long as the inspector has common sense.

However, there might be another issue he raises concerning lateral stability.
Walls also provide stiffness to the house side-to-side and removing important walls can sometimes compromise overall stability. Your sketch plan doesn't show the whole property, so difficult to say if it would apply to you. If you're a semi or terrace, then the other properties will provide additional stability and it shouldn't be a problem

It's just a small point, but occasionally inspectors and council engineers look at these things to the nth degree, so just be aware of the possibility of this aspect being raised.