ᐅ What should be considered when removing or relocating walls?

Hello, I’m new to the forum and my name is Ingo. I have just purchased an apartment that is about 40 years old and in need of significant renovation. Among other things, I would like to enlarge the bathroom, which would require moving some walls inside the apartment. According to the original building plans, the walls are marked as LW, which likely stands for lightweight wall. In reality, these seem to be 10 or 12.5cm (4 or 5 inches) thick Ytong walls.

Is it possible to simply remove such a wall, or would the concrete ceiling risk collapsing? Do I need to support anything?

What is the best method to build or fix the new wall? I would probably use 10cm (4 inches) Ytong and instead of plastering, cover it with drywall panels (I’m not skilled at plastering, but I have installed drywall panels before at a friend’s place).

Best regards,
Ingo

There is quite a lot happening in the forum here—3 questions asked and not a single answer after 3 days, impressive!

What good is an answer like "Sure, go ahead and move the wall," if the ceiling comes crashing down afterward? There is a structural plan for your house, which should indicate which walls are load-bearing and which are not. I would consider the building drawing itself as not decisive.

In principle, it is possible to move the wall if it is not load-bearing. Do you have electrical wiring inside the wall? Underfloor heating beneath the new wall location? Then it becomes more complicated.

Unfortunately, there is no structural engineering plan available for the house; there probably was one at some point. I only have the original construction drawing with dimensions and the indication LW (lightweight wall) on the mentioned walls. There is no underfloor heating, as this was not a standard over 40 years ago. There are cables, yes; lighting and electricity for the rooms will certainly be present, but it should not be too complicated—just disconnect them beforehand and install the necessary cables in or on the new wall.

Hello Ingo,

Ingo.M schrieb:

There’s quite a lot going on in the forum here, 3 questions asked and after 3 days not even 1 answer, respect!

You can spare the sarcasm!

"Wastl" has given you, from my point of view, the correct answer. Regarding your questions about replacing the heating system including insulation of the radiator niches, these cannot be answered without knowing the exact parameters.

I assume you got a bargain on the apartment and now believe you can find the required "cheap" answers in a forum like this. But it’s not as simple as you seem to think, since other apartments must also be considered. Of course, you can play Russian roulette and hope that the answers you get here will stand up to everyday use; however, this approach is far from recommended.

Bargain or not – in order to move walls, the structural engineering must be the foundation. If that is not available, a specialist must inspect the situation onsite. The next question to consider is which room in the apartment below is located under the "new" bathroom? Could noise disturbance occur, how can drainage be properly ensured, etc.? The same applies to replacing the heating system. Have a heating installer provide advice; many of them are quite knowledgeable about older buildings and their challenges.

While I understand the desire to handle things yourself, a project like renovating an apartment within a multi-family building should not be undertaken without external professional expertise.

Regards, Bauexperte

Bauexperte schrieb:
Hello Ingo,

Regarding your questions about replacing the heating system including insulating the radiator niches, these cannot be answered without knowing the exact parameters.

I assume you got a bargain on the apartment and now expect to find the necessary "cheap" answers in a forum like this.

The next question to consider is which room in the lower apartment is located beneath the "new" bathroom? Could noise disturbance occur, how can proper drainage be ensured, etc.?
With all due respect for wanting to do the work yourself, a project like renovating an apartment within a multi-family building should not be undertaken without external professional expertise.

Hello Bauexperte,
No one has asked me for exact parameters yet. The apartment was by no means a bargain, and I did not ask for "cheap" answers—you are reading something into this yourself. I am aware that I will probably need to invest around 20,000 to 25,000 euros in the apartment. Of course, I would like to do some work myself to generally save costs, but before hiring contractors, I want to gather information in advance.

The bathroom wall is planned to be moved about 40 cm (16 inches). There is a bathroom directly below, and the drainage system will remain untouched. I only want to install a larger shower and have more space in front of the washbasin and next to the toilet.

Regarding the need for external expertise, I had assumed that a house-building forum would also include professionals with the expertise you mentioned. I have meanwhile spoken to an architect, who told me that walls marked as LW in the building plans are generally non-load-bearing or only support themselves. Such an explanation could have come from professionals here in the forum as well.

Also, the statement that radiator niches should not be insulated, without any explanation, does not help me much. My chimney sweep on site actually advised the opposite. The wall behind the radiator, consisting of brick and possibly a wooden panel, is only about 14 cm (5.5 inches) thick, and a lot of heating energy is lost that way. He recommended insulating or even completely closing up that space.

Best regards,
Ingo