Hi,

We are about to take down a wall that divides a kitchen and a breakfast
room, and have got builders lined up etc. I've had a look and the
joists above the rooms are actually continuous and not joined above the
wall that is coming out. However the total span is 7 metres, so
obviously we are going to need to put in a steel where the wall used to
be. This is an Edwardian house, and the wall that is coming out does
not support anything other that the joists above (the interesting thing
is the adjacent room has a clear span of 6 meters that is not supported
in any way!)

One end of the steel will be on a 12" external wall, the other on a 4"
internal so the internal side will need a pier for sure.

Anyway the builder has someone with the software to do the proper beam
and padstone calcs, and print them out for the building control people
etc. He has however warned me that depending on the council surveyor,
they may want to see "pier stress calculations" which he won't have, in
which case it could delay everything while we get them sorted using a
structural engineer (at my expense).

The builder put me in touch with a firm that can handle all the
building reg parts on behalf of the council, and if necessary do the
beam, padstone and pier stress calcs. The downside is this will cost me
£600 vs £100 of just going via the council and hoping they don't want
pier stress calcs. Obviously I would like to save £500 if possible )

Can anyone tell me what pier stress calcs are, and what the chances are
of the council person wanting to see some?

Cheers,

MH

I have never had to do any calcs for piers in similar domestic work. As
long as the pier and any concrete pad foundation is properly specified,
then it should be OK.

Even so, if you went for the £100 option, a separate calcualtion for
the pier should be much less than £500.

Do you actually need a pier though?

dg

Thanks for the reply )

I think it's safe to assume that we will, the internal wall is only a
single brick thick, and the Edwardian construction means that there is
very little in the way of foundations, plus more mortar than brick in
some areas!

Admittedly you *might* get away without a pier on that side, neighbours
up the road with almost the same house as ours simply had the steel
sitting on a lintel set into the internal wall. However this also means
disruption to the other side of the internal wall, which I am keen to
avoid if possible. Also not sure if the neighbours work went through
building regs anyway.

Cheers,

MH