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What is a load bearing wall?
Different walls are always installed in a building, these different walls serve various purposes in a building that is for beauty, as a partition, or to carry the load. The various load-bearing walls have unique features that differentiate them from other types of walls. The load-bearing walls are the various kinds of walls that bear the load from the top structures such as the beams or floors. They are normally designed with the anticipated loads from above. Therefore, these are the walls that enable the robustness of the house.
Differentiating a load-bearing wall from other walls might be difficult without the help of an engineer or an architect. Professionals should be consulted for this purpose because the slightest mistake can be hazardous to the whole building or the occupants’ life.
How to tell if a wall is a load-bearing wall
Load-bearing walls have a unique feature. Only experienced persons can tell whether a wall is load-bearing or if it is merely a partition. Form the first rule, all the external walls are load-bearing. In most cases, these are masonry wall structures that utilize the strength of the masonry units such as the bricks and their joints which is the mortar. The internal walls that have joist running perpendicular above its forms are always loadbearing walls, they enable the downward transfer of the loads from the roof and the ceiling to the ground. In storey buildings, the load-bearing walls can be easily identified when it has a wall or walls in the upper floors stacked directly above, this arrangement always enables the adequate transfer of the load to the ground. The design of these kinds of walls is always done with some degree of precision to ensure that the stability and robustness of the house are verified. Load bearing walls as well have a continuous strip of footing underneath to enable the transfer of the load from the upper components of the building, the strip footing is often the indicator of the load-bearing walls since they are the ultimate components that dissipate the load into the ground. A partial wall can as well be used as a load-bearing wall, this is particularly considerable when there is an opening such as an entrance or even a window, a beam can be used to help in load distribution above it which transmits it to the wall.
Why would you remove a load-bearing wall?
You might be wondering how to merge rooms in your home or increase the space in the home. You can be compelled to an extent where you have to augment a given wall in your home. The main reason why people remove walls is when you want to create more space for activities such as holding home conferences and meetings in a more conducive space. You can as well desire to bring in more light to the home, this can be as a result of a limited supply of light, hence the removal of the wall to make this a reality. The open floor plan, therefore, is achieved in a constrained room by wall removal.
The removal of a load-bearing wall
The removal of a load-bearing wall has always been a big issue especially by the homeowners who intend to evade the additional expense that could be used to pay the engineer or architect for the skillful removal without the adverse effect on the building as a whole. When considering the removal of a load-bearing wall, the given load generated from the structures above should be well catered for before the structure is fully removed. During its removal, load-supporting formwork is often used to carry the load temporarily, the load can be then supported through beams that can span along the wall profile over the opening to carry the load above the opening and transmit it to the underlying walls beneath the span of the beam. The main role of the load-bearing walls of transferring the load to the ground ca be replaced by a column in case the merging up of rooms is desired. Before the load-bearing wall is removed, the fixing of the column can be done along with the profile of the wall at favorable intervals. A favorable number of columns can be erected to transmit the loads from the upper structures such as the upper floors, the roof as well as the ceiling. After the fixing of the columns, beams are then fixed with the aid of the in-situ construction formwork to support the upper load before it can be released on the new support structure- the beam.
The removal of part of a load-bearing wall can, therefore, be achieved by observing some limiting factors to ensure that the remaining shape and condition is within the favorable threshold to maintain the robustness of the structure. The maximum load-bearing wall that can be removed has no single figure that dictates it, so long as the structure remains robust by itself or by the fixed in place support structures that replace the role of the wall.
What is the cost of the removal of a load-bearing wall?
From the notion of many people that the destruction of a structure doesn’t require the skills of a specialist, most people tend to avoid the involvement of an engineer or an architect when considering to remove a given wall in their homes to enable them to merge rooms or to create more space for certain activities. Normally, the involvement of a specialist will attract spending, this is because the engineer or architect will find out the feasible ways of the redistribution of the load, and how it would stand without failure. The normal cost for the removal of a loadbearing wall is within a range of $ 1,300 to $ 3,500 which is normally the case for a single storey. A multistorey will however attract much expense of a range of $ 3,000 to $ 10,000.
The cost of removal of a partition wall is rather low since it requires less skill to remove. The price ranges between $ 250 to $ 1,200. However, additional costs have to be incurred either way as a result of the additional costs such as the cost of repainting, the construction of a new wall within the bounds intended for space as well as the purchase and fixing the cost of new wallpaper.
Do you need a structural engineer to remove a wall?
The removal of a wall especially a load-bearing wall requires a great extent of accuracy and precision. It is always advisable not to do it on a self-basis since the slightest mistake can put the building in danger as well as your life. When professionals such as the engineers and architects are involved in the wall removal process, the accurate decision can be made on how the load it was supporting could be redistributed evenly without overloading other load-carrying components of the house.
However, the involvement of these professionals often involves the use of additional service costs which homeowners normally try to avoid. In the real sense, these professionals save a lot more if they are involved than if avoided. The additional advantages of using a professional are that they can give viable alternatives on whether to remove a given wall or not, an additional permit can be delivered to the homeowner that will enable them to avoid conflicts with the local authority on the final condition of the building as compared with the standard buildings recommended for the given location.