Question regarding a load-bearing wall

cinnabon

Hi there, I know this will sound silly but I have a question about a load-bearing wall. A builder extended my kitchen by removing the wall between the kitchen and the utility room. In his opinion, it was a partition wall and not a load-bearing wall and no additional support was required (beams etc). What surprised us all is that the wall was made of brick. He consulted it with the engineer and he confirmed it. Now the job is done and it looks great but I am worried that the builder was wrong in his assessment. I am just worried that everything can be fine now but we may have a problem in couple of years or if we were to convert the attic or even sell the house/
How can I check the plans of the building? Where can I obtain them? (they were not provided to us by the solicitor). Is my best bet just asking a structural engineer for opinion? Many thanks in advance,

Gumbo

Engage a structural engineer to come out and examine and report and provide an opinion.

Messy job now as the ceiling and/or floors will need to be opened up to visually check.

A builder is not an engineer and all structural works should go through an engineer with a letter or cert confirming inspection, design and certification.

SC024

cinnabon wrote: »

Hi there, I know this will sound silly but I have a question about a load-bearing wall. A builder extended my kitchen by removing the wall between the kitchen and the utility room. In his opinion, it was a partition wall and not a load-bearing wall and no additional support was required (beams etc). What surprised us all is that the wall was made of brick. He consulted it with the engineer and he confirmed it. Now the job is done and it looks great but I am worried that the builder was wrong in his assessment. I am just worried that everything can be fine now but we may have a problem in couple of years or if we were to convert the attic or even sell the house/
How can I check the plans of the building? Where can I obtain them? (they were not provided to us by the solicitor). Is my best bet just asking a structural engineer for opinion? Many thanks in advance,

who was this engineer?

cinnabon

Thanks for the replies. I know.. it was our first job in the house so we foolishly trusted the builder.
Hi said it was an engineer that works with him, I wasn't there when they examined the space.

Where can I obtain the plan of the building and will it specify if the wall is load-bearing?

mickdw

There is likely very little info available on your house in terms of structure.
You need an Engineer to look it over.

From when the works were done, do you remember the direction of ceiling joists around that area or other structural features?

cinnabon

mickdw wrote: »

There is likely very little info available on your house in terms of structure.
You need an Engineer to look it over.

From when the works were done, do you remember the direction of ceiling joists around that area or other structural features?

Hi Mick, I have some photos maybe they will show you the direction of the joints.

BryanF

Mod note from forum charter:

Structural items . Issues relating to the specification of structural components is prohibited. Any queries in this regard need to be dealt with by an architect/engineer privately.