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Kitchens Remodeling living room

Load bearing columns and kitchen wall

3 years ago

Any advice would be appreciated! I am buying my first home and would like to place an offer depending on what I can do here. Could someone give me some advice on if the columns are load bearing? Also, with the kitchen ceiling being lower than the rest of the house, is there a way to tell how much of the kitchen wall can be opened up? Thanks in advice, just trying not to get too far ahead of myself in my plans for the home.

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Comments (6)

lafdr
3 years ago
It is a lovely home! Probably best to assume they are load bearing and raising the kitchen ceiling will have ductwork or pipes that have a cost to move rather than assume they are not there and it will be easy :) Even if load bearing there are ways to remove the columns and provide alternate support. It just comes at a cost. It will take an expert to know if they are load bearing or not and may require cutting into the wall to know for sure. Are there any original plans available?
PRO
Flo Mangan
3 years ago
You would need structural engineer to inspect to firmly answer your questions but based on my experience these are load bearing. Why is the refrigerator sticking out so much? And why aren’t door for refrigerator opening with hinge on left. Very awkward to use in such a tight kitchen. Looks like some updating has been done. Make sure to carefully review the Seller’s Disclosure form. They must list issues and how they were resolved. Ask for documentation for any big ticket items. The light fixtures are very dated. Those would need to be replaced in my world. That is expensive endeavor. Document any issues you see and ask your agent to get info from seller in writing. N verbal agreements. Document in emails not text messages wherever possible. Easier to retain and search in future. Changing walls usually means changing floors too so it can get expensive fast. Hope those thoughts help you out.
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We had a similar layout change in our kitchen remodel and they used LVL beams (manufactured beams) and wood posts to replace the existing framed wall. The new posts were right on top of the existing steel beam in the floor, so keeping the proper load transfer to the basement footings was relatively simple. Our contractor made the design and we had the structural engineer sign off on the plans that went to the city. The tables for LVL beam size requirements were easy to understand, and they already assumed the load of one story above the beam. One option our contractor offered was whether to put the 2nd floor joists on top of the new LVL beam (like they already were on top of the existing framed wall) or put the LVL beam up higher and connect the floor joists to the side of the LVL beam (which would hide the beam in the ceiling.) We chose to just replace the wall with a beam under the joists, so there is still a "divider" that projects down about one foot from the ceiling. Bruce
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The property is 3 years old......so the house has been built. The open to sky photos are from 2015 during original construction. My opinion is yes, as far as I can tell from your photos, you're considering removing a wall that has a laminated header ("Smart Joist") sitting on top of it, so it is load-bearing.
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While it’s true that you need an on site inspection by a structural engineer to absolutely determine the answer, I think the likelihood that those are load bearing is in the 99%+ range. Given the spans involved and the placement, I can’t see that these are simply ornamental. The likelihood is that the architect wanted an open plan and tried to disguise these intrusive, but essential, columns by making them look ornamental. Based on where you live, costs for remodeling like this can vary widely, but, even if you are in a lower cost area, I don’t see how this could be done within a $5K budget. Besides the cost of materials and the labor, the repairs to the walls and ceiling, the re-painting, and how you will fix the holes in the floor after the columns are removed will run up the costs of what seem like a modest project. I know this isn’t the answer you were hoping for, but I think it’s a realistic one.
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Comments (8)
if one is load bearing, then the other one is prob carrying some weight too. (they're both next to each other. Load bearing means the joists are running across it. so if it's running across one, it's running across the other too! if you remove those posts, you can install a large beam to support the joists running across it. Similar to what is shown here You could have a beam like this already, but maybe it isn't rated to stand alone, without those posts. If it's not loadbearing, you can remove them w/o doing anything else. no way to tell unless you can take a peek up there and see which way they're running
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PRO
Charles Ross Homes
3 years ago
Hi, John,

Your question isn't so much whether the columns are load bearing as it is what are your options for removing them and what is the associated cost? Your best resource to answer those questions is a remodeling contractor who does that type of work for a living.

Your Realtor has a vested interest in you making a timely purchase decision so they can pocket their sales commission and move on to their next deal. Get them involved in answering your questions. Your Realtor should know a bunch of remodelers whom they can call on to do a quick consultation. If not, find a good remodeler and pay them for their consulting time. It will be a lot less expensive than figuring out the cost after you've bought the home.
User
3 years ago
Having kitchen ceiling being lower is a GOOD thing for a workroom. High ceilings in kitchen just cost you tens of thousands in cabinets, lighting, ductwork, and trouble. Not paying for an extra 40K of cabinets to a 12’ ceiling lung is a Very Good Thing.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago
John, you don't need an engineer to go into the basement and see if there's a column under the column(s) in question. Bearing columns have to have a load path to footings; non-bearing do not.
John Guaragno
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks everybody, I love the house. I have a bad ya it of day dreaming about what I can do. I like the kitchen, just would like to open it a little bit! I appreciate everybody’s advice!

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