How to Tell if a Wall Is Load Bearing in Your Wendover Home

What a load bearing wall actually does

A load bearing wall carries weight from above down to the foundations. That weight might be floor joists, another wall on the first floor, the roof structure, or all three. Take it out without a properly sized beam and the structure above can sag, crack or, in the worst case, collapse.

A non load bearing partition only divides the space. The difficulty is that the two can look identical once they are plastered and painted, so you need to look at what sits above and around the wall, not at the wall itself.

Checks you can do yourself

None of these checks is conclusive on its own, but together they build a reliable picture.

• Check the joist direction. Lift a corner of carpet upstairs and look at the floorboards. Joists run at right angles to the boards, and a wall that runs at right angles to the joists is probably supporting them.
• Look directly above. If a first floor wall sits in line with the wall below, the lower wall is almost certainly carrying it.
• Go into the loft. Timber struts or purlin props coming down onto the top of an internal wall mean it is helping to hold up the roof.
• Tap the wall. A solid, dull sound suggests brick or block, which is more likely to be structural. A hollow sound suggests timber stud, but stud walls in older houses can still carry load.
• Look at the position. Walls running through the middle of the house, parallel to the roof ridge, are the usual spine walls.
• Check for previous alterations. A boxed in section across a ceiling often hides a beam and tells you the wall was structural.

What Wendover houses tend to hide

The age of the house changes the odds. The Victorian and Edwardian terraces and cottages around the High Street, Aylesbury Road and Pound Street usually have a brick spine wall between the front and back rooms. It carries the first floor joists and often the roof struts too. The wall between the kitchen and the rear dining room is frequently structural as well.

The 1930s semis generally follow the same pattern, and many also have a chimney breast that needs separate support if it is altered. Homes built from the late 1960s onwards usually have trussed roofs that span from outside wall to outside wall. That often leaves the upstairs partitions non structural, but the ground floor walls beneath the joists still do real work.

The oldest timber framed cottages in the conservation area are a different matter entirely. In these the frame itself is the structure, and what looks like a thin partition may be a key part of it. Many are listed, which means you need listed building consent before altering internal walls.

Approval, engineers and likely costs

Removing or opening up a load bearing wall needs Building Regulations approval, either through Buckinghamshire Council building control or a registered private approver. They will want calculations from a structural engineer showing the beam size, the bearings at each end and what the load lands on. If the beam is to rest in a wall shared with a neighbour, which is common in terraces and semis, you will also need to serve a party wall notice before work starts.

As a rough guide for homes around Wendover, engineer's calculations typically cost £350 to £800 and building control fees £250 to £450. A standard knock through with a steel beam, making good and plastering usually costs between £2,000 and £5,000. The final figure depends on the width of the opening, what is above it, whether new padstones or posts are needed, and how many pipes and cables run through the wall. Most single openings take around three to seven working days. Keep the completion certificate, as a solicitor will ask for it when you sell.