After looking at the framing more closely it appears to me that when the builder framed the second floor and bridges he did not terminate the LVL beams at the post but carried one LVL beam through to another LVL beam at the foyer. On the sketch below the red lines are 3 1/2" x 9 1/4" LVL beams and the black lines are I-Joists. It is clear that IF the LVL beams are sufficiently strong, you could remove the post. In order to determine if the beams are sufficiently strong you would need to tell an engineer the fiber strength (Fb) and Mod. of Elasticity (E) of the LVLs used and let him/her do the calculations. That strength information will be stamped on the members but the builder might have a receipt or the local lumberyards might only carry one kind of LVL or the engineer could assume the worst case. E would probably be in the range of 1.8 to 2.0 and Fb would 2,500 to 3,000. The spans are very short, the loads are very light and the beams are very strong so I suspect the beams will be strong enough to not need the post but since they carry point loads and uniform loads I can't make the calculation for you.

You don't have to cut sheetrock you will not find anything there except your typical framing. You have to trace everything up that wall, go into the attic above, and go to the roof... so you can see what is resting on that post at that location and what else is tied to that point, plus you need the tributary load area around that column, so you get the total load that column supports and after having that information you will know that column is needed or not. If you don't know anything about load transfer, how framing works and just keep playing the guessing game " you need that column or not", and you don't want to spend $100-200 to get an engineer or an architect to come out there and assess the situation... Take the column out and see what happens, because from the pictures that you provided there is not enough information, and you will never get a *solid* advice here. Also keep in mind, that if you take the column out, and nothing happens...and if you live in a region where you get snow accumulation during the winter season... The snow load also must be taken into account. Seen many times when openings are being made bigger, and nothing happens until the first snow fall and that is when everything inside starting to cave-in. Good luck.

ssleenyc, if the posts are not load-bearing, the cost of removing them is minimal. You can even do it yourself with a lighter weight sledge hammer. The cost is all the skilled labor that comes next. The walls and ceiling have to be repaired. That might mean plaster or furring strips and drywall. You will have a gap in the baseboards where you removed the bases. Nothing in the local home improvement store is likely to match. That's why you carefully saved the trim from the bases. If they came out in large pieces, a good carpenter can work them into the existing trim. If you aren't so lucky with the removal, you'll take a piece of the trim to a place that does custom millwork. If they'll already have knives in your profile, this isn't expensive. If you have to have custom knives made, that will be quite a bit more. The ceiling, walls and trim will have to be painted. None of this is astronomical, but it adds up. Now we get to the expensive part - the floor. If the structure was added after the original floors were installed, you'll just need to refinish the floors in the whole room. If they are original, it is unlikely that the flooring went under the bases. Your flooring person will have to tooth in strips to repair it. This is labor intensive, but people who do this well are worth every penny! Again, you'll have to have the floors in the whole room refinished. Which brings up another question for your flooring person. Based on the width of the strips, the flooring could easily be 100 years old. It has definitely been refinished. Is there enough wood left for another refinish? If not, the floor will need to be replaced. If the pillars are load-bearing, you will need to have a beam added to support the structure. Be sure to add a healthy cushion for surprises. Old building always have them. Once the walls are open, you may find things that don't meet code and have to be fixed in order to pass building inspections. This can be extremely expensive. (I'd leave the pillars in this case.) The important things are to do the research up front, plan your budget so that you know how you can fund the different scenarios, and get a really good, reputable contractor.

Wow. I’m just gonna be straight. I’m very offended. I have no plans to do this myself. This started as just a question about COST. I get that it might be difficult to assess over the internet. I NEVER said I was doing the work myself. I WILL BE hiring a contractor. In fact I mentioned that one is coming on Monday. I was just trying to COST things out. I’m not an idiot. I don’t base decisions on HGTV. WTF? Just to help commenters in the future ... maybe you shouldn’t make assumptions about the OP’s motives, plans, capabilities, thought processes... I got some good info here but I really wasn’t expecting to be insulted in the process. So I’d appreciate it if everyone just dropped it. Pretend you never even read such a stupid question as “how much does this cost” so you can all sleep at night. Oh, and for those of you that think I’m an idiot for wanting to open the wall, please don’t waste my time. I asked about cost. Heck, I just expected someone to say that either there’s a huge cost difference, there’s no cost difference or it’s not possible to know without seeing it in person. I did get that last response and some great info from a few folks. But then I was called an idiot, that I lack a multitude of capabilities, that I base decisions on HGTV, that I have horrible tastes, etc. Wow. Maybe I just don’t know the etiquette. Is it okay to ask questions on Houzz that I don’t know the answer to? Is it okay to not be a professional contractor? Is it okay to not know what I don’t know? Maybe I’ll update this thread after I’ve destroyed my house and I’m living in a shed. Because I’m just that stupid, right?