Hi there! This forum is fantastic! I've been reading through thread after thread for the past few months and have learnt a great deal. Thank you
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advise or point me in the right direction for knocking out a wall (between kitchen and lounge room) in a unit. I understand I would first need to get it checked to make sure its not a load bearing wall.
I'm not sure what the best option is, whether its a DIY or I hire someone to do it, and what kind of expenses would I be looking at? Has anyone had experience in a DIY knock out wall?? Is this going to be a nighmare or pretty straight forward?
Thanks so much in advance!
if its a unit, the wall is probably brick, and therefore structural.
second, you need body corp permission.
might still be possible tho
Hi Nami,
I took out an interior wall in a unit we own a few years ago as part of the renovation we did. We sold it 2 years ago to fund another project.
The renovations took 3 months, and by this time I new all the other unit owners and they all came through to follow the progress with interest.
No-one from the body corp said anything, and I didn't know we had to ask, so ploughed on.
After this I had 2 offers to do the same for a couple of the nannas in the complex, but said thankyou, but no time available.
I did all the renos myself except for plumbing and electrical, and a small amount of plastering, and we had a new Bunnings kitchen installed. The unit looked fantastic.
I'll explain what was done; sorry if the carpentry terms etc aren't correct.
The wall was between the lounge and kitchen, and opened up the area amazingly. It was wood frame and plaster board. There was a sliding woodframed glass door in the wall as well, which I kept for use later to close off the laundry from the kitchen.
I checked to see if the wall was load-bearing (wasn't) then traced the area on the wall where I wanted to remove, then used a stud-finder to work out where the vertical wall frame beams were.
A bit of re-marking to make sure the cuts were going to be right up against the inside edge of each vertical wall beams on either side of the opening, then proceded to cut what I could of the plaster out with a standard $7 wood saw.
When I reached each wall noggin, I cut this area with an angle grinder.
Then cut along the top near the roof, just below the cornice with the saw again etc. There was a roof beam in line with the edges of the cornice which was later plastered over and formed a small bulkhead between the kitchen and lounge. Looked good.
After removing the skirting boards, I used an angle grinder down at the floor so as not to damage the lovely floorboards underneath (these were later polished). I then removed the remaining plaster with pliers and a stanley knife.
All that there was left to do was saw across the vertical wall beams and remove them and the opening was created.
I then hired a plasterer (friend in the trade) to fill in the side openings and the top near the ceiling.
There was some minor damage to the skirting boards, so I removed the ones affected and replaced with new lengths.I can't remember the total cost of this job, but I guess it would have to be under $100 as the plastering was part of other bits that needed doing as well, and the entire plastering bill was around $190 from memory. The skirting boards were 2 lengths, then cut up, so whatever 2 lengths cost. Oh yeah; a bit of sealer along the edges of the cornices and skirting boards and some paint .
I might say, I had no previous experience at this, other than a bit of home handy-man stuff. I had some of the tools already, so had a go. It wasn't that hard, but renos will always take longer than you think.
Give it a go.
Thank you so much for the prompt responses!!
It's been a really great help.Just to let you know, my current plan is to move and rent out my current unit , and buy a 2nd unit to live in. I've decided that buying an older unit needing some renos is the way to go, so here i am doing some research to make sure it is possible.
Really appreciate your comments L.A Aussie, it's encouraging and motivating to give it a go.
I definitely understand that it will take much longer than I would hope, but thats why there are qualified trades people out there! (but sometimes its the experience that makes it all worthwhile).One more question though… As Crashy mentioned, any ideas if the wall is bricked? Some of the older units (say 30 yo units in Sydney) seem to have rendered brick internal walls. Although i dont actually know if this is fact, but it looks and feels like it. Any ideas?
Hi Nami,
Simply check out the render/brick with a cement cutter, slot in a three or four inch lintel beam, this will then support the new opening and knock the bricks out underneath! Bobs your uncle!
we are currently in a similar situation, but knocking out the wall may not proceed as smoothly as you would like…
the guy upstairs did just that. he is being taken to court for removing the internal kitchen wall and other unauthorised work. the whole thing is becoming very bloody. that said, if its supervised by a structural engineer who agrees that there will be no structural impact on the block, the owner's corporation can't deny approval for work to proceed.
as an aside, check that the floor to ceiling height is the same in the kitchen and the living room before you knock that wall out.
May recommend you delegate this job. Talk to the “owners corporation” of the building and then get a semi retired bricky to do it, he will charge you around $40 bucks an hour and you just need to work out with him how many hours it is going to take him to do it, and then see if it fits your reno budget.
It sounds like by DIY you wont get the quality finish that you may need
Thanks for the reply everyone!! Its been very useful.
It seems the best and first option would be to get professional advice to avoid any messy situation with the owners corporation.
All this information has been so helpful! Thank you so much!!
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
