Removal Of A Load Bearing Wall Between Living Room & Kitchen

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Today I am sharing the removal of a load bearing wall between the living room and kitchen at a split level house. If you are familiar with split level homes, you know that the rooms are small and boxy. By removing the load bearing wall between the the two rooms, you create an open concept living space and significantly enhance the architectural interior of the home. d

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Let’s take a look a the kitchen remodel see why opening up a load bearing wall between the kitchen and living room was a no brainer!

What is a load bearing wall vs non load bearing wall?

Before we get started talking about removing a wall between the living room and kitchen, lets discuss the difference between a load bearing and non load bearing wall.

A load bearing wall is a wall that supports the structure above.

A non load bearing wall does not support any structure above.

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Traditionally, older homes were not made to be open concept but now that everyone is renovating older homes and creating an open concept living space, the walls are being torn down.

In order to tear down the walls though, you need to install engineered beams to take the place of the walls. Otherwise, your roof (or whatever is above) will collapse and that would make for a really bad day!

Is it safe to remove a load-bearing wall between the kitchen and living room?

Identifying and removing a load bearing wall is for a licensed professional and not a DIY homeowner project. Hire a professional and check with your local building department for permit requirements.

Is it safe to remove a load bearing wall? The short answer is yes, but it’s a lot more involved than just tearing down the wall.

Load-bearing walls support the weight of the structure above, so removing one without proper precautions can lead to serious structural issues.

A licensed General Contractor and a certified structural engineer will assess the structural integrity of the wall and provide suitable alternatives such as adding support beams or columns or a hidden beam to ensure the safety and integrity the home.

A certified structural engineer will do all kinds of load bearing wall calculations (way above my head to even understand!) which determines the size and type of beam that will need to be installed to support the structure above.

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The process of removing the load bearing wall started by using a sawzall to cut out the built-in portion of the cabinet/hutch and crowbar and hammer to remove the rest.

As you can see below, the walls create a boxy look and make it difficult to entertain.

The purpose of removing the wall is to create open concept living space that we feel will significantly increase the value of the home.

Opening a load bearing wall between kitchen and living room can be somewhat costly but in my opinion, the open concept style adds a significant increase in value to your home.

Don’t believe me?

Click through this post, Jim’s split level home sold for 80K over asking price. Jim opened up his kitchen, dining and living room walls and added vaulted ceilings which is very unique for a split level home.

When it came time to sell, he ended up with 5 offers well over asking and the final accepted offer was 80,000 over asking price.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Kitchens