Thanks, sierraeast, for your speedy reply. Just to clarify; 2 of the walls where the new wall will join already have sheetrock removed. Last one is at a corner, so, there HAS to be something there (2x4s) to nail into! That's the corner I'm wondering about as to needing to remove sheetrock from the wall. And then there's the ceiling - assuming we can determine there are ceiling joists in appropriate positions, can we nail the top plates through the drywall to get to them? Or do we need to remove the ceiling drywall to get wood to wood? Here's a pic of what I'm talking about. The walls he's building are around the half bath/laundry room and the pantry. The wall join in question is the lowest left corner where the pantry will meet an existing corner of the living room/dining room, behind the fireplace. . And it's the whole new wall/ceiling connection; all the gray walls in that area are the new ones. Do we need to take down ceiling sheetrock above all the new walls or not? Thanks again

There are a many ways to do a beam: (1) 2x12 (or smaller) on either side of plywood, glued and screwed. (2) Flitch plates, sandwiched the same way but where you replace the plywood with a plate of steel and thru-bolt it. (3) laminated beams (prefab) (4) other steel. These are pretty normal for building trades and framing contractors or welders make them up all day long. In all cases, these beams must be sized to hold the load, specified as to fit, end load considered, etc. Even though beams made up by the contractor are very common, the beam for YOUR particular situation (and all others) will be very specific. For instance, these specifications are bolt size and pattern, thickness of steel, specific Simpson ties required to attach joists...that sort of thing. In my opinion (and most building depts), an engineer is the ONLY person who should approve the structural designs with the list of all those little details and that approval is in writing, either a letter with a stamp or the architects plans with an engineer's stamp on the structural. So, what I suggest about the framing contractor is to come up with a suggested design (for cost savings and creativity) that the engineer signs off on.

Here is a slightly better drawing. I hope I'm not making it seem more complicated than it is. It's a tradition ceiling with the regular joist setup. The builder put up a small 5 foot wall to divide a large space into 2. Modified that wall and saw that the joist I want to remove is not running from end to end like the rest. It stops where the wall was. So, I don't think that it is required for structural support. I added a photo of the wall. I cut a hole in the wall the give an "open look". The joist in question ends at the wood you see in the pic (the wood with the duct running through it).

Joseph, Being a homeowner myself, I of course am in the same boat as you with regards to wasteful spending of potentially unnecessary services for a home remodel. There are many situations you would not need an engineer to help you with a design. Adding a simple header for a window/doorway to a load bearing wall through a licensed contractor who knows what span tables to use for the region is an example. It really depends on the situation and the person's competency. I gave this situation some more thought, and it basically boils down to two options for a typical homeowner: 1. Are you willing to accept the life and death risk/consequences of a structural decision/calculation you make? You may not get sued or goto jail for a structural collapse that kills your loved one, but are ready to live with that decision? Do you have a complete understanding about your particular situation to make an informed structural design decision? Are you confident the age of the wood/beam in question is in good enough condition to use span tables for shear, moment, and deflection requirements? Beams can fail in multiple ways. Do you know how to inspect wood for this criteria? Do you know the knott to clear wood ratio required for a certain construction grade of wood listed in span tables? Do you know how to calculate when too many nails, screw, holes is too many? Do you know when it's safe to assume a species of wood, and when you need to be conservative? Do you know how to visually identify a beam that is likely load limited by moment, shear, or deflection? Do you know how to identify a beam that is typically subjected to a distributed load but must be designed for a point load in the same or different direction? Beams that are improperly sized typically do not just collapse immediately, they collapse later under a circumstance not accounted for. Licensed structural engineers spend their careers understanding the modes of failure and designing for them. When a building does not collapse under normal or extreme situations it is not an accident, everything is calculated to save lives. Licensed civil engineers are arguably responsible for more lives than any other professional field, it justifies the difficulty in getting the license. or 2. Are you willing to spend 3-400 dollars on an engineer like me who will spend a few hours to look at your home, make some quick calculations, and generate a basic drawing with their stamp? The stamp guarantees a sound design with serious legal consequences if that is not the case. Those consequences follow me long after I retire, and include fines or even imprisonment. No civil engineer wants to provide their stamp without adequate investigation because of how serious of a commitment it is, but we will do it when we are confident in the design. It's our job. My stamp has the power to override provisions in the building code, and forms the legal basis for a claim against a home 20+ years down the road, you could not say the same for other trades.