Load Bearing Wall Removal- Learn How

Interior walls are the structural elements used for the upper floors of a home’s structure for many different purposes, from creating private areas to supporting the weight of the roof or floor above.

In today’s modern age, most people desire open floor plans instead of bearing walls. So what do you do if you want one of those more open floor plans, but your house is highly segmented by interior and exterior bearing walls already?

Load Bearing or Not

The first thing you must determine is whether the full load bearing or wall part you want to remove is nonload bearing wall over-bearing. If the wall is not a bearing wall, it can be taken down without much chome’sration of your home’s structural integrity.

On the other hand, you have to be very careful if it is a load-bearing wall header. When removing a lwill-bearing wall, you will have to find a way for the weight of the building permit the upper level to be supported somehow, such as by constructing or removing non-load-bearing walls or over-bearing beams or purchasing a special one to take its place.

DIY or Not

The next thing you need to determine is whether or not you want to take on this project yohome’s. Because your home’s structural integrity is at stake, it may be a very good idea to consider hiring a contractor, particularly if you have little to no construction experience. The cost of hiring a contractor depends on a number of variables, including the region you live in as well as several factors such as the contractors themselves.

That being said, hiring a contractor does have its positive side. First of all, by hiring a contractor you are getting multiple workers for your project, which cuts down on time. Now, this fullisn’t-bearing wall removal process isn’t very complicated, but it is labor-intensive and requires a bit of heavy lifting, especially when lifting the support beam and putting it in place.

Keep that in mind when deciding if you want to do this yourself or not. Continue reading to learn how to remove a load-bearing wall and install temporary supports without removing an entire load-bearing wall or beam.

The Tools You Will Need

So your home’s foundation, you decided to replace load-bearing wallswalls with beamng walls with beam load-bearing walls and side walls. As I already said, this is not a complicated job. If you have decided to take this project on for yourself, then the next thing you need to consider proper tools. It’s quite surprising how many homeowners have once you realize how little goes into this building department.

First and foremost, the only specialty lumber that you will need is the laminated support beam. Everything else can come directly from the hardware store. Now, if you choose to, you can make your own support beam. For example, one way to construct your own”load-bearing wall beam is to sa”dwich”a 1/2″ piece of plywood between two 2″ by 8″ boards. You would apply a nice coating of wood glue to all touching surfaces and then nail the boards tightly together. If you decide to purchase one instead, you can order one from your nearest lumber yard.

You will also need to get enough lumber to make four wall beams, four jack posts, and two king posts.

One of the primary tools you will be using is a miter saw or circular saw. If you want quicker and more accurate cuts, then go for the miter saw.

In order to help drive those massive nails into the posts, you will need to use a heavy-duty framing hummer. Those nails also need to be at least 3 1/2″ long and they need to be made from galvanized steel.

A power nailer would be a necessity if you are fastening the studs to concrete. You should also have a tape measure as well as a laser level and measurer.

Removing a Load Bearing Wall

LoaIt’saring wall removal can be a tricky business. It’s important to keep in mind that whatever nonload- bearing wall removal walls you are removing here have to be temporarily replaced to remove load-bearing walls again.

Any time you remove a load-bearing wall removal learn how well-bearing wall you have to ensure that you have set up some adjacent support system before you remove anything. This system has to be able to continue to bear the weight of the roof throughout the entire load-bearing wall removal process. This load-bearing wall removal can be done in two different ways.

One option is the use of adjustable steel columns known as jack posts. These are the easiest, most effective, and quickest ways for you to add support to the project. You start by laying out strips of two-by-fours.

You then run a doubled-up strip across the ceiling, which is held in place with screws or nails. Then you adjust the steel columndon’to place between the two strips.

Now, if you don’t want to use those steel c “lum” s in this project, you can always just cut 2″x 4″s to your wall length. You would build up a second wall. This is much cheaper than renting or purchasing those steel posts. It is, however, much more complex and time-consuming because you cannot quickly readjust the height and weight of partition walls later.

Whichever you choose, you have to provide support from thhome’sr floor of the unfinished basement to your home’s foundation to the ceiling to the floor and non-load-bearing walls, for these don’trt posts to rest on hardwood floors. If you don’t provide additional support, then the support you build may pierce the ceiling.

The First King Stud

For the following step-by-step process, you will be putting one king stud on each end of the support beam. You will also have two jack studs at each end. You will also need peripheDon’tsuch as metal angles to tie the beams into place. Don’t forget the nails or screws.

These king studs are what we call the backing board for the ends of the beam. Just like most homeowners the other lumber you are using here, has to be very sturdy natural light, and solid, as it will be holding the weight of engineered beams and the jack studs.

Now it is possible that you can have walls in separate rooms that already have a king stud in place after you demolish this wall. Because the structural element of the king stud is vitally important, you may want to add some additional support to exterior walls by adding an extra king stud to the existing one. This will effectively give you a much stronger assembly of walls at the cost of reducing the size of the crawl space in the new opyou’llonly by a few inches.

Temporary Ledge Beam

Next, make temporary ledges to support beam. This will hold the beam below the contact points. Measure the beam depth and add a half “nc” . This “wi” l help you get the beam into place when that time comes.

You can create the roof and wall ledges using either shorter 2″x4″s or 2″x6″s that have been cut to the width of the walls and king posts. You will then nail these into place onto the walls and king studs. Nail holes are acceptable here, as they will eventually be covered back up.

Time to Start Sawing

I recommend using a miter saw here. First, you want to measure the interior distance between your two king studs. Now, the measurements here are vital, so be as accurate as possible when reading your tape measure.

Whatever saw you are using, be careful and make sure that you are cutting to the exact measurements specified. This will save you time and cost later on, so take the extra little time to make sure it is perfect. The main concern is ensuring that you get a great perpendicular cut.

Getting the Support Beam Into Position

It is beneficialhaven’te an extra pair of hands for this project, especially for this step, so now is the time to get help if necessary permits if you haven’t already done so. Support beams can be quite heavy and difficult to handle alone. However, if you are alone there is a process you can use, assuming youisn’tstrong enough.

If you are strong enough you can do this by yourself with a beam that is up to 10 feet long. Now, the problem here isn’t so much the weight of the beam, but rather the fact that it has to be positioned above your head. This means that it is going to be extremely unstable. Also, if you are at risk of back injury, I highly recommend calling on a friend for some assistance.

The trick to doing this alone is to rest one end of the beam on the top rung of a shop ladder while holding up the other end. You then tilt the beam so that it reaches the same height as the beam supporting the load bearing over-bearing wall or ledge. Then you simply swivel it into I’lle against the the supporting wall removing a load-bearing over-bearing wall below.

Check Joist Movement

It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again. Always be aware of what is happening above you. You want to measure the distance between the joist and the floor. Write this distance on the closest joist. You want to check this occasionally throughout the entire process here. This way you will be aware if the roof above you is slowly dbeam’sg lower.

Support Beam Side Channels

N “w t” at the beam has been put on the ledges you need to create side channels on each of the beam’s sides. These are nothing more than 2″x 4″s that you cut to the same width as the king stud. Simply screw or nail said supports into place.

Now that you have done this, you should have channels on either side of the beam, which will prevent it from slipping out. Now you will be able to slide the beam upward without having to fear it will fall off of your own beam to one side or the other.

Holding the Support Beam in Place

This step is exponentially easy. Now, it is possible to slowly raise it into place one side at a time by stepping it up.

However, if you raise it straight up from the middle or with a couple of extra friends, you will end up with a much better and tighter fit. Raising it straight up and level all at once is the best course of action if you are capable.

The best bet is to have a helper at each end pressing the beam straight up until it makes contact with the exterior walls and floor joists. After this, you block each end of the beam. One option that works well is to have a temporary beam in the center of the support beam that can be lifted with a jack. You can use this to move the support b”am up as n”eded lightly.

The First Jack Stud

So now the time to install jack studs has come. The first one will do the majority of the raising of the support beam, hence the name “jack stud.” You want to take your time here and not jack it too quickly or tightly. If you do not remove a load-bearing wall first, you risk cracking roof or floor above the new beam.

You are going to start by resting the jack stud in place. Then you will swing the load path bearing on top of it towards your king stud until it starts to rub against the support beam.

There will initially be a few inches where you will see this load path initial jack stud rub against that support beam. So basically,, this “ea”s you will have to pound this load path into place.

Set the Jack Stud

Now, you need to hammer that first jack stud into its final place. Then, you will use a block with a 2″x4″ to enshaven’t get it squarely into place. This is all covered up with either tDon’tr drywall, so you don’t have to be too careful. Leaving blemishes here is acceptable.

Time for the Second Jack Stud

If you haven’t already done it, cut the second jack stud to the required size. Don’t just use the exact measurements as the first jack stud. You need to remeasure and recut this second jack stud. There are often variations in the whole floor plan that need to be accounted for.

Cut it just a little long so that it has to be hammered into place for a tight fit. You do, however, want to make sure that you only have to do minimal pounding on this second stud. The vast majority of the lifting has already been done by the first jack stud.

If you accidentally after removing a load bearing cut the second one too short, then you will need to place a lever beneath it to raise it up. A wrecking bar makes for a good lever in this instance.

Support Beam Tie-In

Now that you have come this far all you have to do is tie the support beam into ceiling joists between the jack and king posts. You can do this using metal hurricane straps or by toe-nailing the support beam to the floor joists.

Once the support beam has been tied in, your project is complete. You’ve successfully replaced the engineered beam and the non-load-bearing wall-bearing side, and the load-bearing home’stogether, with an entire load-bearing wall-bearing wall, and you are ready to add drywall and other finishing materials as desired.