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We have an unusual 3 inch thick poured concrete floor in a steel mesh in the ground floor of our house, under this is a basement like area with an old riveted steel across half of it and a couple of single brick walls, these again rest on a concrete floor. The 3 inch floor is resting on external walls and other large steels. How do I know if the other partition brick walls are actually supporting the floor or not?

We had a structural engineer in but he just assumed everything did support the floor above which I think is supporting it's own weight. Is there a way of actually measuring physical load or knowing for sure?

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    I'd trust a structural engineer who has actually seen it a lot more than a bunch of opinions from the internet.
    – Comintern
    Feb 10, 2016 at 13:51
  • Did the engineer provide you with a written report, describing the loads? The way you'd determine things is to 'redesign' the house, and add up the numbers. Its possible the internal walls are not load bearing, but to tell that we'd have to see ALL the details on the loads involved, including all dimensions and materials involved.
    – zipzit
    Feb 10, 2016 at 20:21

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Any information you'd glean from this discussion is untrustworthy for the following reasons:

  1. No photos. They often reveal issues not mentioned in your short description.

  2. No dimensions. In engineering, dimensions are key.

  3. No information about construction era or age. That would tell us a lot about common building techniques.

  4. No liability. Anyone telling you what to do here has no legal, fiscal, or other binding obligation to be sure of their facts. That's a dangerous situation where building collapse is at stake.

Consult a local, licensed engineer. Best of luck.

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  • This is a comment, not an answer.
    – Chris Cudmore
    Feb 10, 2016 at 14:24
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    The answer to "how can I know for sure?" is consult an engineer, as I said above. Feel free to vote as you see fit.
    – isherwood
    Feb 10, 2016 at 14:42

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