Mumsnet Talk

I am looking at property on RM at the moment. More to get an idea of what we can afford when we do come to buy.

Anyway, I have seen a house that I think has potential for us as a family. I think that it would work better for us if it had a kitchen/diner. This would involve putting a wall in between lounge and diner and knocking through the one between kitchen and diner.

Assuming it is feasible (not a supporting wall etc) how much do you think it would cost?

This is the link:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-18685557.html

TBH it looks load-bearing - the wall above it is in the same place so you would probably need a beam/RSJ (even if you only put in an arch)

I don't know, but for some reason I looked at that house and thought "timber framed"

might be just my imagination. If you knock on the walls with your knuckles, so they sound hollow? I'm sure the agent will know. It might make it easier.

To my eye, an arch looks worse than an RSJ boxed in with plasterboard for fire protection.

I agree Piglet John - an RSJ is better

It could be Timber framed, that would make life much easier (& it should be well insulated too)

Will get my DH to check when he goes to have a look. I am overseas at the moment, and he is on a course in UK so is looking for us for when we move back in a few months.

Wow- you get a lot for your money in spalding!
We've just done exactly this but also had new kitchen fitted so not sure of actual breakdown of costs.

Here is a list of what the joiner has invoiced us for labour wise in case that's useful:

Reposition radiators and pipework
Box round rsj etc and plasterboard
Build stud partition, fit double doors, frame, plasterboard, fit architrave, skirting and coving,
Take out kitchen units, tiles and appliances.

As you can see ours was a supporting wall and we needed a builder to fit an rsj (think that worked out at about £500 although should hav been more- dh pulled in a few favours)

Plus you will need plastering- we had several quotes which differed wildly.

You may also need to move electrics

A lot to consider but we're so pleased with ours.

Wrt to checking if the wall is supporting, make sure you tap all over, particularly above the door.
We had a nasty surprise with ours as it sounded hollow (on both sides) but that was because the plasterboard had been 'stuck' on so that there was a gap between it and the bricks inside!

I think you can also use the position of the floorboards/joists above to tell you but you'd need to look up the specifics

We did this some years ago - taking out a load bearing wall to create kitchen/diner and then stud wall partition for lounge. It was around £2k - steel prices have increased so that's the largest cost of the job.

Thanks. That is a lot less than I thought it may be, so even it is double it is doable in our budget.

even *if it is double