Can load-bearing walls be demolished? Demolishing the wrong wall can have serious consequences!

Recently, a resident in a residential area in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, privately demolished a load-bearing wall, causing the emergency evacuation of more than 200 households, which has attracted attention. Currently, the person responsible for the incident has been taken criminal compulsory measures.

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gossip:

In real life, some people think that load-bearing walls affect the space or aesthetics, and if necessary, they can be demolished by themselves. In fact, load-bearing walls are not ordinary walls and cannot be demolished casually! So, how to judge whether a wall is a load-bearing wall and whether it can be demolished?

analyze:

How does the house stand firm?

We all played with building blocks when we were young, and we know that it is not easy to build a high building block. If the building block is shaken a little, all the efforts will be wasted. It is not easy to build a small building block to a height of several dozen centimeters. It is even more difficult to build a warm and safe home with thousands of tons of building materials.

The first is the materials. Building blocks usually only use wooden blocks, but building a house requires more materials. Generally speaking, shorter houses can be built with bricks, while common high-rise buildings often require the use of steel-concrete hybrid structures. The most commonly used building materials include bricks, concrete, steel of various shapes and sizes, etc. These materials have their own strengths, and only when used together can the house be both light and strong, and have a certain resistance to fire, earthquakes, and corrosion.

When building blocks, we will find that some shapes are more likely to collapse, while some shapes are more stable. It is similar when building a house. A properly designed structure can save materials and reduce weight.

Although there are many types of commonly used building structure systems according to structural forms, if we only talk about residential buildings, the most common ones are nothing more than three.

First is the masonry structure, also known as brick-concrete structure. For example, many old houses with only 5-6 floors or shorter buildings 30 or 40 years ago were built with masonry structures, which are generally made of bricks. In such houses, almost every wall has to bear some weight. Such old structures are gradually being eliminated due to their poor stability and earthquake resistance.

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Next is the frame structure. This structure relies mainly on reinforced concrete beams and columns to maintain stability. Its characteristic is that the building space is relatively spacious, but this structure is not suitable for building too high. Nowadays, many small villas with low floors prefer frame structures. Many shopping malls, factories, and warehouses also use frame structures.

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Another type is the frame-shear wall structure, which is similar to the frame structure, but there are a certain number of shear walls in the middle of the frame. Since this structural system has the advantages of open space of the frame structure and high rigidity of the shear wall structure, it is widely used in various high-rise buildings.

Which areas cannot be demolished?

After a brief understanding of the common structures of houses, we can discuss which parts cannot be demolished. Generally speaking, we can make a preliminary distinction between load-bearing walls and non-load-bearing walls in building structures based on the following.

As for brick-concrete structures, as mentioned above, they mainly rely on walls to bear weight, so in such houses, most of the horizontal and vertical walls are load-bearing walls and cannot be demolished. As for houses with pure frame structures , most of the walls are not load-bearing, so there is much more room for maneuver, but remember not to touch the beams and columns.

We can also see some clues from the materials. Generally, walls made of standard bricks are load-bearing walls, because if they are non-load-bearing walls, lightweight aerated bricks are often used.

The thickness of the wall can also be used as one of the reference standards. The load-bearing wall is often more than 20cm thick, while walls that are usually 120mm and thinner are often partition walls, such as those used to separate bathrooms, kitchens, etc. Such partition walls can usually be removed.

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In addition, it can be distinguished based on the junction between the wall and the bottom of the beam. The junction with oblique bricks is generally a non-load-bearing wall. The joint between the wall and the bottom of the beam is generally a load-bearing wall.

There is another detail to pay attention to. If there are pillars protruding from the corners or walls of the room, they are generally load-bearing frame structures. Don't remove them for the sake of aesthetics.

Seeing this, some friends may think, "Okay, I've learned it, let's get started!" However, it should be emphasized here that if you want to accurately judge the structural type, you should check the specific information of the house structure on the real estate certificate. Or consult a structural engineering designer from a professional organization. Don't make the decision to demolish a wall based on experience alone.

If you demolish the wrong wall, the consequences will be serious!

The renovation during building decoration must not affect the main load-bearing components of the structural system. Once the wrong ones are dismantled, it may directly lead to wall cracks and the entire building will become a dangerous building!

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In addition, even if some load-bearing structures are demolished and the impact may not be seen at the time, it will cause the damaged areas to become the weak links of the building, increasing the hidden dangers of the entire building. Once a disaster such as an earthquake occurs, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, cities generally have urban housing safety management regulations. Generally, if the main building and load-bearing structure of a house are changed without authorization during renovation, the relevant competent department shall order rectification and impose a fine of more than 10,000 yuan but less than 50,000 yuan. If losses are caused, compensation liability shall be borne according to law.

In addition, Article 114 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of my country stipulates that if a person destroys a residence, public building or other public or private property by other dangerous means, endangering public safety but not causing serious consequences, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years. In other words, the consequences of arbitrarily demolishing the load-bearing walls of a house will not only result in civil liability, but may also violate the criminal law and constitute the crime of "negligently endangering public safety by dangerous means", thus requiring criminal liability.

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If there is a real need for engineering construction functions, the original building functions need to be transformed and reinforced, such as the reinforcement and repair of old residential houses or historical buildings, which must be designed and constructed by a unit with professional qualifications.
Therefore, when we decorate the house ourselves, we must be extremely cautious when deciding to demolish a wall.

In addition, if you discover that your neighbors are suspected of engaging in behavior that may affect the modification or renovation of the structural system, you should promptly inform them. If they do not respond, you can contact the property management company. If the community does not have a property management company, you can report to the urban management law enforcement agency to which the residential building belongs, or you can entrust a government housing safety appraisal agency to conduct a safety appraisal.

In fact, in order to have a more reasonable apartment and a larger area, it is understandable to want to tear down some walls, but don't take risks because of this. As long as the area is ignored, safety will eventually hurt others and yourself. When it comes to tearing down walls, it is really better to be a little less courageous, design more steadily, and be happy longer.

in conclusion

Unauthorized demolition of load-bearing walls may directly lead to cracks in the walls, turning the entire building into a dangerous building! Even if some load-bearing structures are demolished, the impact may not be seen at the time, but the damaged parts will become the weak links of the building, increasing the safety risks of the entire building.

Author: Professor Lin Huangbin, PhD in Engineering from Tongji University, Director of the Board of Directors of Fujian Civil and Architectural Society

Review｜Zhu Xuanxuan Senior Engineer, Beijing Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd.

Editor | Ding Zong

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