Dividing wall in loft

Jan 01, 2005 2 Replies
D

Happy New Year everyone....



I'd like to use the loft space in the new house for storage and to make things accessible I'd like, if possible, to enlarge an opening in a dividing wall up in the loft to get to the larger part more easily,



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not to mention making it easier to clear up and sort the mess up there!!!!



The wall supports the roof ridge beam approx 2/3rds along its length

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and the purlins at wach side
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opening has a lintel accross it already
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there any reason why I can't acrow up the ridge and install a new lintel at a more usable height rather than having to work through the tiny crawl hole thats there now? Any comments or advice please would be welcome (or is this not a DIY jobby). If this works ok then the next step is to install a new structurte to hold a floor I guess, however one thing at a time!



Many thanks,



Regards Ron


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S

The outer sections of the wall which support the purlins are very important, and mustn't be disturbed.

As far as I can see, the centre section doesn't do anything structural. It doesn't support the roof per se, because the ridge board is actually held up by being squeezed between rafters either side.

Do you know why the wall is there? Was it an original end wall prior to the property being extended?

I had a similar wall which was the original end wall of the house (albeit with a much lower pitched roof) - and I couldn't get into the new roof space when I first moved in. I knocked out the entire centre section of the wall over 25 years ago with no adverse consequences so far!

I don't see why you can't do the same, but it would be advisable to consult a structural engineer to confirm this opinion before proceeding.

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