Removing Walls

Removing a wall in your home can open it up and increase the home’s value, but are all walls the same? Absolutely not! Removing a wrong wall can cause the whole house to collapse during the remodeling job. This is why you need to determine if the wall in question is load-bearing.

What is a load-bearing wall? Load-bearing, or bearing walls, support the floor’s weight or roof structure above them. They were designed to transfer the weight from the roof through the floors and down to the foundation. They allow the weight to be distributed equally along the structure. A nonload-bearing wall, or partition wall, can be completely removed and the structure will remain intact, though some may still have support beams installed.

There are ways to determine if the wall you want to remove is load-bearing. 

• If you have access to the blueprints, they will show you which walls are load-bearing.
  
• Exterior walls are usually load-bearing. Newer homes tend to use the front and back exterior walls as load-bearing, while more older homes use all the exterior walls as load-bearing.
  
• Usually walls that run perpendicular to the joists are load-bearing.
  
• Walls that are parallel to the joists are rarely load-bearing, but there are some instances where a bearing wall will be aligned directly under a single joist.
  
• If purlin bracing is attached to the top of the wall or supported by the wall, it is load-bearing.
  
• If the wall has a beam, column or other wall directly below or following the same path, it will be load-bearing.
  
• More than 6 inches thick, the wall will be load-bearing.
  
• Walls that are in the center of the building will tend to support most of the roof’s weight.
  
• Walls that end in supports or columns are most likely load-bearing.
  

Removing a load-bearing wall is more costly and complicated than removing a partition wall. A single-story structure can start at $3K. If the wall has plumbing or electrical, that will all need to be rerouted, which will increase the price more. Second-story load-bearing walls can start at $10K and up. Once the wall has been removed, the new beam drywall and finish must be installed.

If you are uncertain, please reach out to us and we can come out and inspect the wall, determine if it’s load-bearing, and how to safely remove it without causing the structure to fall down!

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