Posted: 5/9/2013 11:03:44 AM EDT
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Hey guys. My wife and I are about to close on a new house, and I love it except for this wall that separates the kitchen from the living room. I'm not sure as of yet if it's a load bearing wall or not, but I was just curious how much it would run to have it knocked down to make the space open concept? How much would it cost typically if it is a load bearing wall? The house is just outside Jeff City limits if that helps. Thanks guys.
ETA: Here's a crappy MS Paint of what the wall looks like. It's just right in the middle of the area with an opening on each side. ETA 2: The house was built in 1997. 
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No idea on price, but here is some info:
Look at which way your ceiling joists run (in the attic) If the wall runs parallel to the ceiling joists you can typically remove it without problems (excluding exterior walls of course) But since it doesn't sound like this will be a DIY project. Ask the re modelers to verify if said wall is load bearing or not because there are exceptions If the wall doesn't have any needed plumbing or electrical wiring in there, it's not that expensive (especially if you do it yourself) Knock it down, Sheetrock/mud/tape the ceiling, paint and or re texture, then address the floor. I'm assuming you would be putting an island in to replace the wall? If so, that potentially makes repairing the floor easier/not needed. |
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I'm assuming you would be putting an island in to replace the wall? If so, that potentially makes repairing the floor easier/not needed. We would be re-doing the entire floor throughout the house with new hardwood flooring. That's why I want to knock the wall down now so that we can put the flooring in and be done with it. |
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If the house was built with roof trusses it should be safe to knock the wall out. If its a stick built roof it may not be and will require shoring up the ceilings before removal of the wall along with putting a beam either above the ceiling and joist hangers on all the ceiling joists, or a beam below the ceiling, both will require appropriate support in the exterior walls under the beam. Either can be done fairly easily if you know what you are doing. But, that's coming from a retired carpenter with thirty years experience framing homes.  If you are a novice it will not be easy and you may wish to hire a competent contractor. eta; How old is the house? Newer homes in the midwest are almost always built with roof trusses, roofs on older homes may be stick built (Conventionally framed with rafters and ceiling joists.). |
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eta; How old is the house? Newer homes in the midwest are almost always built with roof trusses, roofs on older homes may be stick built (Conventionally framed with rafters and ceiling joists.). Our house was built in 1954 with trusses. I was pretty surprised when I looked up in the attic and saw that. For some reason the addition which was added on in the 70's was not built with trusses, but with rafters on 24" centers. I'm not a huge fan of whoever did that addition... |
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Is the drawing a whole floor? Is there a floor above? No floor above, and the living room has a vaulted ceiling. There's a family room below, but everything else is on the same level as the kitchen and living room. With the living room being vaulted, I would assume the roof trusses would be running parallel to the wall and you would be gtg. But, without looking at it, there is no way to know. |
