Load Bearing Walls

I want to install a 19 ft.long load bearing wall,it is in the center of the house and i have a full basement the beam weight is 450 lbs and is going in the cealing what is the best way to get it up there. Roy

Roy,
Invite eight strong people over to lift it. That is how I installed similar beams. Lots of bodies.

hi,
I am planning on removing a 3.6m span 3m high supporting wall. I intend to put in a 3.6m x 8"x4" steel. The wall is two brick thick. My local council are as much use as a chocolate fire guard, I have submitted my 48 hour notice but they will not come on site until i start work. would this be ok?

Steve,
This Yank can't answer that one! I have no clue what you should do over there in the UK.

I would like to remove a first floor wall between a laundry room and a kitchen. There are a couple of poured supports in the crawl space below this wall where the first floor joists rest. The 2nd floor ceiling joists along with some mid-span roof supports rest along this wall. However, the floor joists for the 2nd floor run parallel to this wall and span this wall to the two exterior walls. I am trying to figure if this is truly bearing or if these floor joists are enough to transfer the loads above to the exterior walls.

Steve,
Call a residential structural engineer and buy a helping of peace of mind.

Great article, very applicable for our project. One problem; we can't seem to find an engineer interested in doing this kind of work for us. Any tips on how to talk to these people? They all seem to be involved in larger projects here.

John,
You bet. Find a local residential architect. They have to use structural engineers on a regular basis to solve tricky issues architects routinely create with their designs.

I have a single story, raised foundation home with a traditional gable roof. I have an interior load bearing wall that seperates the kitchen from the living room. The wall is about 20', and there is a 6' existing opening in this wall(at the end of the wall where it tee's into the exterior wall).I want to open this wall up for a bar( about 8'6"). So basically there would be 5' of closed wall, 8'6" of a bar opening, 6",then the 6' existing entry that ends at the kingstud tee into the exterior wall. There is 1'2" from ceiling to bottom of the header on the existing 6' entry, I was planning on matching that to the new bar opening. Does this sound workable? Any advice on header sizing?Thank you.

Scott,
It all sounds doable. I can't help you on the beam. That requires a site inspection.

How do i tell if a wall is load bearing?

France,
You tell by reading ALL of my columns about Load-Bearing Walls and then following my advice.

I'm in the middle of a (very slow moving) kitchen remodel in a 1941 Tudor-esque/Salt box. Technically I have a galley kitchen, but the entry from the dining room (in a load bearing wall) is off center and hugs the interior kitchen wall. Centering the entry will move it about 3 feet towards the outside wall. To make things more fun, wall studs are true 1 5/8" x 3 5/8" x 8'. A discovery that really bothers me is that nearly every load bearing stud I've found has been kerfed, worse after removing an inch of plaster and gypsum the kerfed studs began to bow and split again.
I actually have a few Q's- First, is there any rule about how close a header can be placed perpendicular to an outside wall? Second, am I going to have to buy 10' studs and cut them down to true 8' or is there a trick to making dimensional lumber work? Third, I'm on a crawl space and there are brick piers at several points under the structure... should I consider a pier to transfer weight from the proposed new header? and finally, while i have everything open and demo'd, should I fool with those kerfed studs or stabalize instead?
A lot to wrap your head around, but I have faith!

I am trying to remove a load bearing wall between kitchen and family room. The problem I have is that the load is not the floor above as the joists run parallel to the wall - I guess it must be load from the roof line. How can I temporarily brace the load so I can cut out the studs and add a new support beam? Some contractors have said that for the few hours needed so long as the upstairs remains dead weight it can be done without bracing.

i want to install a door in my garage to access the outside. How much temporary support should I consider in removing about 2 or 3 exterior wall 2x6 studs? The studs are located about center of the side of the house.

Andy,
One end of the header can be *in* the exterior wall! You put the bearing studs in the exterior wall. Adjust the top and bottom plate thickness to make shorter studs work. But do the math! The longer studs may be more economical. You may need a new pier. You MUST install new studs if existing ones are failing! Do it soon.

I`m planning a project like the one mentioned, removing a 17' span of load bearing wall. My house is a small single story home with a rafter/ colar tie roof That 24' wide. My question is this : is it possible bolt or "hang" the collar ties from the bottom of a supported beam?

Bill,
If you have read many of the comments in my columns like this, you may have noticed that my response is fairly predictable: Hire a residential structural engineer.

Phil,
Construct temporary walls that carry the weight above will you install the beam. The contractors who told you no support is needed could be wrong.

Justin,
You don't have to build temporary walls. Hooray! You can install the new king studs and trimmers in the right locations. Then prepare the header. Take a reciprocating saw that allows you to cut in notches in the full studs you will be removing. Cut carefully so you can insert the header just halfway. Once this is done and the header is halfway in the wall, cut out the rest of the studs and tap the header into its final position.

Thanks Tim but my problem is in working out how to do a temporary wall to support the load for the 4-5 hours it will take to remove the studs and put a new support beam in place. If I support the floor joists on either side will this support the roof load? I can't provide support under the double header as the new beam will be flush to the header directly beneath.

Can you cut into a load bearing wall? I want to open up the wall to make my kitchen look bigger without actually removing the wall altogether.

Thanks
Joanna Bellmore NY

I live in a mobile home and want to knock a wall down to make our living room bigger and eliminate a bedroom we do not use. How can i tell if it is a load bearing wall or does a moble home not have load bearing walls?

I own a 3 story row home, footprint 38'x20' with a 5'6" basement. A 4x6" beam runs the length of the house and is failing, despite the placement of 3 lally posts. I want to reinforce it and right the situation by jacking it up and building a wall underneath it that would run ~30' across the basement that the beam would sit on top of, as this avoids having an extensive process of beam replacement.
I can do it myself and what I save in labor cost will make up for buying 5' x 30' worth of cinder block. I have a poured concrete floor. Do I need to do anything beyond leveling the floor to build the wall?

I want to remove a 13' section of a load bearing wall. I had intended to leave the original beam and just add either 4x4 or 6x6 supports butted up against the continuing wall at one end and the outside wall at the other end of the span. This is a wall in a 2 and a half story 100 year old house. It is on the first floor. Is that the correct way to do this?

Once you have removed a load bearing wall, put in a new header and secured everything...any design suggestions when you have cold air returns that can only be moved as far as 3 feet from the opposing walls on each end. Do we do columns, posts, short walls with built-in shelves? We need any advice that would be sensible, as well as asthetically pleasing between a family room and a living room.

I have a 23' load bearing wall in my house, with a three foot doorway in one end of it that opens to my foyer. The other end of the wall is in my family room. I want to cut a five-six foot arched doorway in that end of it in hopes of opening the floor plan to my house to help my fireplace insert heat the first floor. There is also a wall on the second floor that runs perpindicular to this wall right about where i want to put the doorway. Can this be done? Or should i consider a smaller doorway so as to disrupt the least amount of studs in the wall? Thank you.

Hi, I am removing a 9ft. span of a load bearing wall in a 100 yr old house.the wall is in the center of the house, and runs from outside wall of house to almost the center of house. there is doorway at the end of the wall that is not being removed.if you were to make a cross on the footprint of our house, you would be removing one leg of the cross. would a 5x5" cedar beam supported by 3 of the original 2x4s joined together on each end be sufficient support?

Buenaventura,

Sounds like you should call a residential structural engineer. He would be able to determine what would be required to remove that much of a bearing wall.

We have a 1950's house with basement. There is a hallway (walls 3' apart) running perpendicular to the roof trusses and floor joists. These walls run from one end to the other, with the exception of a small bathroom jut out. The south wall of the hallway is 6" off center of house and has a post and beam system running under it in the basement. There are no other perpendicular walls to the south to support the roof. Do you think we can take down the other hallway wall? (ie. supporting? it has no post & beams under). Is it possible that those 2 walls share the load of the roof and then transfer to the south wall in the basement? Thanks.

Hey guys... i'm doing a school project on a holiday home, and i wanted to know which type of wall cladding is the best for a holiday home. i have read about a lot of different types of claddings, but i don't know which one is the best for a holiday home.
this is a holiday home near a beach in New Zealand, so water is a big issue.

Hello,
I would like to open the wallbetween my kitchen and dining room. It is a load bearing wall and it measures 8'3". I have a bi-level house LL finished. The LL has a steel beam running the lenght of the house. Can I still open the wall upstairs?

i have a 15.5ft load bearing, and want to cut out 9ft of this wall leaving 3ft on each side. in the basement i have added 6 support beams rated at 15,000 lbs apeice along with the two that were already down there. does this sound doable, and am i on the right path already? any suggestions would help thanks alot.

I have a 1195 sq ft ranch style home, and i want to take out the wall between my living room and my kitchen. How do i tell if its load bearing? This wall is a interior wall and would make my kitchen living room open but still smaller then my garage which has no load bearing walls. What do you think?

Joshua,

Read Tim's column on Identifying Load Bearing Walls ... http://www.askthebuilder.com/397__Load_Bearing_Wall_Identification.shtml

You might need a Structural Engineer to verify if the wall is load bearing.

I want to partially remove a 14' load bearing wall between kitchen and living room. I want a 10' opening. I'll cover the current entry and leave about 2 feet of the 14' wall, and then leave 2 feet at the other end. Does this sound like it will work?

I am interesting in removing a load bearing wall that runs down the middle of my house. The section that I am interested in removing a section about ten feet in length. I also have a finished basement. Would this situation be possible?

Also, why aren't homes built purely with beams - eliminating the need for supporting walls?

Thanks Tim!

Tim,

I'm building a garage/game room for a family member. Aside from being a set builder in college theatre, I have little real world experience. I have the exterior frame completely up and squared. Now it's time to build the interior walls. How do I attach the sole plates to the concrete floor? I've heard things called "Wedgits" (?), and I've heard construction adhesive compound. What is the best to use and how should I do it? Also, is there a helpful resource for building additions (garages)?