EBK Carpentry
Structural carpentry

Load-bearing wall removal across Sydney

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The job that turns a closed-off floorplan into one open room. We handle the propping, the beam and the opening, and hand it back square and ready for the next trade.

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  • Licensed & insured
  • Sydney-wide
  • Free quotes

What does removing a load-bearing wall actually involve?

Removing a load-bearing wall means transferring the weight it carries onto a new beam. The floor or roof above is propped first, the beam goes in sized to the load it carries, and posts carry that load down through the floor to the footings. It is a structural job, not a demolition job.

At a glance

  • Time on site: One to three days for a single opening, once the beam is sized and approvals are sorted.
  • Engineer: Not always. Simpler timber jobs can be sized from AS 1684.2 span tables. Steel, long spans and concentrated loads need one.
  • Approval: Usually a Complying Development Certificate through a private certifier. Strata needs owners corporation approval too.
  • Beam options: Timber LVL for shorter spans, steel UB or PFC for longer spans and heavier loads.
  • Handed over: Opening squared and trimmed, ready for the plasterer. We don't patch or paint.
  • Area: Sydney-wide, from a base in Dulwich Hill
What's included

What the job actually covers

Five things, in the order they happen. The first one is where the risk is, and the second is where jobs go wrong.

  • Working out what the wall carries

    Before anything comes out we establish what is sitting on the wall: floor joists, ceiling joists, roof load, or another wall above it. That determines the beam, and it is the difference between a straightforward job and an expensive surprise.

  • Temporary propping

    Acrow props and bearers on both sides of the wall, taking the floor above before a single stud is cut. This is the part of the job that keeps the house standing and the part that gets rushed on bad sites. We don't rush it.

  • Beam supply and installation

    Timber LVL for shorter spans, steel universal beam or PFC where the span or the load is bigger. Fixed to the span tables or the engineer's detail, whichever the job calls for, packed the way the drawing specifies.

  • Posts and the load path

    A beam is only as good as what holds it up. We install the posts and make sure the load carries down through the floor structure to something that can take it, rather than stopping at a floorboard.

  • Making the opening good

    Squared, straight and ready for the plasterer. Nogging, trimming and packing done so the finishing trades aren't fixing our work before they start theirs.

Step one

Working out what the wall is carrying

Most of the risk in this job is decided before anyone picks up a tool. A wall that looks identical to the one next to it might be carrying the roof, or it might be carrying nothing but its own weight.

If it's ambiguous, the answer is to open up a small section of ceiling and look. That costs an hour. Getting it wrong costs a great deal more.

  • Joist direction. Floor and ceiling joists have to land on something. If they run across the top of the wall rather than alongside it, the wall is taking that load.
  • What is above it. A wall stacked under another wall, a bathroom, or a roof strut is part of a load path running down to the footings.
  • The floor space below. In a suspended-floor house, a load-bearing wall will usually have its own bearer and piers underneath.
  • Age and construction. Older Sydney housing has been altered more than most people expect, and the current load path is often not the original one.
Step two

Propping is the part that matters

Once the wall comes out, the floor above has to be held by something. Temporary propping goes in on both sides, taking the joists onto bearers and down through acrow props to a solid bearing point.

Two things go wrong on badly run sites: props that aren't landing on anything substantial, and props that come out too early. Both cause the same thing, which is movement in the floor above and cracking in the ceilings and cornices you were hoping to keep.

We leave propping in until the beam and its posts are permanently carrying the load.

The decision you make

Flush beam or dropped beam

This is usually the choice that most affects how the finished room feels, and the one worth understanding before you get quotes.

Dropped beam

The beam sits below the ceiling line.

Ceiling
Visible bulkhead across the room
Work involved
Joists stay put, beam picks up underneath
Cost
Lower
Best for
Larger rooms where a bulkhead reads as a detail

Flush beam

The beam sits up inside the floor structure.

Ceiling
Runs through unbroken, no trace of the wall
Work involved
Every joist cut and hung off the beam on hangers
Cost
Higher
Best for
Open-plan kitchen and living, and small rooms

A flush beam is only possible if the depth the beam needs fits within the available floor depth. That single constraint is usually what decides steel versus timber. We'll tell you at quote stage which your job can support.

How we work

From first call to handover

  1. 01

    Site visit

    We look at the wall, what sits above it and what's in the ceiling space, and tell you honestly whether it's load-bearing, what removing it will take, and whether it needs an engineer.

  2. 02

    Sizing the beam

    Simpler timber jobs we size ourselves from the span tables and show you the working. Anything outside that scope goes to a structural engineer and we build to their drawing.

  3. 03

    Prop, remove, install

    Props go in, the wall comes out, the beam goes in and the posts are fixed. Most single openings are done in one to three days on site.

  4. 04

    Handover

    Props come out once everything is permanently supported, the site is cleaned up and the opening is left ready for the plasterer.

Ready when you are

Get a quote on your wall removal

Send through your plans, your engineer's drawings, or just a few photos of the wall. We'll come back to you with the next steps, no obligation.

  • Free, no-obligation quote
  • Licensed & insured
  • Sydney-wide
Request a QuoteCall 0420 223 223
Worth knowing

Where these jobs go over budget

In roughly this order of frequency. All four are cheaper to find at quote stage than mid-job, which is the whole argument for a proper look before anyone commits to a number.

  1. Services buried in the wall

    Power, switches, data, sometimes plumbing. All of it has to go somewhere else, and that's an electrician and possibly a plumber. Very common in older homes.

  2. Beam access

    A beam that can't be carried in needs craning or splicing. Discovered late, it means redesigning after the steel has already been specified.

  3. Inadequate bearing

    The load arriving at each end of the beam is concentrated into a small area. If it lands on two courses of old brickwork, you're into new footings.

  4. Previous unapproved work

    Opening a ceiling and finding somebody else's renovation has already moved load onto this wall. It happens more than you'd think.

FAQs

Wall removal questions

Not covered here? Call 0420 223 223 and ask. We'd rather answer it than have you guess.

How do I know if a wall is load-bearing?
The reliable signs are direction and continuity. A wall running perpendicular to the floor or ceiling joists above it is likely carrying them, and a wall that lines up with a wall directly below or above is usually part of a load path down to the footings. Internal walls running parallel to the joists are often non-structural. None of these are proof. The only way to be certain is to look in the ceiling or floor space and see what actually bears on it.
Do I need council approval to remove a load-bearing wall in Sydney?
In almost all cases yes, in some form. Removing a load-bearing wall is not exempt development in NSW. Most single-dwelling jobs go through as Complying Development, with a certificate issued by a private certifier, which is faster than a DA. Heritage items and many conservation areas need a development application to council instead. In an apartment you will also need owners corporation approval.
Do I need a structural engineer?
Not always. Where the job sits inside the scope of AS 1684.2, the Australian Standard for residential timber-framed construction, we can size a timber beam from the standard's span tables and the supplier's, which saves you the engineer's fee. Plenty of straightforward openings fall in there. Outside it you need one: steel, long spans, and concentrated loads where a roof strut or an upper-storey wall lands on the beam. Your certifier may also want the engineering on file regardless. Which side your job falls on is a site visit, not a phone call, and we will tell you straight.
How long does the job take?
A single opening in a typical Sydney house is usually one to three days of carpentry once we're on site. The longer part of the timeline is usually the certificate beforehand, and the engineering too where the job needs it, which together can take a few weeks.
Can the beam be hidden so the ceiling stays flat?
Often, yes. A flush beam sits up inside the floor structure so the finished ceiling runs through unbroken, which is what most people want in an open-plan kitchen and living space. It is more work than dropping the beam below the ceiling line, because the joists have to be cut and hung off the beam, so it costs more. Whether it is possible depends on the beam depth the job needs versus the depth you have.
Can you remove a wall in an apartment?
Yes, but there is more process. Anything structural in a strata building needs owners corporation approval, usually a by-law, on top of the certificate and any engineering. Access, noise restrictions and getting a steel beam into a unit are all real constraints worth planning around before you commit to a date.
What does it cost to remove a load-bearing wall?
The main variables are the span, whether the beam is timber or steel, whether it sits flush or dropped, and how hard the beam is to get into the room. Certification, the finishing trades, and engineering where the job needs it, all sit outside our quote. We price each job after seeing it rather than off a price list.
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The rest of what we do

Wall removals rarely arrive on their own. These are the trades that usually come with them.

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