Supporting Loft Joists from Above

[DavidL]

I am planning to remove a wall from my 1960's bungalow to open up the kitchen/dining area and hopefully leave it as open as possible.

One end of the wall joins to an external gable wall, the other to the ajoining room (all solid brick construction).

The wall is supporting the joists above but being a bungalow, nothing else. The joists are joined above the wall.

I was hoping to hang the joists from a beam above - the beam could rest on an existing internal wall and the gable wall.

Is this idea OK and what size of beam would be required - what weight would the beam be actually holding - I assume most of the weight of the roof is supported by the external walls, the joists being mainly in tension, "pulling" the roof together.

Could the wall be completely taken away where it joins the gable or would I need to leave say 18" to strengthen the gable wall and/or to rest the beam on.

Any advice on materials, hangers to use etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks David

[Owain]

Yes.

It is quite likely some projection would be needed to take the beam load. If you want a completely flat internal wall it might be possible to take the beam through the wall and support it on an external pillar.

A structural engineer is really required to calculate the loadings and produce plans/spec for the steelwork mfr and building control.

Owain

[John Rumm]

The traditional way to do this would be to stick a lintel in at the top of the existing wall and then take it out bar a small vestigial bit either side to support the lintel.

If you want a completely clear space (i.e. no lintle visible at high level or vestigial walls left at the sides then you may be able to use a beam as you suggest. The gable wall will obviously be a supporting wall with foundations, but what about the one at the other end?

They may be in tension, or they may just be holding the ceiling (depends on if they are fixed to the rafters or not usually)

You could do without any wall at the gable end by using a strong enough shoe bolted to the wall to carry the beam. At the other end you may or may not need to leave a bit of wall depending on whether the perpendicular wall is load bearing.

We would need a bit more detail to give that sort of information. (Span of beam, size of existing ceiling joists and their span for starters)