Victorian attic bedroom small stud walls

[trevorbayliss]

I am going to be upgrading a crap flat conversion done in 1985.

Its a big old victorian semi converted into 7 flats and the top flat in the attic is pretty pokey.

I am going to rip out all the lath ceiling and put in some insulation. Ideally I will push back the small stud walls going around the perimeter of most of the rooms to make them bigger. However, I am thinking these must be load bearing. but I wont fully know until i have removed all the old lath and plaster.

The roof is a hip[ design, so i can see the small wall does break up the span of the roof joists.

Does anyone know what solutions there are if the walls are taking this roof load ? Eg, can the joists be up rated with a new bolted joist on all necessary sections.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If the existing stud walls are already loadbearing why do you think they need upgrading?

 

[cdbe]

By "roof joists" I presume you mean rafters.

You should be able to check the revised span against a table and upgrade the existing rafters if necessary. Obviously if there is a central purlin with a longer rafter span above it you could probably assume that up to the same span below would be ok. If you do need to upgrade, if you can achieve it by fixing new timber under the existing rather than sistering it would be better when insulating.

 

[blup]

Will a hip to gable conversion give the space you want/require? Or is it too expensive. Factor in the requirements for achieving the U value for insulation in the roof if you upgrade the rafters. Are there any purlins or does the stud wall achieve that function?

Blup

 

[trevorbayliss]

I got some photos of the main room and then behind the stud walls.

When i take out the ceiling plaster and the stud wall plaster i should be able to see all the frame work and what is supporting what.

I am pretty sure this stud wall is supporting a fair bit of the roof. The question is could it be done away with entirely or could the wall be set back further, so gaining space. anything is possible i suppose, but only if i can do it cost effectively. I will be getting an engineer out to look at it, but just wanted some opinions on what could be achieved.

I am not doing a hip to gable conversion.

 

[blup]

Those rafters look pretty deep and wide but photos can be misleading. let us know what the SE says.

Blup