Do I need to remove load bearing wall,/bump back the cabinets/pantry?
We really want a large island that can accommodate 5 people but I don't know that we can have good flow in the space unless we 1) knock down a load-bearing wall or 2) at least recess the cabinets that sit against it by 12"-18".
Someone suggested that we don't remove the load-bearing wall but instead keep it and build a non-load bearing wall 18" behind it, thus basically bumping it back to create a wider walkway past the island. However, I can visualize what this would look like. Obviously, the load-bearing wall will need to be supported and we would probably need to build pantries rather than using cabinets.
I have attached a floor plan of the space we are looking at. Can anyone offer photos that would allow we to visualize what it would look like? Or offer any comments about this as an option?
Comments (13)
Buehl
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoBuehl
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
Second Floor Addition / Removing Two Load-Bearing Walls That Meet
Comments (6)I appreciate the supportive opinions! With respect to columns in the L/R, I foresee only one, about 5-6' in from front of the house and about 8-9' in from the left side. This is where the corner of the original house sits now. The I-beams will meet at this post and the other sides will be held up by the portions of the load bearing walls that will remain in place. If colums will be needed at those points to take the extra weight, they can be tucked away so that they don't or only barely show in the L/R. In any case there will be only one column to be worked around for funiture placement. With respect to adding value, yes I think both projects definitely will. Right now the house has a nice kitchen and a nice MBR. Everything else is small and kind of weird. Post-remodeling the house will have a good size L/R, a conventional D/R, an 11 x 11 room (TV room, office...), and three real B/R's. Not a McMansion by any means, but a liveable 3 BR house. So it seems I should start with an engineer......See Morenew plan - removing load bearing wall
Comments (17)If expenses are a concern, then avoid moving the sink from underneath it's present window. Put that money that you would have spent doing that into putting a beam to remove the load bearing wall. Just moving the sink down to the other windows only to put a range in front of where the sink is currently makes no sense spacially or economically. If the goal is to open the kitchen up to the other rooms with a minimal amount of expense, then you should consider leaving some of the wall intact to have a smaller beam. This would actually extend the wall, and force some different traffic patterns such as walking through the dining room to the kitchen from the garage, etc. What this would do though, is drastically reduce the cost of taking down that wall because all of the spans that have the be done from point to point here can be done with smaller dimensional lumber rather than any beams. Smaller and shallower headers mean more visual height, and they mean that a one or two man construction crew can handle the job rather than having to have 5-6 handle the logistics of doing a large beam. And, since the only plumbing addition is a prep sink and you're not moving the cleanup sink, there is savings there as well....See MoreWhat do you think of this idea for a load-bearing wall? Will it work?
Comments (9)katie- I am mostly responding to the concerns in your other thread here. First of all, I certainly emphasize with the strain of not being able to figure out how to make the layout work, or how to hire the people you need when budget is a concern. We have been *thinking of* doing our kitchen for seven years while we try to figure it out! In terms of your stress level, I would encourage you to think about whether it is the actual kitchen condition that is causing you stress, or it is the project that is causing you stress...in which case it might be best to sit back and try to make your kitchen workable so that you have a little breathing room. Trying to just get it done may end up costing more to get less of what you want. I assume you are waiting to replace your microwave because you want to buy a new one with the built in look...but we were able to pick up a used microwave for $25 on craigslist (which we have now used for 6 years...it is good we picked it up). A garbage disposal replacement is usual a DIY install...and the new disposal should be able to be installed in your new kitchen...my hubby (who is a chemistry professor but likes DIY) also has installed dishwashers if you know that appliances you want. That does not solve the open sofits and cealing, but it does make the kitchen more functional. I think pictures would help me visualize the spaces more, but I am going to be the odd man out and say that I think trying to recess your fridge into the dining room is going to eat up a lot of your budget, and I am not completely sure what you are going to gain. I think your concern is that your fridge is sticking too far into the highly trafficked space. Do you have any built in pieces that make the "living room" the living room, the dining room the dining room and the family room the family room? I think I would try to turn the dining room in the "living room" (or the family room kids hangout space with the door that closes!). Then you could put in a large island with sink running the long direction of the house (or leave your sink) , put your fridge between the french door and the low window with a pantry (or counterspace next to it) and leave the stove where it is. You could then put your dining table in the living room (but have bar seating on the island) and even set up a small seating area in your new dining room...our house is probably a very different style than yours, but our little couch at the end of our dining room is quite popular! (It's in an alcove, but you see our chandelier and built in china closet...it is very much part of the dining room...you might even be able to put in a built in bench under your low window). I have certainly found the staring over phenomenon quite difficult...especially because everyone does things differently. Our first quote came back "no structural engineer required," the second contractor wanted us to hire a structural engineer before he wrote the quote (although he did say he would most likely correctly guess what needed to be done), the architect we talked to would bring a structural engineer and start boring in the walls. The third contractor said he would open up the walls, and then have the engineer come make drawings if we wanted...he said that we could go either way but the permitting would be much easier with a stamped engineers drawing. Each contractor uses a different cabinet sales person that sells a different line of cabinets! Have you tried home depot or cliqstudios or something similar? I went to home depot and met with the designer...they gave me a ballpark figure but said I would have to pay $100 for a measure to get an actual design/quote, but the kitchen designer I met with was very helpful and gave me some good ideas. The $100 would be applied to the install...we need a gut to update knob and tube wire etc so we are not doing home depot install. I talked to cliqstudioes today and I am curious with what they come up with. I have also found it really helpful to look at real estate photos of similar houses to mine to see how they updated the kitchen...they are more consistent with the style, budget and layout constraints of my project than the Houzz photos are....See MoreRemoving load bearing wall - looking for some input
Comments (8)Where are you located, HU? KSC's solution probably doesn't apply to your situation because the roof slope looks to be low. But there is a solution, and your best course of action is to seek consult from a reputable GC or engineer. I don't think you would need an engineer's report unless you want them to provide details on how to remove the wall and support the roof....See MoreBuehl
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoBenjiBoi
6 years agoOk. Let me try this again. I have color-coded the drawing to help explain what I am asking.
What I am trying to accomplish is to have the benefit of extra space without totally removing the load-bearing wall. With the island I would like to put in, I won't have a wide enough walkway if I line the load-bearing wall with cabinets. However, I was thinking that I might be able to keep the support from the load-bearing wall, place a pantry, closets or cabinets around the supports for that wall, and create a non-load bearing wall behind it. Sort of bumping the wall back without losing the structural integrity it provides and without the cost of removing it, especially because I would need to put up another wall between the dining room and kitchen, even if it is not as long. Otherwise, there is nowhere to put the fridge.
This means I would lose some space in the dining room, but we don't use it more than 1-2/times per year.
I am attaching some photos of my very ugly current kitchen to give you a better idea of the current layout.
At this point, I am wondering if this idea has any merit before I move into other floor plans for the space. I really, really want the big island but am not sure if it is feasible.
1. View from dining room into kitchen:
- view from front hallway near stairway
3.kitchen from family room
4. view of load-bearing wall from kitchen toward the dining room
5. another view of load-bearing wall
6. from garage entrance into kitchen
8.from bay window area toward load-bearing wall
If there are other views you would like to see, please let me know.
- view from front hallway near stairway
mama goose_gw zn6OH
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoYou absolutely can do what you are considering, as long as the studs are left intact, but they are probably 16" on center, which means your cabinets will be only 14.5" wide. Every stud won't be perfectly plumb, so I maybe 14" cabinets, unless you are building each cabinet sized to each stud bay. If you remove every other stud and build new headers, you can have wider cabinets.
I have a shallow pantry built between studs and a beefed up support post for a laminated beam. It would be the same for your application, although your wall is longer. This pic is in progress, before doors were added:
cindyandmocha used deeper cabinets for her stud-bay pantry--I post this pic often, because I think it's a stroke of genius:
Scroll down in her kitchen reveal thread for more pics.
townlakecakes
6 years agoMama, I love your between the studs pantry. Every time I see it. And recessed *anything* is awesome.
@annie, your layout is so similar to mine! Except our peninsula is at the back side by the garage instead if the family room side. Here's a pic of my fridge wall. In order from left to right: dining room door(not shown), microwave area where crap piles up, fridge and pantry. My neighbor with the same floor plan has a desk like you we had an empty space we had to find furniture for.
If it helps you at all, here's my original Request for help. And the final layout we are going with. We actually took floor space from the kitchen so we could recess the fridge and create some much needed storage in the dining room, and kept the peninsula, albeit further down.
If the squares on your floor are 1', it doesn't look like you'll have the room for an island. We had to give up on the dream too. if your proposed pantry area is 18" deep, therefore completely flush with the wall, and not even taking the fridge into consideration, you only barely have room for a 24" deep island. That's allowing 42" for each aisle and not allowing for countertop overhang on either the island or the perimeter.
Best of luck to you!
BenjiBoi
6 years agoBenjiBoi
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
PROJoseph Corlett, LLC
6 years agoBenjiBoi
6 years agopjeanb
6 years ago
I had a similar kitchen, with similar space issues. However, in my kitchen eating area, where you have windows, I had french doors to a porch. I needed to keep the load bearing wall between kitchen and dining for my refrigerator and double ovens, but I moved it 18" into the dining area. This allowed me to have the refrigerator and wall ovens flush to the entryway into the kitchen and enough room for a 24" island.
Once the wall was down and I could appreciate the "openness", I decided to keep the rest of the area open by installing a recessed support beam. The pantries that I had ordered for that wall were moved to the dining room. I love the result.
Karenseb