House - Building Work

Nilz

Nilz

Defo worth the wait :)
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Hi Guys

Im thinking of getting some work done at home, we currently have a 3 up and 2 down, where the kitchen is next to the 2nd room (dining room) downstairs.

I want to get the wall between the kitchen and dining room knocked through, to turn it into a kitchen diner, theres also a few other bits I want to do, remove a window and brick it up, so I can add kitchen wall units there, then move that window to another wall, block a door off, skim all the walls, new flooring, ceiling and kitchen too!!

Just wanted to know, what sort of work this involves, will I need an RSJ, has anyone else had this done, just general advise really.

Does anyone know of any reliable builders etc in the Midlands area, that would be able to quote and advise on this as its something we would like to get done pretty soon.

Any help or assistance would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Nilz
 
A lot will depend on whether the wall you plan to take down is a supporting wall, ie holding up the flooring joists of the rooms upstairs. When I did something similar I knocked a hole in the ceiling ( it was getting redone anyway) to have a look. If the ends of the flooring joists rest on the wall then it is definitely a supporting wall and will need a beam put in, either a concrete lintel or rsj depending on the span and how much it is holding up. If the joists continue on to another wall it may be non supporting and you might be able to take it down with minimum hassel and reduced costs. Putting in a beam is not too difficult though, just involves a bit of temporary propping (i did mine myself under guidance of a mate in the trade) but some builders like to play on our fears and charge accordingly so worth getting a few quotes.
Fingers crossed it is not load baring but either way you will need an engineers report and probably full planning consent as well. Hope that makes sense.
Good luck with your project, it will be worth it in the end but I must admit I'm glad my Renovating years are behind me.
 
Hi Steve

Thanks for your input, I guess we just need to find out about the wall and take it from there, as you say its something I know very little about so dont want to be bent over for it!!
 
If you are thinking of selling the house soon think about what a potential buyer would want, would they prefer separate rooms or knocked through, ask a local estate agent before you go ahead, about how it would affect the value. If you are keeping the house for the long term it doesnt matter you just want to get a decent job done.
 
If you don't fancy wrecking your ceiling just now another, less conclusive way mind you, is to lift the carpets upstairs and look at what way the floor boards are running. If they are running at right angles to the direction of the wall underneath that usually means that the joists are running the same way as the wall, in which case it's unlikely to be a supporting wall. You could also lift the floor boards to check, I only took the quick hammer to celing route as I knew I was replacing it anyway.

If the wall you are taking down is stud partition, a lot of newer houses are, again it's unlikely to be supporting and something you could probably do yourself with a saw. There are quite a few variables though, I've done a lot of renovations but still got the expert opinion before taking the wall down.

PS when getting quotes it might be worth getting seperate for the building work and for fitting the kitchen, ime if the builder quotes for the full job they often subcontract the kitchen work out but will invariably add on a bit extra for themselves.
 
Last edited:
also quick rule of thumb: what ever quote you get, double it! Thats what it will cost you in the end A-Z lol.
 
We actually have the house on the market at the mo and the only negative feedback we are getting is the size of the kitchen, which is what we are looking at. We are thinking of coming off the market now though as circumstances have changed, so will be able to do this work instead, so defo a step in the right direction.

I am thinking of getting seperate quotes for building work and kitchen and deco (ceiling, flooring etc), so hopefully that will keep costs down a bit. I dont want to go OTT as we are not staying here forever, but whilst we are here, we would like to make good use of the space we have.
 
Think about cost and hassle of job versus discount you could give potential buyer

Might be easier to let the new owner carry out the change, you could always supply them with the quote and then offer to go halves, as in you reduce the price by half the quote.

Depends how much you have it on for now ?
 
We have thought about leaving it for new buyer, but as the house hasnt sold and we dont really need to sell now, we may end up staying for a few years and do the work and make use of it, as mentioned the kitchen is the only thing not selling the house, so im hoping with this work done, we should be able to sell in a few years at a better price.
 
maybe but you have to be realistic about the price at the moment, houses are not selling easily at full price unless youre in a top location with high demand, such as parts of London
 
S3P8 said:
maybe but you have to be realistic about the price at the moment, houses are not selling easily at full price unless youre in a top location with high demand, such as parts of London
Click to expand...

The housing market is quite active atm based on my experience, and with the new 5% down mortgages available, it will pick up even more, there's signs that the property market is recovering like it always does.

I reckon you should go for it Nilz, might aswell enjoy your own home whilst you are in it, kitchen/dining rooms is what people want these days, so it can only add value to your house if you do it.
 
only nilz knows as we dont know the price his house was on for, where it is etc etc

interesting debate though
 
audi upgrades
I wont go into the details of location and price but it was priced reasonably and defo not overpriced as we were looking for a realistic sale.

I think we are going to get some quotes going forwards and see where it takes us. I reckon we will stay and get the work done and make use of it for a few years to come then sell on at a later date when we need to.

Now next question, does anyone know anyone reputable and reliable in the Birmingham/Solihull area?

Cheers
 
Yes m8, me and my brothers

www.pdjbs-ltd.co.uk

Would never claim to be cheapest but we do it once and right.

We have a number of job on go all round brum so tbh if u want it done before Xmas then I can't help but if you want some free advice and your in Solihull then drop me a pm and I could pop over after work.

Cheers
Paul
 
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Stevieb2905 said:
If you don't fancy wrecking your ceiling just now another, less conclusive way mind you, is to lift the carpets upstairs and look at what way the floor boards are running. If they are running at right angles to the direction of the wall underneath that usually means that the joists are running the same way as the wall, in which case it's unlikely to be a supporting wall. You could also lift the floor boards to check, I only took the quick hammer to celing route as I knew I was replacing it anyway.

If the wall you are taking down is stud partition, a lot of newer houses are, again it's unlikely to be supporting and something you could probably do yourself with a saw. There are quite a few variables though, I've done a lot of renovations but still got the expert opinion before taking the wall down.

PS when getting quotes it might be worth getting seperate for the building work and for fitting the kitchen, ime if the builder quotes for the full job they often subcontract the kitchen work out but will invariably add on a bit extra for themselves.
Click to expand...

sorry but, where you say a lot of newer houses have studded walls, yes your correct, but as to wether its load bearing or not you wouldn't know unless you see what it is holding. so even if you knocked through and seen the joists running parallel with the wall, it could still be load bearing, because a lot of newer houses are timberframe (which is what im specialized in)and will have a timber beam sat on the wall or structural OSB.

my advice would be to maybe find out when your house was built and wether its a timberframe building or not. sorry if I have not read peoples posts, admittedly ive not read them all
 
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Sneekyparrot said:
Yes m8, me and my brothers

www.pdjbs-ltd.co.uk

Would never claim to be cheapest but we do it once and right.

We have a number of job on go all round brum so tbh if u want it done before Xmas then I can't help but if you want some free advice and your in Solihull then drop me a pm and I could pop over after work.

Cheers
Paul
Click to expand...

And that is the kind of builder you want to do your work, someone who can start tomorrow or next week hasn't got a lot of work on for a reason.
Remember, a good contractor is a busy contractor.

Despite being in the construction industry I can't help with the actual building work, but I can do the design and project manage it.
I have a very good CV / portfolio if you need it.
 
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Cheers Guys,

Message on the way to both Pauls :)
 
sidibear said:
And that is the kind of builder you want to do your work, someone who can start tomorrow or next week hasn't got a lot of work on for a reason.
Remember, a good contractor is a busy contractor.

Despite being in the construction industry I can't help with the actual building work, but I can do the design and project manage it.
I have a very good CV / portfolio if you need it.
Click to expand...

I was actually wondering when you'd show up Paul.
 
Nilz,
Got your pm, didn't have time to day to give you a call and I am really busy tomorrow, shooting a comp in Horsham. I will try and give you a bell on Monday. Daytime ok or evening?
 
Paul its ok mate whenever you are ready, i should be around monday evening so if you are free pop over.
Cheers
Nilz
 
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