Will I need an engineers report to remove a wall for my proposed renovation in my home?

 

An engineer or builder can assess possible structural purposes for a proposed renovation or internal removal of a wall. The engineer can always tell us exactly which beam will be required once that wall has been removed. The beam will take the place of the removed wall and do the walls job of supporting load of your proposed renovation. The beam sizing is extremely important in assessing the removal of a wall. In renovation or wall removal let us consider the purposes of walls in a home and the reasons we need an engineer.

 

Firstly If your renovation or wall removal proposal is to take place in a strata building you will definitely need an engineer’s report. Under most strata by laws an Engineers certificate has to be provided to the body corporate in order to get approval for your renovation or wall removal proposal.

 

Secondly if your wall removal or renovation proposal is currently supporting the existing roof structure.

If you go into the roof space of a pitched roof house and can see that all of the structure around the wall is constructed of fabricated roof trusses and are less likely to be a problem as the trusses are likely to span from one external wall to the other. In some instances however where the house takes on an L shape internal walls lining up with the external walls will be load bearing.

 

Thirdly your wall removal or renovation proposal is currently Providing lateral resistance to wind load.In instances where the walls clearly do not carry any vertical loads but carry wall bracing we would normally look at an area where wall bracing can be relocated if necessary and go ahead with the demolition. 

 

Thirdly your wall removal or renovation proposal is holding up some ceiling structure If you have a “cut” roof (no fabricated trusses) where the roof or ceiling is supported from an internal wall it is often possible to move the support away from the wall you wish to remove by adding beams below the roof space. Do not make the mistake of assuming the ceiling is not supported by the wall just because the ceiling joists are continuous over the wall. 

 

Fourthly where the proposed renovation or wall removal may well be  hiding a tie beam, which enables the rafters to prop a ridge beam. If you have a flat roof with exposed rafters and the rafters are running across the wall in question, you may have one of two problems. The first problem is that the wall may support the rafters and be required to reduce the span of the rafters, which can be quickly checked. The second problem is that the rafters may be broken at the wall, which can present more design challenges. In the second case the rafter is not only supported by the wall but is either cut from above to make it sit down on the wall (because it was bent on the day it was installed) or alternatively two separate beams sit beside each other on the wall. This last situation limits the support options if you are hoping to keep the exposed rafters but solutions do exist.

 

Unfortunately no two projects are quite the same so you will require someone to climb up into your roof to assess the situation. It is often the case that when loads are relocated, walls may also require local strengthening which may necessitate removing some wall sheeting.