Removing a Wall Separating 2 Rooms

[Deactivated] on 30/09/2014 - 07:51

Hi all.

I live in a 3 bedroom house and I've always been interested in removing the wall that separates 2 of the bedrooms to make it a larger room, but I am not sure where to start. Who would be the first professional I would contact? What kind of money would I have to shell-out to get it done. This isn't a particularly large wall, although I assume given its placement in the house, it is probably load-bearing. I know it is hard to offer opinions on price without seeing the wall itself but even just minimum estimates would be appreciated.

Additionally, what kind of effect wold it have on the value of the house? Would turning a 3 bedroom house into a 2 (large) bedroom house have any dramatic effect on its value, positively or negatively? I'm not interested in selling, but I wouldn't want to do any reno that would negatively impact my house value.

Thanks.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Geewhizz on 30/09/2014 - 08:30
    +3

    First thing you need to have a structural engineer/building inspector look at it to check whether it is a load-bearing wall. If it is, asking the likely cost of the work needed is akin to asking the length of a piece of string, as there are numerous variables.

    Our loungeroom is quite tiny, and the study next door is quite obviously an add-on, because we discovered the walls were built over carpet. We've been considering taking those walls back out to increase the size of the lounge, and when we had to get an independent valuation done here a couple of years ago, I asked her what effect doing so would have on the value of the house, prepared for the value to drop for having removed a room. But her reply was, "Oh, it would increase a little bit, but not much." At the end of the day though, all things being equal, what you do is going to impact on the likelihood of being able to sell your home down the track. Removing a bedroom is possibly a bit risky in that regard, but if that does turn out to be the case you can alway replace the wall.

    • StewBalls on 30/09/2014 - 12:26

      First thing you need to have a structural engineer/building inspector look at it to check whether it is a load-bearing wall.

      Good advice, except that IME you don't need to incur the additional expense of using an engineer; any builder worth his salt will be able to tell you in just a few minutes (with a quick trip up into the roof cavity) whether it's load bearing or not & give you a ballpark indication of what it's going to cost you to fiddle with it.

      Honestly, if it is load bearing, with the cost of building work these days; and the difficulty in finding good tradies in the first place; unless it's absolutely necessary, then I wouldn't stuff around with it…particularly to lose a bedroom, which can negatively impact the resale-ability of your home. Perhaps talk to someone about maximising the potential of what space you do have?

  • [Deactivated] on 30/09/2014 - 15:51
    +1

    OK. Some things to consider. Thanks for the replies.

  • mskeggs on 30/09/2014 - 18:45

    Agreed. A licensed builder will give a quote in 10 mins.
    We did a similar job about 15 years ago, so prices obviously change, but demolishing the wall and replacing it with a steel beam about 4m long was around $4000. We then painted etc. ourselves. Ours was in a block of flats, so it was a bit trickier than yours.

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