How to determine whether a wall is load-bearing
Many people, wanting to make their apartment more spacious, comfortable or more functional, decide to remodel their apartment. This is a serious decision, which accordingly requires a serious approach. It is not enough to simply make an opening in the wall or, even more so, to demolish it by combining two adjacent rooms. It is necessary to know which walls in the house are load-bearing, whether it is possible to make an opening in them or demolish them, so that this does not lead to a violation of the strength of the building and does not endanger its inhabitants. To carry out the work, it is better to contact a specialized organization that specializes in diamond cutting of concrete. In any case, redevelopment must be coordinated with the local government. Administrative punishment is provided for spontaneous redevelopment.
So. How to determine whether a wall is load-bearing?
Load-bearing walls It is customary to call walls that take on the load from the floors and roof of a building and transfer it to the foundation. The thickness of the wall depends on the material from which it is made and what load it carries. Load-bearing walls can be internal and external. Internal load-bearing walls are usually thinner than external ones - due to the lack of need for heat-insulating layers.
Designation of load-bearing walls on the plan
The first way to determine which walls are load-bearing is to look at the building plan. This can be an architectural and construction plan of a detailed design for a building or a floor plan from the BTI passport. Unfortunately, there is no standard for designating load-bearing walls on a plan. For example, in the architectural and construction plan, load-bearing walls are distinguished by separate shading, and on the BTI plan, by thicker lines, but not always. The wall can be marked with a thin line and at the same time be a load-bearing one.
Determination of load-bearing walls by thickness
The second way to find out which wall is load-bearing is by its location and thickness.
Load-bearing walls in a brick house
The thickness of the walls in brick houses is a multiple of the size of the brick (120 mm), plus the thickness of the mortar joint (10 mm), if there is more than one masonry. Respectively, brick walls can be 120, 250, 380, 520, 640 mm thick, etc. Mainly in brick residential buildings internal partitions are made of brick or gypsum concrete panels with a thickness of 80 or 120 mm. Inter-apartment partitions 250 mm thick made of brick or 200 mm thick from double panels with air gap. Load-bearing walls in a brick house have a thickness of 380 mm.
Majority brick houses built according to standard series– these are the so-called “Stalins” and “Khrushchevs”. Both of these types have similar Constructive decisions and are made in the form of three longitudinal load-bearing and transverse walls, which support the longitudinal ones and, basically, are also load-bearing.
Also, the load-bearing walls are the walls on which the interfloor floor slabs rest (short side). Usually these are longitudinal load-bearing walls. There is an option when the floor slab rests on reinforced concrete beam rectangular section. Which, in turn, rests on load-bearing walls or brick pillars. Interior or apartment partitions are usually installed under the beams.
Load-bearing walls in panel house
In panel houses the thickness internal partitions ranges from 80 mm to 120 mm, made of gypsum concrete panels. And, internal load-bearing walls are reinforced concrete panels with a thickness of 140, 180 or 200 mm. External load-bearing walls in a panel house have a thickness of 200 mm. Most often these are single-layer panels made of expanded clay concrete with a thickness of 300-350 mm or multilayer panels consisting of two reinforced concrete panels thickness from 60 mm (external) and 80-100 mm (internal), separated by insulation. Eventually, Load-bearing walls in a panel house have a thickness of 120 mm.
Load-bearing walls in a monolithic house
With load-bearing walls in a monolithic house, not everything is clear. It is not always possible to identify them. In addition, they may not exist (for example, in monolithic frame buildings). In residential monolithic houses meet various designs. Such as monolithic load-bearing walls, columns, pylons, beams, etc. Standard thickness walls and pylons are 200, 250, 300 mm. The diameter of the supporting columns can be more than 300 mm. Thickness interior walls, usually made from aerated concrete blocks, ranges from 200 mm. Thus, thickness is not load-bearing partitions is less than 200 mm. But, the opposite is not necessarily true for a load-bearing wall. Since, in monolithic houses, partitions can be more than 200 mm thick (for example, made of foam blocks).
If any of the above methods cause you difficulties, you will need to seek help from specialists from design organizations to conduct an engineering survey. Most often this is necessary in the case of a non-standard construction, a building according to individual project or an old building.
The load-bearing wall is the basis of the building; we do the redevelopment very carefully
Load-bearing walls are supporting structures
Load-bearing walls are the supports of the entire structure. After all, it is on them that the entire frame rests. Therefore, violation of this design can lead to disastrous results. Redevelopment requires special knowledge and qualifications.
Engineers and builders - only these people can correctly and competently carry out the redevelopment of the premises. Therefore, if you are planning to demolish a wall or simply make a niche, then you need to immediately contact professionals.
No matter how much work you need to do, even if you only want to make a recess in the wall, it is very important to adhere to the advice and opinion of professionals.
Start of redevelopment
Everyone knows that load-bearing walls cannot be demolished or broken. But sometimes redevelopment requires just that. First of all, you should figure out which walls are load-bearing and only after that decide what and how to do.
We do everything in the following order:
Having decided to start repairing and rebuilding load-bearing walls, or making arches (see Arch in an apartment: transformation into a decorative structure) or doors, you need to decide how realistic it is to do this. And understand which walls in the apartment are load-bearing, what their function is and what can be done with them. Let's look at these questions in order.
What are the requirements for load-bearing walls?
Walls, ceilings, floors are load-bearing structures in principle in all buildings. Precisely walls, not partitions (see Partitions and walls - what is the difference).
They are subject to certain requirements, and if the design is changed, the requirements must be met, and they are as follows:
They must be strong, durable and stable, as they are the support of the entire building. The weight of both the roof and ceiling passes onto them.
How to determine load-bearing wall
The walls of houses and apartments perform different functions and experience different loads. Load-bearing walls take on the load not only of their own weight, but also the weight ceilings. Having conceived major renovation related to redevelopment, you just need to know how to determine a load-bearing wall.
The load-bearing wall is installed perpendicular to the slab that rests on it. That is, the slab lies with its short side on the wall, giving it a significant part of its mass. Load-bearing walls are not always used in buildings. Sometimes columns or beams are installed instead. But basically, load-bearing walls are installed in residential premises during construction, which are easy to determine in some cases, but difficult in others.
Load-bearing wall - support for floor slabs
We note in advance that operations carried out with load-bearing walls, including internal installation wiring, arrangement of niches and various openings should not be carried out independently without professional skills. About arches. doorways, extended areas or partial demolition are out of the question.
How to determine which wall is load-bearing
Most easy way find a load-bearing wall - get acquainted with the house plan. On it this wall is marked quite clearly. The plan can be found in the local executive committee in the management department capital construction. You can also use detailed plan apartment, located in the house register or registration certificate. But in this case, the owner must have some construction experience and blueprint reading skills.
You can look at such a plan together with your neighbors living on the floor above. Their design should indicate which wall their floor structure rests on. If the apartment is on the top floor, you can climb into the attic and pay attention to how the slabs are laid.
Note! If there is even the slightest bit of uncertainty, do not touch the wall under any circumstances, as this can be very expensive.
Brick load-bearing wall thickness
If it is impossible to obtain a plan, we will determine the load-bearing wall by characteristic features. The location of a wall can say a lot about its purpose. The walls facing the staircase hall, as well as the internal walls bordering the neighbors' apartment, are load-bearing. In addition, some external walls bordering environment, can also be load-bearing. They can form the box of a building and take on the entire load.
The next way to determine such a wall is to pay attention to its thickness. If thickness brickwork is 38 centimeters or more, and if the reinforced concrete panel is more than 14 cm thick, then these walls are load-bearing. Now about this in more detail.
Brick houses
The width of the brick is 12 cm. The cement joint between the bricks takes up an average of 1 cm. Simple mathematics tells us that 38 cm is a masonry of three bricks, in which there are two joints (12+1+12+1+12=38). 51 cm – 4-brick masonry; 64 cm – 5-brick, etc. Interior walls usually no thicker than 18 cm. The thickness of the walls is determined without taking into account the plaster. Therefore, before measuring, it is better to clean the walls of the old finish.
In brick houses built in the 90s and later, the situation is a little more complicated. They were most likely built according to an individual project, and the author of the plan will help determine the load-bearing wall.
Panel houses
Load-bearing walls in a panel house
It is very difficult to realize your construction ideas in a panel or block house, since most of the walls in it are load-bearing. These include inter-apartment, and external and perpendicular to external walls. The walls of the plumbing rooms are also load-bearing.
The partitions between rooms are only 80–100 mm. But there are exceptional cases when in such houses the wall thickness is 12 centimeters wide. Should it be considered load-bearing, or is it just a thickened partition? In this case, you need to turn to competent people for help, who will make a conclusion based on architectural project building. They will decide whether further work can be carried out in the house or not.
Monolithic houses
How to recognize a load-bearing wall in a monolithic house? In houses whose foundation smoothly merges into the frame of the building, any wall more than 20 cm thick is considered load-bearing. However, in such houses, which are often built not according to the standard, but according to the customer’s design decision, to determine the load-bearing wall, it is not enough to be guided by dimensions alone. A simple partition in a monolithic house can be thicker than 20 cm. And there are houses where there are no load-bearing walls at all. Instead, reliable columns are used. Therefore, a building plan and drawing can be helpful. If for some reason they are not available, then a verdict from authorized persons cannot be avoided.
Permission from relevant authorities.
Many do not want to contact officials and prefer to resolve such important issues on their own. But this is fraught gross mistakes. Don’t be afraid to call specialists into your home for consultation and obtain permission. Moreover, if you find the slightest cracks, a damp or crumbled area on a wall, even if it is not load-bearing, invite an inspector who will assess the extent of the damage and give advice.
Note! Any redevelopment, regardless of the type of apartment, be it Khrushchev or cottage house, requires the consent and written permission of the BTI or other relevant government services. Work on load-bearing walls, even if performed by a professional, also requires a permit.
If you still have to carry out some dismantling work on load-bearing walls, it should be carried out by a competent specialist who knows how to install temporary columns that take on the weight of the slab instead of the wall. Representatives of authorized organizations and engineers licensed for this construction activity must monitor the process and carry out calculations of such columns.
Note! It is impossible to sell an apartment with an illegal redevelopment, and getting a project for an already remodeled apartment will be very difficult and problematic.
There is no need to think that the planned work is insignificant and is not worth calling a team. The slightest mistake can cost the lives of many people, because an unnoticeable microcrack in a load-bearing wall can eventually lead to the collapse of the building.
Work carried out on load-bearing walls
Installation of support when demolishing a load-bearing wall
If you decide to carry out work on load-bearing walls, for example, to dig ditches, do it with the utmost caution. If there are sockets or switches on the wall. Remember that wiring is hidden inside the wall. which, if the premises are not de-energized, can damage the power supply system and cause injury to the worker. If the house is old, there may even be gas pipe. Work carefully and, if possible, use a project where all these nuances are noted.
Note! Never forget that you cannot demolish a load-bearing wall, leaving the floor without support.
If your professional skills allow you to undertake partial removal of the wall, do not forget to place a support in the resulting opening, which can be hidden over time with false beams.
Find more tips below:
Those who have decided to start construction or carry out redevelopment in an already erected building should know what a load-bearing wall is and the dangers of its destruction. The purpose of a load-bearing wall is the ability to take on loads from other parts of the building, floors and roof. In order not to face the danger of destruction of the building, before starting work you need to determine which walls are load-bearing and carry out all the planned activities without touching these structures.
Walls are the main structural part of a building, but not all of them are able to withstand the load coming from the floors and roof. For this purpose, each building is equipped with load-bearing walls. Partitions that can only withstand the load of their own weight help to divide the space in a built house. Such walls are called self-supporting. The purpose of each non-load-bearing wall is to serve as a space delimiter, if necessary, simply to highlight a separate room.
Simply put, load-bearing walls are structures on which something rests. In each building load-bearing and curtain walls play an important role, but if the load-bearing one is a reliable support, a high-quality frame of the building, then the non-load-bearing partition is a partition, which, if desired, can be demolished during redevelopment without causing damage to the building. All walls are divided into load-bearing, self-supporting and non-load-bearing. Already by the name it becomes clear which of them are built in order to take on the main load.
Such a partition can be erected from:
I install as self-supporting walls in panel houses monolithic slabs. Such curtain walls can be used to create additional passage by cutting openings into them and installing doors.
Correctly recognizing which walls are load-bearing means that you can successfully carry out redevelopment without violating building codes and regulations, without risking creating a situation the end result of which will be the destruction of the building. , which means changing the distribution of the load, and this will lead to skewing of the building, collapse of the ceiling and cracking of the remaining permanent structures.
They ensure the safety of not only the apartment in which renovation is underway or redevelopment is planned. The safety of dwellings located on the lower floors depends on their quality and integrity. The main difference between load-bearing structures and self-supporting ones is. Knowing the differences is not enough; you need to be able to correctly determine which wall is load-bearing.
It is necessary to know exactly which walls can be demolished during redevelopment and which should remain untouched, at what thickness it is permissible to make an opening in the wall, and when it is too dangerous to carry out such work.
There are certain requirements that I impose on load-bearing walls:
Another feature of the load-bearing wall, due to which such structures differ, is the uniform distribution of the horizontal load exerted by the floor slabs. An important criterion strength, reliability and stability is the thickness of the load-bearing wall. This value is set for brick, monolithic and panel interior walls.
Strict compliance established standards makes it easier to identify a load-bearing wall in any building or room.
Having learned what a load-bearing wall is, you can understand how important it is to build this structure in strict accordance with all existing standards and rules. Such walls are a natural continuation of the building itself, the beginning of which is the foundation. To avoid great difficulties and troubles in the process of redevelopment, you need to know how to determine the load-bearing wall in an apartment. In most cases, it is enough to carefully study technical documentation and determine the location of load-bearing walls on the building plan. However, it happens that there is no plan and you have to independently determine the quality and purpose of the erected structures.
The peculiarity of the construction of panel buildings is that in a monolithic house, as supporting structure reinforced concrete panels are used. Their thickness ranges from 100 to 200 mm. Structures made of gypsum concrete panels act as interior partitions, and their thickness does not exceed 80-100 mm. Thus, by measuring the thickness of the wall, you can recognize the load-bearing wall, the demolition of which in such a building is strictly prohibited. Non-compliance established rules will lead to inevitable deflection and collapse of the ceiling.
One of the most important indicators is the thickness of load-bearing walls in brick houses. To distinguish a load-bearing wall, you need to know its thickness, but it is better to have a construction plan on which all load-bearing structures are marked. Self-supporting walls in an apartment, as a rule, are much thinner than permanent structures. The thickness of the walls that bear the load from their own weight varies from 5 cm to 400 mm. Such a partition can be built from plasterboard, but more often it is a wall built from brick (half-brick masonry).
An experienced craftsman will tell you how to find out whether a brick house is a load-bearing wall or not, but the size of the structure will also help you understand this. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the thickness of a brick wall is a multiple of this brick parameter, plus the thickness of the adhesive layer and finishing material. Thus, it is possible to find out which wall is in front of the builders. The thickness of the partition does not exceed 380 mm, and for a load-bearing wall this size is the minimum. The maximum thickness of a load-bearing wall in a brick house reaches 640 mm. The peculiarity of this structure is that an opening can be made in such walls. This is justified by the possibility of providing additional reinforcement to maintain uniform distribution of horizontal loads.
Their parameters will help you distinguish which walls can be demolished and which are strictly prohibited:
Brick houses or built according to a constructive plan, distinctive feature which is the presence of 3 longitudinal load-bearing walls (on the plan green color) and transverse walls called stiffening diaphragms (highlighted in blue).
Owners of apartments whose windows faced the front side of the house had the opportunity to build an extension or even make additional window. You can get more detailed answers to all existing questions by watching the video.
When starting work on housing redevelopment, you need to carefully study the apartment plan, which indicates the dimensions and purpose of the walls; if there is no opportunity to familiarize yourself with the documentation, then you should not make responsible decisions without measuring the thickness of the walls.
When planning a large-scale renovation with elements of redevelopment, pay attention to the material of your walls, as well as general layout premises - after all, not all of them, especially in panel houses, are allowed to be cleaned. So that the results repair work We were happy, let's talk about how to determine load-bearing walls in a Khrushchev building.
Regardless of what kind of house your home is located in - a Khrushchev panel building or a nine-story brick building - it will definitely have load-bearing walls, and simply interior partitions. The latter can actually be removed without any consequences, while violating the integrity of the former will lead to serious troubles that threaten not only your apartment, but even the entire house. But sometimes the planned project requires that a through opening be made in one specific place, or maybe the wall is completely in the way? In any case, you should not resort to dismantling without familiarizing yourself with the floor plan. If you don’t have one at hand, contact the technical inventory bureau or try to determine the load-bearing walls yourself. 
Without finding technical documentation for the apartment, load-bearing walls in a panel house can be easily determined by their thickness: the fact is that the main walls supporting the floor panels are always a little thicker. So, minimum thickness load-bearing wall in a standard panel house is 12 cm, not taking into account the layer of plaster, finishing materials, and additional partitions are 2 cm thinner. 
Typically, internal walls do not affect the stability of the entire house, but only serve to divide the single space of the apartment into rooms. It is allowed to begin alteration and demolition work only after all walls have been carefully measured and key structures have been identified.
And one more thing: nine-story panel houses in most cases consist of main walls - such a structure is very reminiscent of a classic house of cards. When planning an apartment renovation in such a house, it is better to familiarize yourself with the detailed plan before starting work.
There are several ways to understand which walls in a Khrushchev building are load-bearing:
There is another way to determine which walls are load-bearing - this is by drilling: the thickness of the main partitions is such that one drill is not enough for a through hole.
It is somewhat easier to remove an interfering wall in a Khrushchev-era building than in a panel house. The only partitions that can be safely removed from the panel are the wall separating the bathroom and the partition between the room and the kitchen. In Khrushchev's houses, remove (in whole or in parts) those that do not have an important function.
Remove the main walls that hold concrete floors under no circumstances is it possible. Dismantling them will certainly weaken the ceiling, significantly reducing the load on the foundation. The only valid option is partial dismantling with mandatory reinforcement of the opening. And lastly: all work related to changing the layout of the premises requires obtaining special permits from the relevant authorities. Once you have received the document, get to work!
Do not neglect the mandatory stages of work - measuring the thickness of the partitions, studying the apartment plan. And the best thing is not to be lazy, and visit the BTI, and understand for sure what kind of object you are dealing with. Only in this case, after renovation, the room will not only improve, receiving an updated look, but will also remain safe for residents.
Good luck with your projects and safe repairs!
This video shows one of the possible options dismantling a non-major partition in an apartment. The recording work was carried out with minimal noise and a small amount dust.
Knowing where the load-bearing walls are located in the apartment, you can understand whether redevelopment with the combination of rooms is feasible. The destruction of load-bearing walls or sections of them violates the strength structure of the building, which in the future can lead to weakening bearing capacity designs.
In addition, if an inspection by the Moscow Housing Inspectorate reveals such illegal redevelopment, the owner of the apartment will have to pay a fine and, at his own expense, return the apartment to its previous condition.
Even the device of new doorways in load-bearing walls can only be carried out on the basis project documentation with a technical report from the author of the house.
Therefore, before you begin remodeling an apartment, you should determine which walls in it are load-bearing.
This is especially relevant in light of the fact that the majority of standard housing in Moscow is represented by panel houses. A characteristic feature of this type of residential building is its design with large quantity transverse load-bearing walls.
Typical standard floor plan panel house(series P-3). There are practically no non-load-bearing walls:
In block houses, a similar scheme is used, but load-bearing walls are spaced less frequently (floor of a panel-block house, series II-68):
An exception to this rule are panel and block Khrushchev buildings, as well as monolithic and brick houses, in which a significant part of all transverse walls are non-load-bearing partitions.
The Khrushchev-era scheme consists of three longitudinal load-bearing walls (two external and one internal), the stability of which is ensured by transverse rigidity diaphragms. Plates interfloor ceilings in this case, they can rest either on longitudinal main walls or on beams that lie on these walls. Majority interior walls in such houses there are partitions, which favors redevelopments.
The definition of load-bearing walls in an apartment is not currently challenging task. If your house belongs to any of the common series, then you can find plans for it on the Internet typical floors and sections on which load-bearing walls are usually allocated. But the easiest way to find out which wall is load-bearing and which is just a partition is to measure its thickness.
The thickness of partitions in any modern standard houses always insignificant and amounts to 8-10 cm.
It is quite easy to determine the load-bearing wall in a block house - they are 50 cm wide. It is difficult to confuse them.
The standard width of load-bearing walls in a panel house is 14, 16, 18 and 20 cm.
It is interesting that sometimes in some houses there are 12-cm load-bearing walls. In addition, there are partitions whose thickness has increased due to layers of plaster, sound insulation, etc., and they can be confused with load-bearing ones. Therefore, the width of the wall is always measured without taking into account the finishing layers.
In such cases, when it is difficult to determine the load-bearing wall, an employee of the design organization conducts an engineering survey. Similar situation can also occur in an apartment standard house, however, this most often happens with old houses, as well as new ones built according to an individual project. Employees of the Moscow Housing Inspectorate may require to examine and produce technical conclusion as a safety net - even for a wall about which the owner is confident that it is 100% non-load-bearing.
You can’t just go and measure a load-bearing wall with a tape measure. Measurements are taken only after the wall in the required place has been cleaned of the finishing.
Employees of APB No. 1 measure the pylon in their office
Today, very often when creating an interior design, they resort to remodeling the premises. For redevelopment, it is necessary to determine the load-bearing walls and additional partitions located in the apartment. In some rooms, identifying such walls does not require much effort, in others it can cause certain difficulties. Today, almost all apartments use load-bearing walls in construction, although in some buildings they can be replaced by beams and columns. One of the most accessible and easiest ways to determine load-bearing walls is an initial inspection of the apartment plan, which can be found in the technical passport. On the plan, such walls are clearly marked, they often have a certain shading, and their thickness is much greater than the thickness of other partitions. Load-bearing walls have certain characteristics.
To determine the load-bearing walls, it is necessary to use the plan. When remodeling, you must contact specialists for permission to dismantle the partitions.
Even if you plan to move the doorway, you need to have certain documents that must be provided by BTI employees or other relevant government agencies. If an illegal redevelopment has been carried out in an apartment, it becomes impossible to sell it, and obtaining permission for redevelopment after its implementation is quite problematic.
Any work with walls should be treated with full responsibility, because even the slightest crack in a load-bearing wall can affect the entire structure of the building. Carrying out work with load-bearing walls It is possible to carry out some work on load-bearing walls, however, any actions must be carried out exclusively by competent specialists.
Important
A structural plan will help identify not only the load-bearing walls in the house, but also the columns and beams of the post-and-beam system, as well as the floor slabs that rest on them. If for some reason you were unable to obtain a structural plan of the building, then we will determine the walls based on their characteristic features.
Again, you can use a detailed apartment plan, which is drawn in the registration certificate or in the house book. But in this case, you will be able to determine load-bearing walls only if you are not new to construction and planning.
How to determine a load-bearing wall? Which walls are load-bearing can be determined by: 1. By location. External self-supporting walls. Walls looking at staircase. Interior walls overlooking neighboring apartments.
2. By thickness and materials used.
The wall can be marked with a thin line and at the same time be a load-bearing one. Determining load-bearing walls by thickness The second way to find out which wall is load-bearing is by its location and thickness.
Load-bearing walls in a brick house The thickness of the walls in brick houses is a multiple of the size of the brick (120 mm), plus the thickness of the mortar joint (10 mm), if there is more than one masonry. Accordingly, brick walls can be 120, 250, 380, 520, 640 mm thick, etc.
Basically, in brick residential buildings, internal partitions are made of brick or gypsum concrete panels 80 or 120 mm thick. Apartment partitions 250 mm thick made of brick or 200 mm thick made of double panels with an air gap.
Attention
Load-bearing walls in a brick house have a thickness of 380 mm. Most brick houses built according to standard series are the so-called “Stalinka” and “Khrushchev” buildings.
Representatives of authorized organizations and engineers licensed for this construction activity must monitor the process and carry out calculations of such columns. Note! It is impossible to sell an apartment with an illegal redevelopment, and getting a project for an already remodeled apartment will be very difficult and problematic.
There is no need to think that the planned work is insignificant and is not worth calling a team. The slightest mistake can cost the lives of many people, because an unnoticeable microcrack in a load-bearing wall can eventually lead to the collapse of the building.
Work carried out on load-bearing walls Installation of supports when demolishing a load-bearing wall If you decide to carry out work on load-bearing walls, for example, cutting ditches, do it with the utmost caution.
The thickness of the load-bearing wall can be: Brick load-bearing walls, the thickness of which is more than 38 centimeters. Reinforced concrete panels in panel houses, the thickness of which is at least 14-20 centimeters. If the house is monolithic, then any wall 20-30 centimeters thick or more will be considered load-bearing.
3.
By supporting floor slabs and beams. All load-bearing walls must be strictly perpendicular to the location of the floor slabs. That is, the slabs should rest on the walls with the short side.
Openings in load-bearing walls Once you determine which walls are load-bearing, you will understand all the limitations associated with future redevelopment. Such a wall will not allow you to drive even an ordinary nail under a picture.
And there is no need to talk about the arrangement of openings, niches, arches and partial demolition.
Both of these types have similar design solutions and are made in the form of three longitudinal load-bearing and transverse walls, which support the longitudinal ones and, basically, are also load-bearing. Also, the load-bearing walls are the walls on which the interfloor floor slabs rest (short side). Usually these are longitudinal load-bearing walls. There is an option when the floor slab rests on a reinforced concrete beam of rectangular cross-section. Which, in turn, rests on load-bearing walls or brick pillars. Interior or apartment partitions are usually installed under the beams. Load-bearing walls in a panel house In panel houses, the thickness of internal partitions ranges from 80 mm to 120 mm, made of gypsum concrete panels.
And, internal load-bearing walls are reinforced concrete panels with a thickness of 140, 180 or 200 mm. External load-bearing walls in a panel house have a thickness of 200 mm.
Load-bearing wall in a house - how to determine which walls are load-bearing? People who are going to remodel an apartment or house must definitely find out which walls in their home are load-bearing. It’s quite easy to determine this yourself; the main thing is to know exactly how to do it.
And in this article I will definitely teach you this. I note that design features every professional interior designer must know about a house or apartment. If he cannot even recognize which walls in the apartment are load-bearing, then he is no longer an interior designer, but an ordinary decorator.
Before we begin to consider our question, I want to introduce you to the concept of “load-bearing wall”. So, a load-bearing wall is a wall that takes on the load of elements located above it, including beams, floor slabs and walls. Load-bearing walls are not always used in the interior.
If there are outlets or switches on the wall, remember that there is wiring hidden inside the wall that, if not de-energized, could damage the electrical system and cause injury to a worker. If the house is old, there may even be a gas pipe in the wall.
Work carefully and, if possible, use a project where all these nuances are noted. Note! Never forget that you cannot demolish a load-bearing wall, leaving the floor without support.
If your professional skills allow you to undertake partial removal of the wall, do not forget to place a support in the resulting opening, which can be hidden over time with false beams.
Most often these are single-layer panels made of expanded clay concrete with a thickness of 300-350 mm or multilayer panels consisting of two reinforced concrete panels with a thickness of 60 mm (external) and 80-100 mm (internal), separated by insulation. As a result, load-bearing walls in a panel house have a thickness of 120 mm.
Load-bearing walls in a monolithic house Not everything is clear with load-bearing walls in a monolithic house. It is not always possible to identify them. In addition, they may not exist (for example, in monolithic frame buildings).
In residential monolithic buildings there are various designs. Such as monolithic load-bearing walls, columns, pylons, beams, etc.
The standard thickness of walls and pylons is 200, 250, 300 mm. The diameter of the supporting columns can be more than 300 mm. The thickness of the internal walls, usually made of aerated concrete blocks, ranges from 200 mm.
Thus, the thickness of non-load-bearing partitions is less than 200 mm.
How to determine whether a wall is load-bearing? Load-bearing walls are usually called walls that take on the load from the floors and roof of a building and transfer it to the foundation. The thickness of the wall depends on the material from which it is made and what load it carries. Load-bearing walls can be internal and external. Internal load-bearing walls are usually thinner than external ones - due to the lack of need for heat-insulating layers. Designation of load-bearing walls on the plan The first way to determine which walls are load-bearing is to refer to the building plan. This can be an architectural and construction plan of a detailed design for a building or a floor plan from the BTI passport. Unfortunately, there is no standard for designating load-bearing walls on a plan. For example, in the architectural and construction plan, load-bearing walls are distinguished by separate shading, and on the BTI plan, by thicker lines, but not always.
