Clueless FTB wanting to knock through a wall!

[Fizzie100]

Hello there! Wondered if anyone can help me out. I'm completing on first house next week (yay) and it's a teeny victorian terrace with a little dining room and tiny kitchen at the back. I was thinking of knocking through part of the wall between the dining room and kitchen, sort of widening the doorway / door frame I suppose so as to make a bigger gap between th two. I wondered if anyone else had done this and a) how much it cost and b) has it made a difference c) any tips??? I can't knock the whole wall down as there is a window you see. Any help hugely appreciated. Have a lovely evening!

[Iggly]

Why don't you ask your neighbours if they've done the same? You can look at your local councils website for planning permission - might see plans on there.

[EnlightenedOwl]

The one most important thing you need to make sure of - is it a load bearing wall
if it is you will need a RCJ Support put in I would think which will affect cost.

[EnlightenedOwl]

RSJ sorry, typo

[morethanpotatoprints]

Ditto to the load bearing wall, you can tell by the direction of the floorboards upstairs.
Something else to consider is if it is leasehold you need permission to make alterations or land owners can become nasty if you ever decide to buy the lease. This happened to a friend of ours.
It doesn't sound like you are knocking a whole wall through so you should be ok.

[Fizzie100]

Thank you all! It's freehold so hopefully that will be ok. The property is carpeted so I suppose will need to wait to get keys and then take a peek. Yikes lots to think about!

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

We knocked through a wall. As it wasn't load bearing it cost about £300/400 I think (including making good.)

Our builder said if it was load bearing and needed an RSJ we would be looking at another £1.5ish on top (would have to get structural engineer etc.)

Congratulations on your new house!

[Fizzie100]

Thank you for your advice. Is there any other way of knowing if a wall is load bearing?

[nyctoedi]

On the floorboards point, if the floorboards are at 90 degree angle to the wall, does that indicate it could be load bearing? Or is it the other way about? I got into a confusing discussion with builder about this and still was none the wiser...he seemed to suggest if they ran the same direction it indicated load bearing - but that sounded odd to me. Anyone clarify?

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

load bearing walls

[Hong888]

nyctoedi - No.

Floorboard runs perpendicular to the floor joist which also runs perpendicular to a load bearing wall. That means if your floorboard runs "into" the wall then the wall is NOT load bearing.

BUT.... if there is a brickwork solid wall (heavy!), right above the wall you want to remove/knock through (supporting the wall above), then it will be considered as load bearing as well. Best to ask a structural engineer to take a quick look and give you advice. It may cost you £200 if design required but worth removing that risk.

Make sense?

[nyctoedi]

Thanks Hong888 and Gunpowder for clarifying..that is potentially excellent news! Apols to OP for hijacking post