Have YOU knocked a wall through in your home and had an RSJ?

[Spidermama]

I'm considering doing this. It's a big decision though so I'd love to hear your experiences if you've done it.

Things like:

Why did you do it?
How did you know it would be OK?
How much did it cost?
What's the effect and are you glad you did it?

And any other insights.

don't know anything about this apart from the fact that friend has house with an extension and they have an RSJ and they wanted to do some work to it and have had an architect round and found out that its the wrong size RSJ and actually engineer is surprised it is still standing .. so please get it done by professionals

Oh and I was quoted between 3 and 5K to do it in my house (dining room to lounge) but decided against as both are decent sizes and when kids are older it'll be nice to chuck 'em in a different room

Did it to knock dining room and garage together to make large,square sitting room.

I knew it would be ok because I got an architect and structural engineer to do all the calcualtions.

The actual "steel" or RSJ was about £5k from memory-I know I was shocked-it was big though (17ft long) and did have to hold up the rest of the house...

The effect is fantastic-we have a lovely room about 20ft square and as we love having people around there is plenty of room.We have three sofas in a horseshoe shape so everyone can see each other and chat-we LOVE it.

Big disruption but it really did give us what we anted and would definitely do it again.

What are you thinking of doing?

Fio I also want to have a HUGE kitchen ,breakfast room and sitting room that runs the length of the basement and is just fab. At the moment we don't have a big enough living space for the six of us so it's always a bit stressful if ever we're in the same room together. And we can't afford to move.

yes....the kitchen was the size of a cupboard...so knocked through into the morning room and another room off there........also, the RSJ went under the bathroom, which we having a very large bath in...so the RSJ provides additional support under there too.......!

I knew it would be ok becayse my builder is a lovely trustowrthy man who has done work for DH & his family for 25 years.....so i knew he knew what he was doing,,,,,

i think, it was about #1800 to knock down the wall and put in the RSJ......but i might be wrong...was 4 years ago!

i have a lovely big kitchen and can bath in safety!|

we werenlt living in the house at the time... and i'm glad...very messy and dirty job

nieghbours had something similar in august.....big chimmney breast knocked down between kitchen & living room.....they went on hols while it was being done...but i was poppping in to feed the fish! very dusty, messy & dirty.......internal scaffold to hold the ceiling up .....but done in a week..! same builder!

i think you need to have a very reliable builder , who you can trust as you are affecting the overall integrity of the structure so needs to be done right and done welll.!

whoooosh 5k just for the RSJ.

whoooosh 5k just for the RSJ?

Lulu we also need to knock down a big chimney breast. That's why I'm scared the whole house will go.

Obviously I'll get a p[ro in to advise my but I wanted the MN opinion first of all in case it's too ridiculous and idea to begin with. I wouldn't want a pro laughing at me.

I've had kitchens and dining rooms knocked together twice to make bigger rooms.

Got builders to come and do it, maybe reading what Twiglett said we should have got a structural engineer.....

Cost around the £1200-£1300 both times plus the cost of a plasterer which was a couple hundred for the making good and redoing the ceiling I think.

Both times we have gone from two smallish rooms, very small in the first house, to really lovely sized room that we used lots more. I really really love my kitchen now and it has transformed the feel of the house.

That's good to know fio. I'm desperate here as we're all living on top of each other and there's just no way we can afford to move. Our house is tall with not much room on each floor but the kitchen and dining room knocked together would be fab.

Do I have to get an architecht or an interior designer or something before I get a builder? Or would a good builder have an idea about what would be possible?

For example, dh says we'd need to build more foundations or because we'd be support when the walls go.

We knocked the wall through between the kitchen and the dining room. It is the part of the house we use the most. Aswell as the dining table I have a sofa in there and a toy box, so the children can play whilst I watch them and I can cook etc, also has doors into the garden. Well worth the money spent as it was a big dining room so wasted space purely for eating.

How much Comeo'?

Ours was just done bythe builders no architect needed.

Can't remeber how much the knock through cost on its own but in total £14k (for new kitchen with oven etc, granite worktops, tiling, lights, knock through, laminate floor and total redecoration of the room (ie plastering, replacing pictue/dado rails and painting)).

spider....my neighbnours who had the chimmney breast knocked down and had new kitchen...but used old carcasses, bought some new & appliances......and no architect required ....bout #6000 all in......they shopped around for the kitchen and went to a warehouse place rather than a high street place and really budgeted hard...but looks bloody fantastic!! and no architect & no designer...saved big bucks,.but used very reliable builder!

Much of my kitchen is free standing so wouldn't need replacing. However I'd need to raise the floor slightly to match it with the dining room floor. I guess that would add some on eh?

What about this thing about foundations which DH says is necessary. He says we'd need to dig up the existing floors to build new foundations.

One little bump to punt for more before I turn in.

Any other experiences gratefully received.

Don't worry about the chimney breast-builders will put props upfirst-will be fine.
As for deeper foundations-not an expert but in my experience,not necessary.

Yes our RSJ was expensive but it was a whopper!

no deeper foundations needed for us or neighbours...HTH!

You need to get a builder to check you need an RSJ as all the walls may not be load bearing.Also there are ways of achieving the open plan look/feel without if you are prepared for archways and sliding doors etc.Cheaper and less disruption.

Spider this is me noddy btw I could give you free advice before you bother with a builder etc.Don't think you need an architect unless major tbh Let me know xx

our house has been gutted and knocked about so much... there are about 6 RSJ's i can think of gone in off the top of my head! (so to speak)

Why did you do it? - think it'll look good/make spaces more useable
How did you know it would be OK? - structural engineer
How much did it cost? - a bloody fortune. not done yet (wont move back in till March)
What's the effect and are you glad you did it? - not finished. hope it works. think it'll be looooovely, but thats coz im doing the interior design and i would think that!

Very inspired by this thread.

BloodyH I will CAT you. Thanks very much for the offer. Come for cake and coffee and I'll show you the space and get your advice.

My dad it did for us at our old house so don't know the cost. He did the calcualtions, hired acroprops, bought the RSJ, did the lot. Building Regs cam to see the RSJ in place and then when plastered.
Then whilst poking about under the floorboards upstairs he noticed there was a blooming great wooden beam and it wasn't a supporting wall after all!
Anyway the effect was fab, turned tiny kitchen and gloomy dining room into big kitchen/dining/living room. Only downside was sudden lack of walls (lots of doorways and windows instead) so no wallcupboards in the kitchen. We did a breakfast bar with cupboard and dishwasher underneath accross the gap to compensate (if you have high ceilings though you could also have high wall cupboards over the new 'arch.')