How to know if a wall is a supporting wall?

[Dailygrind]

I’m planning my new kitchen and I need a 2m wall to be knocked down. It’s a newish house (2007) and I’ve been asked by two builders already to get structural calculations done for a steel beam.
But how would I know if it’s a supporting wall? How would anyone know? Also, there may be a steel beam there already. How would I find out?

Get a structural surveyor to have a look.
There won’t be a steel beam there already, if it’s a supporting wall you’ll need to install one.

There are no guarantees that anything is or isn’t a supporting wall. Speaking very generally, if the beams in the ceiling above run parallel to the wall then it is unlikely to be load bearing. If the beams rest ontop of the wall then it is almost definitely load bearing. When I took out a bedroom wall I had to hack away a few feet of plasterboard to expose the wall and the ceiling above and then to make sure I had a structural engineer give me the green light. You really really don’t want to get this wrong and the fact two builders have asked you to get a steel costed up suggests that in your case it 100% is a load bearing wall.

Quick test - when you tap along it with your knuckles does it sound hollow or solid? If hollow then likely a cavity wall which generally won’t be load bearing, but as above, it can be or it can be giving load bearing support laterally to the surrounding walls, or it could be holding certain parts of the roof etc etc.

One certain way to find out is to knock it down and see what happens. 😂 (don’t)

As above, structural engineer will advise.

the ftb of our last house wanted to take down a wall and were really cross I didn’t know if the wall was structural or not… I do admin in a hospital and dh works in a creative field. We are not the kind of people that know that stuff.

The house isn't that old, you should be able to find the plans perhaps from council planning office or from the developers.

Option 1 - Hire a structural engineer
Option 2 - Take a sledgehammer to it and find out

This is what Structural Engineers were invented for.

Put your hand in your pocket and call a professional.

It really is not worth the risk if you get it wrong.