A load-bearing wall is one that carries weight from above — roof, ceiling or an upper floor — down towards the footings. Removing one does not remove that weight; it means giving it another way to the ground. Whether a particular wall carries load, and what would have to replace it, are questions about that house, answered by assessing it.
What makes a wall load-bearing
In a single-storey house, the walls that carry load are usually the ones the roof and ceiling framing bear on. Which walls those are depends on how the roof was framed. Some roofs span from external wall to external wall; others are propped from internal walls along the way.
In a two-storey house, walls on the ground floor may also carry the upper floor and the walls standing on it. A wall can also contribute to bracing the house against sideways forces such as wind, which is a separate role from carrying weight and is not visible from the room.
In houses with masonry walls, an internal wall may be load-bearing brick or block. Forming an opening in masonry is different work from forming one in a framed wall: the brickwork above is supported while a lintel or beam is inserted beneath it, and how that is done is part of the engineer’s design.
Appearance settles none of this. Two walls that look identical from inside can be doing entirely different jobs.
How load-bearing walls are identified
The first evidence is above the wall. In the roof space, the direction of ceiling joists and rafters, and whether struts or other framing bear down onto the top of the wall, show what the wall is supporting. Below a raised floor, what sits under the wall is the other half of the picture.
Original drawings, where they survive, help but do not settle it: houses are altered over their life, and earlier alterations are not always recorded. The conclusion comes from a structural engineer’s assessment of the house as it stands, which also specifies what replaces the wall if it is removed.
Cracks in ceilings, sagging, or doors that bind near a wall are reasons to look more closely, not conclusions. They can reflect what the wall is carrying, earlier changes to the house, or movement in the ground, and the assessment is what tells them apart.
What replaces a load-bearing wall in an open plan renovation
In general terms, the load the wall carried is picked up by a beam spanning the new opening. The beam delivers that load to posts or short sections of wall at each end, and those deliver it to footings below. Each link in that path has to be adequate, not only the beam.
Where the wall also braces the house, the bracing it provided is replaced elsewhere as the engineer’s design specifies.
The beam can sit below the ceiling, where it is visible as a bulkhead, or be set up within the ceiling or roof framing so the ceiling runs through flat. Which is achievable depends on the framing above and on the size of member the engineer specifies, and the choice changes how much of the ceiling and roof space the work disturbs.
A long steel or engineered timber beam also has to be brought into the house and lifted into position. Access through doors, windows or the roof can affect the choice of member and how the work is set out.
While the wall comes out and the beam goes in, the structure above is held up by temporary props. The propping and the order of work are part of the job, not an afterthought to it.
Footings under the new posts
A wall spreads its load along its length. A beam gathers it and delivers it at a few points. The footings under those points may need to be new, or the existing ones may need to be strengthened, and that is part of the engineer’s design.
On reactive clay, footings are designed for the movement of the ground as well as the load. Where new footings sit within an older house, how they relate to the existing footings is one of the matters the design addresses.
Where a post lands matters as much as the beam above it. A post that comes down onto a timber floor, rather than onto a footing, puts its load into floor framing that was not designed for it, unless the engineer’s design provides for it.
What else lives in the wall
Internal walls carry more than load. Wiring, switches and power points, plumbing, and sometimes heating or cooling ducts run through them, and each has to be identified and dealt with before the wall is disturbed.
Lighting, heating and cooling that were laid out for two rooms will now serve one. Whether they still suit the combined space is worth deciding before the ceiling is closed up again.
The room has to be made good afterwards. Floors that ran up to the wall from each side may not meet at the same level or in the same material. Ceilings need patching or relining where the wall stood. In housing of a certain age, linings may contain asbestos, which is established by inspection and testing before the wall is disturbed.
Approvals and pricing for a structural renovation
Whether a proposal requires development approval, and which consents are involved, is determined under the Act, the Regulations and the Planning and Design Code for that address; the pathway is confirmed with the council and, for building rules consent, with the building certifier where one is engaged. The engineer’s design is the document that work is built from and checked against.
A quote for an open plan renovation should account for the engineering, the propping, the beam, posts and footings, the services in the wall, and making good the floor and ceiling. A quote can name in advance the conditions that may be found once linings come off, and say how each will be priced.
The beam, posts and their connections are worth checking against the engineer’s design while they are still exposed. Once the ceiling and linings close over them, they are out of sight.
Cyberidge carries out structural renovations in Adelaide, and variations are priced and approved in writing before the work proceeds.
Common Questions
Can I remove a load-bearing wall in my Adelaide house?
Whether a particular wall can be removed, and what has to replace it, is established by a structural engineer’s assessment of that house; the approval pathway is checked for the address with the council and, for building rules consent, the building certifier where one is engaged. Removing a load-bearing wall means giving its load another path to the ground, typically a beam, posts at each end and footings beneath them.
How do I know if a wall is load-bearing?
Not from the room. The evidence is in the roof space and under the floor: what framing bears on the top of the wall and what supports it below. A structural engineer’s assessment of the house as it stands is what settles it.
What replaces a load-bearing wall?
In general terms, a beam across the opening, posts or wall sections at each end, and footings under those posts. The engineer specifies each of them for that house, and temporary props hold the structure up while the work is done.
Can the beam be hidden in the ceiling?
Sometimes. It depends on the framing above and the size of beam the engineer specifies. Where it cannot sit within the ceiling or roof framing, it sits below the ceiling as a visible bulkhead.
What decides the cost of removing a load-bearing wall?
What the wall carries, the length of the opening, whether new footings are needed, whether the beam is concealed, what services run through the wall, how the floor and ceiling are made good, and what is found once the linings are removed.
Planning an open plan renovation in Adelaide? Start with a free initial consultation.