removing wall- beam or no?
My husband and I are remodeling our kitchen/living room area. We are taking out the wall and joining the two rooms. Initially we planned on replacing the wall with a beam but now we are not quite sure we even need one.
Our neighbors have the same house as we do, except mirrored and the wall in question was never there. They were built at the same time by the builder ('85). So went up in their attic yesterday to check out the structure.
I expected to find a beam across the span where the wall is in our home. I was surprised to find that there wasn't one. It seems it may not be a load bearing wall after all.We have fink trusses, and according to what I have read they generally should be supported only on the sides. All indicators are pointing to simply taking the wall out, but we'd like to be 101% certain before we do it! I emailed the city inspector for his opinion and for the sake of permit records, but no word yet. thanks! I appreciate any advice.
Comments (11)
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
Help - Beam size for removing exterior wall
Comments (4)If this is a brick veneer cavity wall I recommend not doing it or hiring a design professional. I can't comment on a loading condition I haven't seen but otherwise your comments seem reasonable. Shore the frame before removing the studs. There is no benefit to gluing or bolting the 2x12's together, just nail them well and secure them at the supports. You can put one 2x12 up at a time if it is easier but make them tight to the framing above. Make sure the bearing is on two jack studs at each end with a full height king stud immediately adjacent. Nail the shortened studs to the beam and to the parallel joist. Check the remaining wall for lateral bracing, you might need to add some at the corners. Make sure there is no opening in the basement wall below the support studs and take the load directly to the sill beam....See MoreHow hard to demo/remove this decorative beam?
Comments (6)If it is not load bearing(parallel to the trusses for roofing structure and no foundation supports under the opening), it is probably installed on jack studs(2" by 4" boards under each end). There will be king studs at each end(what the jack studs are nailed to). Cut away the drywall to expose the ends and using a reciprocating saw(generically called a SawzAll), cut the nails holding the beam to the king/jack studs. That should free the beam....See MoreBrown Wood Trim & Molding... Remove or Paint?
Comments (15)What is under the carpeting? The wtw carpeting, the swags, and the entry platform with the railing date it more than the wood trim. Here's are a couple rooms with as much natural and/or painted wood as yours. Notice that the wall colors are light and warm looking as are the modern furnishings. To start off here's a room with white painted beams then one without. The painted one looks too generic in my opinion, but you may like that Too. It does have stunning wood floors, which I hope you have under your carpeting. Here's a Houzz article about best paints to go with wood trim. The white you have now is way too stark. [https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-terrific-paint-color-matches-for-wood-details-stsetivw-vs~9025200[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-terrific-paint-color-matches-for-wood-details-stsetivw-vs~9025200)...See MoreRemoving load-bearing walls - cost for recessed beam vs. under joists?
Comments (34)Live_wire_oak, I certainly wouldn’t dispute that most contractors would not use double 2x4’s for a header despite what the code allows (and therefore what is safe). I suspect that you and I know there are many things a contractor does when framing a house that has more to do with just meeting code. It’s much easier to tell your employees to frame every door and window with 2x12s to be safe and not have to do code checks for every opening. I will say though, the better framers in the small minority will take the time to understand what the actual header requirement is so as not to overbuild and create unnecessary thermal bridging....See MoreEmily Swierenga
6 years agoUser
6 years agoEmily Swierenga
6 years agoUser
6 years agoEmily Swierenga
6 years agoEmily Swierenga
6 years agoUser
6 years ago
You might want to get a good GC involved here. You showed pretty poor discernment in judging what was “with” spending money on or not.
Emily Swierenga thanked User
Milly Rey
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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