DARKSILENTTYPE
New member
Anyone done this or know how ?
John
John
removing load bearing wall?
- Thread starter DARKSILENTTYPE
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tall_jason79
Active member
yeah it is going to require a header.... the question is how big of a header is the question for an engineer
ncox38
New member
There is probably no way you can take down the whole wall, but you can put an opening in it. Depending on how much you want to spend the opening could be the majority of the wall except for the supports at each end and the soffit to hide the beam. Steel prices are crazy right now, so if the opening is big enough to require a beam you could be looking a few grand just for the steel. I have no idea what you are looking to do, but I do know some people that might do residential work on the side.
DARKSILENTTYPE
New member
I want to remove the wall between my kitchen and the living room . About a 8 feet to 10 feet opening .
John
John
logiktest
New member
I think your very brave just for the thought of asking about this in light of the "big quake" last week. :lol:
There are many things involved in this... To name a few:
How long is the wall?
How many stories is your home?
What story of your home does said wall reside on?
And one not so easily answered:
Do you know how many pounds the new beam/columns will need to support?
If you want to go the cheap (read: dangerous) route with this, get a detailed quote from an engineer, and use the specs yourself. If you don't have experience with this, hire a PRO. Don't feel comforted by just anyone (not just licensed and insured) either... Get someone who knows their tihs about beam building up down and sideways John. And it's not just beams either, you may have to re-brace your roof depending on what floor your doing this on. All sorts of stuff involved.
The largest one I ever built was about 30' long... I thought I might not make it home that day.
There are many things involved in this... To name a few:
How long is the wall?
How many stories is your home?
What story of your home does said wall reside on?
And one not so easily answered:
Do you know how many pounds the new beam/columns will need to support?
If you want to go the cheap (read: dangerous) route with this, get a detailed quote from an engineer, and use the specs yourself. If you don't have experience with this, hire a PRO. Don't feel comforted by just anyone (not just licensed and insured) either... Get someone who knows their tihs about beam building up down and sideways John. And it's not just beams either, you may have to re-brace your roof depending on what floor your doing this on. All sorts of stuff involved.
The largest one I ever built was about 30' long... I thought I might not make it home that day.
DARKSILENTTYPE
New member
It holds the roof . Its also above the basement I beam ( steel ) . It has two opening already in it . One is a opening for the kitchen the other is a opening were a closet was .
Levon 15 do you give estimates ?
John
Levon 15 do you give estimates ?
John
my hobbies
New member
it is not that hard to do if you do your homework 1st.
find out how much weight is bearing down from the roof.
buy your beams (which can be wood) they don't have to be steel.
you will need wood to use on either side as a jacking system to hold the weight as you remove the wall install the beams and remove the jacks then you are done ,except for cosmetics. it took me about 5 hours to remove mine and set the beams.
my beams in my ranch cost me nothing. i went to a construction company and took the oak beams from there pallets that they throw away.( heavy machine pallets) each beam is oak 5in x 5in
they just need sanding because they are rough finished for pallets. anyway hope this helps.
find out how much weight is bearing down from the roof.
buy your beams (which can be wood) they don't have to be steel.
you will need wood to use on either side as a jacking system to hold the weight as you remove the wall install the beams and remove the jacks then you are done ,except for cosmetics. it took me about 5 hours to remove mine and set the beams.
my beams in my ranch cost me nothing. i went to a construction company and took the oak beams from there pallets that they throw away.( heavy machine pallets) each beam is oak 5in x 5in
they just need sanding because they are rough finished for pallets. anyway hope this helps.
Schplitter
New member
I want to do the same thing soon. Let me know if you find someone to give you a quote...
BK
BK
ncox38
New member
Yep its just that easy! Figure out how much your roof weighs, buy some 2x4's or whatever Home Depot tells you will work, jack it up, cut it out, slap it in, and presto! do a little drywall. "Anybody could do it, go for it!" says a bunch of people that have no accountability.
You also have to consider snow loads, the length you are spanning, what the new beam/ header will bear on, what is size beam is underneath you supporting the current wall and whether or not it can handle the new point loads you are putting on it, how many stories is your home? Is there an upstairs and a roof bearing on it? Plus, if St. Louis County finds out you are doing this with out a permit in the wake of an earthquake they will be up your ***. Oh yea, worst case scenario your house does fall down and you didn't have a licensed and insured contractor, the insurance company has no one to go after so they dont pay out. I'm all for DIY when its something you have business doing yourself, but because you are on RC asking this I assumed you wanted input. What do I know, I only do this for a living. Im no Professor of Hardcore or LEO though.
Now, 8-10' is not that big of a deal, it just ****es me off when people spout off when they dont know what they are talking about. The moron that owned my house before me cut an opening in a loadbearing wall to make an opening for a skylight. Being that he was an idiot he didnt do it properly now the ceiling sags about 1" next to the skylight.
You also have to consider snow loads, the length you are spanning, what the new beam/ header will bear on, what is size beam is underneath you supporting the current wall and whether or not it can handle the new point loads you are putting on it, how many stories is your home? Is there an upstairs and a roof bearing on it? Plus, if St. Louis County finds out you are doing this with out a permit in the wake of an earthquake they will be up your ***. Oh yea, worst case scenario your house does fall down and you didn't have a licensed and insured contractor, the insurance company has no one to go after so they dont pay out. I'm all for DIY when its something you have business doing yourself, but because you are on RC asking this I assumed you wanted input. What do I know, I only do this for a living. Im no Professor of Hardcore or LEO though.
Now, 8-10' is not that big of a deal, it just ****es me off when people spout off when they dont know what they are talking about. The moron that owned my house before me cut an opening in a loadbearing wall to make an opening for a skylight. Being that he was an idiot he didnt do it properly now the ceiling sags about 1" next to the skylight.
DARKSILENTTYPE
New member
I am not planning on doing this unless it cost to much to have someone else do it . I am looking for bids . If anyone on here knows of someone that has done it ( levon 15 ) and is willing to come by my house and give me a bid on the work of taking out the wall and installing the header and support beams I can do the finishing work myself . It would be helpful
As for Hardcore or LEO I don't know what that is or means .
Thanks John
As for Hardcore or LEO I don't know what that is or means .
Thanks John
To be honest John the company I work for is not into this type of work.
Removing that much wall is critical to the entire structure. When I said it was easy before thats what I meant the actual act of performing the work isnt very difficult, making sure its done to what the structure requires is whats dificult to figure. I would go a little over on whatever a professional advises. But thats just me.
As far as earthquakes go. If properly installed its will be strong. No worries. Whats going in this opening?
Out of curiosity what firm do you work for ncox38? A PM would be cool if you dont want it on the boards.
Removing that much wall is critical to the entire structure. When I said it was easy before thats what I meant the actual act of performing the work isnt very difficult, making sure its done to what the structure requires is whats dificult to figure. I would go a little over on whatever a professional advises. But thats just me.
As far as earthquakes go. If properly installed its will be strong. No worries. Whats going in this opening?
Out of curiosity what firm do you work for ncox38? A PM would be cool if you dont want it on the boards.
DARKSILENTTYPE
New member
I am going to put the new tank in the opening so I can see through it and look at the tank if I'm in the kitchen or the living room .
John
John
kipher
New member
I thought I would throw my two cents in here.
<---- Structural Engineer.
You also said you are replacing a load bearing wall that lies on top of a steel beam in the basement yes? Well the wall on top of that steel beam was providing a continuous load to the beam. If you take out the wall and put a header in. The columns supporting the header will collect the loads and then drop it out into the steel beam as a point load. The steel beam should be checked to see if it can handle the redistribution of these loads. Also the header needs to be designed to carry the loads of the Roof. Including snow loads and wind loads. I'm sure I could design this, but I don't do Residential.
As ncox38 says, and you were saying as well, get the pro's on the job.
<---- Structural Engineer.
You also said you are replacing a load bearing wall that lies on top of a steel beam in the basement yes? Well the wall on top of that steel beam was providing a continuous load to the beam. If you take out the wall and put a header in. The columns supporting the header will collect the loads and then drop it out into the steel beam as a point load. The steel beam should be checked to see if it can handle the redistribution of these loads. Also the header needs to be designed to carry the loads of the Roof. Including snow loads and wind loads. I'm sure I could design this, but I don't do Residential.
As ncox38 says, and you were saying as well, get the pro's on the job.
