26 Feb 2015

A question about : Removal of internal load bearing wall, how much approximately?

I have recently had a quote for removing an internal wall between my front room and dining room which I think is really steep. The job was to remove the wall, approx. 6 foot wide, put in RSJ and make good, plastering, skirting etc of area and small dining room. The quote was Ј7000, not knowing how much costs for building work I have no idea if this is taking the mick. How much should this work approx. cost, any ideas. I will be getting some more quotes and would like to know the round about cost.

Best answers:

  • No more than £2.500 without seeing it
  • £7000!!
    That is really outrageous.
    I (with the help of a friend who is a builder), installed a 3m beam in my old house. The dividing wall had already been removed and the beam hidden under the plasterboard was a wooden one! It must have cost the idiot (who was a builder!) more to order a timber beam that size that to buy an RSJ!
    It had to be swapped out, so after talking to a local civil engineer (for the load bearing calculation needed by the building control for the local Council - cost £320) ordered the RSJ (£80 - 5 years ago from a steal supplier in Daventry), hired 8 Acro props and then set about installing the new beam. Took two evenings (we both had real jobs). The only other cost was the Local Authority's building control fee of £100. Miffed that I had to pay £100 for the man to turn up at the house, read the load bearing calculations, grunt, look for no more than 30secs at the piers the beam was resting on, before !!!!!!ing off!
    The beam then was plasterboarded up and skimmed (i think about £120??)
    Whilst I realise you might not fancy doing it yourself, you might be better getting some more quotes as £7k is over the top
  • You could build a small extension for Ј7000!
    Really, get a few more quotes. Knocking it down, supporting it and then putting a steel in is not the most difficult job in the world.
  • We had a wall (about 2.5M) removed and 4M RSJ put in for Ј800. You can add on to that the plasterbord/plastering and building regs/planning/calcs, but you'd struggle to get much above Ј1200.
  • I agree. That price seems well over the top. A customer of mine had a wall done last year and the cost was about Ј2500 and that included the cost of the structural engineer.
    Woody
  • Hi I think that they must be over quoting because they do not want the job!! Totally over the top. Around about Ј1500 for the work but without looking is hard to tell. You really need to go through building regs (local council) and make sure that you have plans drawn up by a structural engineer and that should be around Ј350. This will be beneficial to you should you sell the property in future and will prove that it has all been carried out appropriately. Ј1850 total I think would be reasonable but depends where you live!!
  • I'll doo it for 6 grand
  • My friend had one done in 2009 for Ј700 total. Not sure if you even need building regs or planning for an internal wall.
  • The cost of installing RSj varies depending on length (span of the rsj), load bearing, complicity of instalment, access, making good after, also one would have to take in to account public liability insurance that most reputable builders should have taking upon this kind of job.
    If you were to install a small beam, lintel, rsj, you maybe ok, but if anything will go wrong you may get prosecuted, that’s when the PLI (public liability insurance covers any damage caused to property and its inhabitants)
    You may be lucky and you do it cheaply and all will be fine, its were responsibly work and to do it properly would cost a fair bit, none of you should compare individual cases as each one is completely different.
    I am not saying it is cheap or expensive, best to take an advise (make a call) to an structural engineer, even better ask the one that made the calculations.
    I install structural beams from Ј2000 to Ј15000, and believe me Ј7000 may be a cheaper option then recover from other potential risks ( injuries, uninsured builder etc).
    I would gladly take you to one ruined house that collapsed, after some shoddy workman ship ( rsj instalment), the man was ruined financially.
    Best regards to you all
  • one more thing, just as I read some comments:
    If one is not sure.... then one should keep their mouth shut, or get the fact straight, as it is as simple as calling relevant authorities.
    Don’t mix lintel instalment with rsj instalment, 6m span and 2 m span.
    Ps: not being rude to any one
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