Can I knock a wall down

[cn150]

Can I just get a sledge hammer and knock a wall down? I want to make my son?s bedroom bigger - so I want to move one of his walls and put in a stud wall partition. Is that ok or do I have to get building regs approval?

[Bob Buzzard]

Is it a load bearing wall? You can?t replace a load bearer with a stud wall.

[Blah Blah]

I think if you need to ask cn150, that you should have an expert come round and advise you. You can't just knock a wall down at will. As Bob says, some are load bearing, and those need steels put in by professional builders to remove etc. Get in someone who knows what they are doing, or you could seriously damage your house.

[rendelharris]

^^^^^^

What they said! If in doubt, don't!

[malumbu]

you can do what you want, although somebody might complain, take enforcement action or your house may fall down.

Knock it with your fist, if it sounds hollow, fine. If rock hard then not. If half way then probably ok to do as it may be breeze or some other hardish substance but not structural.

You'll need to watch for wiring etc, and in the worst case gas or water pipes.

[IlonaM]

Also, are you a leaseholder or a freeholder? If a f/holder, are you an outright freeholder or a shared freeholder part of a Freehold company (ie in a house of flats each sharing the freehold)?

Your lease or company articles might have a lot to say about what you can and can't do in your property.

re: loadbearing vs stud walls - always err on the side of caution and get someone in who knows what they're doing.

[malumbu]

If you knock it with your fist and it makes a hollow sound it will be a stud wall. Trust me, I know what I am doing. Happy to come round and knock on your wall for ?80/hour.

Here's a video of when building work goes wrong. Sadly not the bit about a lack of an RSJ

 

[Bob Buzzard]

I think actually if you get Building Regs approval first it doesn't matter whether or not it's a load bearing wall as you will then have approval for the work so will be protected from any problems such as replacing a load bearer with a stud wall partition.

[malumbu]

I've actually reinstated most of the walls knocked down by a previous owner, and also divided up a larger room. All done with stud/plasterboard, so hopefully none of the walls knocked down were load bearing.

Removing the chimney breast was dodgy, got advice that the upstairs chimney breast is essentially self supporting but I'd rather not dig any further.

This was a DIY maniac from the 80s who did his own boiler and supplementary radiators as well (thanks Mr Bennison for eventually sorting out that mess) and gas pipework, ie with joints that take natural gas. Leak leak. Bang. Now whilst competent even I don't do gas pipework. Wiring is fund too, including redundant live cabling under the floorboards.

Sorry this is s DIY disasters thread.

[peckham_ryu]

If you?re worried, just use a smaller hammer.

[Bob Buzzard]

peckham_ryu Wrote:

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> If you?re worried, just use a smaller hammer.

Ok, but you can get a sledgehammer from Labro.