If you are planning an open-plan kitchen diner or a bigger living space, the first question is usually whether the wall in the way is holding anything up. There are clues you can look for yourself, and they will give you a good idea, but the only reliable answer comes from a structural engineer or an experienced builder looking at the wall in person.
This post covers what a load-bearing wall does, the signs that a wall is likely to be one, the checks you can make safely at home, and what happens next if it is. The one firm rule is simple: never start removing plaster, bricks or studs to "have a look", even on a wall you are fairly sure about.
What a load-bearing wall does
A load-bearing wall carries weight from the parts of the house above it, such as the floor joists (the timber beams that hold up a floor), the roof or another wall, and passes that weight down to the foundations. A non-load-bearing wall, often called a partition wall, just divides one room from another.
Take one out without putting anything in its place and that weight has nowhere to go. The first signs are often cracks upstairs and sticking doors. In the worst case, a floor or ceiling can sag or fail.
Signs a wall is likely to be load-bearing
None of these is proof on its own, but the more of them a wall has, the more likely it is to be carrying weight:
- It is an outside wall. External walls are almost always load-bearing.
- It runs down the middle of the house. Many homes have a central "spine" wall running front to back that the upstairs floor rests on.
- There is a wall directly above it upstairs. Walls that line up from floor to floor often carry each other.
- It runs across the floor joists above. If the joists rest on the wall rather than running alongside it, it is probably supporting them.
- It is solid brick or block. Masonry internal walls in older houses are often load-bearing, though not always.
- Something rests on it in the loft. Timber props, struts or beams landing on top of the wall are a strong clue.
Safe checks you can make at home
Knock on it. A hollow sound usually means a timber stud wall (a frame of timber covered in plasterboard), and a dull, solid sound usually means brick or block. Be careful with this one: stud walls can still be load-bearing, especially in older houses and timber-framed homes.
Look at the floorboards upstairs. Floorboards are usually laid across the joists, so the joists run at right angles to the boards. If the boards above run parallel to your wall, the joists probably run across it and may be resting on it.
Look in the loft, carefully. Only go up if the loft has a safe way in and you can stand on boarding or step from joist to joist. Never stand on the plasterboard between the joists. Use a torch to see whether any props or struts come down onto the line of the wall below.
Check the paperwork. Old plans, an engineer's report or your council's building control records can show which walls were treated as structural.
Leave it there. Do not cut test holes, lift large areas of floor or chip off plaster. Internal walls often hide electric cables, water pipes and sometimes gas pipes, and a wall that looks harmless can still be carrying more than you think.
Why a wall that isn't load-bearing still needs care
Even when a wall is not holding up the floor above, removing it is not always free of rules. Planning Portal guidance says taking out a non-load-bearing wall is unlikely to need building control approval as long as it does not affect fire escape routes, ventilation, drainage or electrics. It also says it is best practice to get a report from a structural engineer to confirm the wall is non-load-bearing before any work starts.
Fire safety is the one people tend to miss. In a two-storey house, the hallway and stairs are often the protected route out from the bedrooms in a fire. Opening up the hall into the kitchen or living room can change that route, so it needs thinking through before the wall comes down.
If the house is listed, changing an internal wall may also need listed building consent from your council.
What happens if the wall is load-bearing
A load-bearing wall can usually still come out. It just needs to be done properly:
- A structural engineer assesses the wall and works out what it is carrying.
- The engineer designs a replacement, usually a steel beam called an RSJ (rolled steel joist), with padstones (solid blocks that spread the beam's weight into the walls at each end).
- Building control approval is applied for, because removing a load-bearing wall is building work under the Building Regulations.
- The ceiling and floor above are propped with temporary supports before any of the wall is removed.
- The beam goes in, the opening is made good and building control inspect the work.
Our guide to why steel beams are used explains the beam itself in more detail, and our post on building control inspections covers what the inspector checks and when.
How we approach wall removal
When we look at a wall, we start with a survey of the structure around it: what sits above, which way the joists run and where the load goes. We work with structural engineers on the calculations and the beam design, handle the building control application, put the temporary supports in, and make good afterwards so the new opening looks like it was always there. Knock-throughs and open-plan layouts are a regular part of our home refurbishments.
The cost depends mostly on the width of the opening, the beam the engineer specifies, access, and how much making good is needed afterwards. A site visit is the only way to pin that down.
If you have a wall you would like to take out and you are not sure what it is holding up, JW Carpentry & Build can come and look at it with you, talk through what is possible and arrange the engineer and approvals. You can find out more about our structural and steel work and get in touch to book a visit.
