Internal Wall Banging!

Friendly chat, questions, reviews, find old friends or relatives. Not limited to Sydenham only issues but keep it civil!
Post Reply
TommyP
Posts: 58
Joined: 28 Jan 2006 03:21
Location: Byne Road

Internal Wall Banging!

Post by TommyP »

Hi Lemonade,
I have just registered with the site and am relatively new to SE26 so this is my first post and after enjoying reading yr helpful responses to the locals DIY missions, I thought I might aswell chuck mine into the melting pot.
My partner and I have just moved into a Victorian conversion ground floor flat and the kitchen is rather small. We want to knock a hole through in the wall from the kitchen into the lounge to create a Breakfast Bar / Hatch that can have a couple of stools around it in the lounge and a couple in the kitchen. I believe the wall is a 'supporting wall' (is that the correct terminology? - i'm not sure as I believe all walls have a certain supporting aspect to them in a way!! ... anyway.... i must stop rambling! I have assumed that we would need an RSJ support to give support back to the ceiling if this work was carried out. Also, I believe it would be easier to cut the hole in the wall from say, 6 foot up and take it right down to the floor so that effectively it would look , at first, like a doorway. Then my idea was to insert a wooden structure of sorts which would fit snugly in the space created by the hole to seal off the bottom half of the opening and to provide the breakfast bar surface area to eat from and also cut off the 'doorway' looking hole making it into more of the 'hatch' that we were after.
I was wondering what you would expect the cost of this project to total if the RSJ was a necessity and you can understand what the hell I am banging on about. Alternatively, I would very much like yr opinion in person if you are local and could actually possibly pop over and take a look at it first hand as am getting the feeling that I could sit here typing for hours and hours about the plans I have in my head without anyone ever knowing what it is I wanted to do. Apologies for the insane ramblings and general drivel I have subjected all the readers to!!
Oh, and also was wondering if you had any good contacts locally who could perhaps come and take a look and give me a quote on the work.>?
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and would appreciate hearing any advice any of you lovely people have to offer. Thanks very much,
Tom
lemonade
Posts: 144
Joined: 25 Oct 2005 23:01
Location: Croydon

Your Internal Wall

Post by lemonade »

Hello Tom.
I think the best thing to do at this stage is to send me a Personal Message with your contact details. I have a good friend called Gary who is more specialist in structual engineering and more equipped to price up than I.
He is moving back to SE26 on 4th Feb having just completed some building works in S.W. I guess he will probably be available shortly after that to inspect your wall. Meanwhile if you were to check under the floorboards at the end where the wall is and see whether there is a supporting joist directly under the wall or if the joists end before the wall. That is how to tell if it is a supporting wall. If it's a supporting wall,(load bearing) it would require an RSJ and could prove more costly.
Hope this is helpful
Lemonade.
Post Reply