We are thinking about opening up a wall in our home to make a large doorway from one room to another. How can we determine whether the wall is a support wall or not, and how large of an opening it could accomadate? Please be detailed as we will be doing most of the work ourselves.
2007-01-27 07:48:09 · 4 answers · asked by bpb3716 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
This is not the kind of question that can be answered from a distance.
It DOES deal with HUMAN LIFE SAFETY.
There is a history of people just knocking a partition out of their house and thinking all was well. Then, late at night, the roof structure collapsed and killed the entire family!
Hire an architect. He will have a workable solution in less than an afternoon.
2007-01-27 08:38:51 · answer #1 · answered by John A 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yeah, I agree with the previous guy....if you dont know, you might not want to mess with it. Plus, if your in a large city, you'll have to deal with code enforcement, so a city inspector will come out and grill you. He'll probably eat you alive since your not a contractor.
If this house is two story, I wouldnt even try it as a first timer. If its a single story ranch, like around here, then a newbie has a chance of not turning his family into pancakes.
Typically in a ranch, walls that run perpendicular to the roof trusses are load bearing, those that run parallel are just dividing walls. Dividing walls can be cut into usually with no problems, just frame up the door like normal. But a load-bearing wall must have a certain size header and king studs to transfer all the weight of the roof above it to the floor. As the opening widens, so does the size of the header, until its too big for wood and you have to move to an I-beam (you just dont see that in regular houses.
Now, this load being transfered down to the floor has to go somewhere. Someone in the know needs to make sure that the larger point loads your creating by removing the wall doesnt overload the floor joists below it in the case of a crawlspace, or go over bearing capacity for the soil in the case of a slab.
In short, you should call in help. And remember, you can always get an estimate from a professional.....it may be worth the fee, if any.
2007-01-27 17:20:27 · answer #2 · answered by oneman c 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't do this thing until unless you see the civil drawings of your home. It is not safe to take out a wall, if your home is "Load Bearing" type. In load bearing designs, roof is loaded on walls of the house itself, if one of the wall is taken away, the entire structure could collapse after some time. In fact, nobody can guide you without seeing the drawings of your home. ( I,m a mechanical engineer and I have designed hundreds of factories and godowns.)
2007-02-04 00:56:10 · answer #3 · answered by Pirate of the Bassein Creek 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Consult an engineer. We don't bite that hard.
2007-01-28 09:11:46 · answer #4 · answered by daedgewood 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋