Load Bearing Wall Removal Calculations

Steel Beam Calculations for Removal of Load-Bearing Walls

As an empirical rule, if the floor area surrounded by four walls does not exceed 70m2, or the floor area surrounded by three walls does not exceed 36m2 and structural openings are in accordance with the diagram below, the principles of Approved Document A can be followed.

If the floor area and aggregate size of structural openings fall outside of this empirical guidance, then in addition to Calculations for Load Bearing Wall Removal, additional supports may be required. It is common practice to design a ‘goalpost’ to provide the required lateral stability to the building when buttressing walls have been removed to form large openings into new extensions or the insertion of bi-folding doors etc…

As well as providing you with Calculations for Load Bearing Wall Removal, included within our structural calculations are pad stone calculations for all of our steel beam calculations, these come at no additional charge and these are included in our competitive fee offer.

The size of the pad stone is important as it is designed to reduce the stress on the masonry under the bearing from the beam reaction to an acceptable level. This is dependent on the age, condition and material properties of the remaining masonry and mortar. In certain instances, such as older properties, stresses are limited to 0.42N/mm2 and new engineering brick columns or steel posts and potentially new foundations or local underpinning will be required as the loading and stresses on the existing construction would be too great.