How difficult is it to remove a load bearing wall..?

[Scandikitchen]

Struggling to find a suitable new home, current house is SSTC... Ideally we don't want to do any renovations, feels like every time we've engaged a builder there have been issues but you can't get it all...

We've seen a house where the kitchen is the issue, it's small and not what we want. We'd need to knock down a load bearing wall to make a bigger kitchen diner if so, but we're not sure how much work that would be. Other than being bearing there is also a big radiator on it. So it must be a lot of work, but is it overwhelmingly much..?

Any thoughts on just how difficult this would be would be much appreciated... I assume we'd have to put in an RSJ - so would that take some of the ceiling height (how much?)...

(I could add that outside the kitchen and the dining area there's an extension with a stud wall betweeen a laundry area and a loo on the kitchen side, outside the dining area it's just an extension of the dining area.)

It really depends - how old is the house? From my understanding, at a minimum they'd need to put a reinforcing steel beam in which will be a few thousand pounds minimum. However, depending on the age of the house and how it was built, it might be much more expensive. I assume you'll need a new kitchen as well which is likely 10k+ for the actual units and appliances, plus moving the gas supply.

Thank you for the response :-) It's a 1930s house, so quite old. The money would (fortunately!) be less of an issue than the actual work... We'd need to redo the whole kitchen anyway, so maybe it's not that much 'more' to put in an RSJ. But would it take some of the ceiling height - a lot? In current house there is a super annoying beam (not an RSJ) that made it difficult to put in new cupboards etc so would like to avoid any similar issues...

Maybe it's impossible to say without letting an architect (builder?) have a look...

You would need to put in an RSJ. It would not necessarily take a lot of ceiling height - a lot depends on the gap between the ceiling and the floor or the next story.

We got a structural engineer in to look at it. It was part of a bigger kitchen/downstairs project.

The RSJ was delayed about 3 weeks which delayed the project. Actually putting it in was not very time consuming.

@Octavia64 Ah, I hadn't thought about the space between the ceiling and the floor, interesting! We'll keep mulling...

We paid £2k for a steel beam - in 2018 and probably £500 for SE drawings. Everything needed to be propped in between knocking the wall down and putting the steel in but it was all fairly straightforward. It was in a flat so that added an extra layer of fear.

It’s messy but it’s not a hard job for the right builder. You’re not building an extension so that’s great as you don’t need planning etc, but you will need building control.

lt is extremely possible.

Thank you so much for your comments! Yes, the not needing planning permission we'd gathered is a good thing :-) Just wish they'd redone the kitchen in a proper ;-) way when they did the extension...

You'd need to consult with a structural engineer. He'd likely charge around £400 plus vat.

With this information you'll know calculations for the beam and rough costs.

Then get onto building control at the council and they will talk you through your obligations.

You might want a builder to come in and do it all but from my experience that at the very least doubles the cost.

Once you've established if it's possible, engaged with building control then it's time to ring around and ask for quotes to

1. reroute the radiator and cap existing pipes (plumber)
2. builder to remove wall put in beam under building control And make good surfaces, including floor ready for plasterer.
3. electrics if there are existing sockets in that wall. (electrician)
4. plasterer to finish beam surface and make good plaster damage to end wall.

Or you could ask a local builder to do all of the above but make sure they get building control in as you need the certificate.

There’s probably a reason they didn’t do it properly when they did the extension . We had one load bearing wall taken out and there’s no nib or beam. The rsj was about £3k. The other load bearing wall was just too much…which is a shame. It was on a corner and would have been about £10k.

we got a builder in before we offered and he gave us a rough guide as to what was possible.

1900 house with walls that were stone built and incredibly thick,

Are you in England/Wales?
I’m in Scotland and partway through getting this done. Up here you need a building warrant from the council, but to apply for that I needed a report and drawings from a structural engineer which has cost £800 🙁
House was built early 70’s.

Sorry, no advice but hope you get work done without too much hassle.

Some good advice here re building control and installing an RSJ. I would also think you might have electrics (and gas?) to consider with the hob on the kitchen side of that wall. Also, has the wall been removed between the dining room and extension? If so, there would probably be an RSJ in the old outside wall which would possibly make installing another more tricky (not impossible, though). Send me a direct message if you're in Kent, OP, as I could possibly advise further.

Thank you so much for your comments and thorough advice! @goodnessmeits2024 that is a long and tiring list to see which makes me think that this is probably not for us and we'll have to wait for another house...

@BarrelOfOtters Most of the other houses on the same streets have done it, or many at least, which the owner commented on, intimating that it can be done...

I'm in England btw :-)

Thank you again - lots to think about!