Hello, undertaking major refurb work and one of the things I want to do is cut down this ugly newel post.

 

Property is 70's build ex local authority. The rh wall is the party wall and the lh wall is load bearing. Directly above the newel post is a bedroom cupboard built with thermalite blocks and a blockwork banister that will be demolished. 

 

Is there any chance this is load bearing or just there for handrail support? It's 4" held in place by a single nail. 

 

Many thanks 

Unless the joist end/s are not supported then I would say the post is not needed. A single nail is sufficient as the post would be in compression so that isn’t a good indicator.

for piece of mind you could put an acro at the side, remove the post and then lower the acro a small amount (loose nail at top to stop it walling over). You may find the floor above a bit springy without the support

Edited July 21, 20224 yr by markc

If the joist directly above is continuous and supported on either wall then the post is probably just there for handrail support.

 

If you have a SE engaged they could do you a quick calculation to double check for a nominal fee.

 

My only slight concern is that these would usually be doubled up as a trimmer, and as @markc said, this may introduce a slight bounce in the floor. But still, unlikely to be dangerous. 

Thank you both for the input. The acro idea is a good shout. The horizontal joist in the 2nd at both ends is supported. On the left is a wall and the right it's on a heavy duty hanger that's toothed into the party wall. It's just the hung joist front to back that also bear weight adding to it. If there's any doubt I will consult a SE before 👍

 

 

I bet my left nut that if you remove that the bounce in the floor upstairs will increase.

up to you if it’s an acceptable level. 

I personally would be adding strength to that joist.

 

Its not going to fall down, but any flexwill end up with cracked ceilings.  

Don't forget plenty of older houses never had doubled up joists around openings like stair wells, and they don't often fall down because of that.

 

As above I would try it and see. 

5 hours ago, CAdam said:

Hello, undertaking major refurb work and one of the things I want to do is cut down this ugly newel post.

 

Property is 70's build ex local authority. The rh wall is the party wall and the lh wall is load bearing. Directly above the newel post is a bedroom cupboard built with thermalite blocks and a blockwork banister that will be demolished. 

 

Is there any chance this is load bearing or just there for handrail support? It's 4" held in place by a single nail. 

 

Many thanks 

 

 

 

What is the post sitting on? If it was loadbearing the load is being transferred somewhere, what is that somewhere? If it is just sitting on the floorboards no where near a joist then that would go a long way to suggest it is non-loadbearing. 

IMO it’s not load bearing, it was installed after the joist hangers etc, but I like the “try it and see” approach 🤷‍♂️

39 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

What is the post sitting on? If it was loadbearing the load is being transferred somewhere, what is that somewhere? If it is just sitting on the floorboards no where near a joist then that would go a long way to suggest it is non-loadbearing. 

My bad, it's a concrete floor. 👍

I think the words load bearing are confusing. 

 

Its not holding up the roof

its not holding up a jumbo jet 

but I definitely think it is assisting that joist and helping with removing flex. 

Remove it then go up stairs and jig about a bit, I bet that joist has an unhealthy amount of bounce. 

the joist forming the opening (trimming and trimmer) look to be a size larger than the joists, as they should. this being the case the newel will not be load bearing, but as mentioned previously the joist may flex a bit more though shouldn't as there is no reason/need for that point to be supported as opening correctly formed.