Recently, our Handyman helped a homeowner “open” things up in their house. We removed approximately 15’ of load bearing wall on the first floor between the living room and the dining room and installed a new load bearing exposed header.
To install the new load bearing header the existing lath and plaster needed to be removed from the wall. Once the wall was opened up we had to move the existing light switch and wiring to the ceiling fixtures. We then re-directed the 2nd floor HVAC supply runs to a newly created chase. On each side of the existing load bearing wall we built a temporary wall to support the weight of the house as we removed the load bearing wall. Once the wall was removed we installed our double LVL header to carry the weight of the home. Once the double LVL header was set and the proper framing completed to take the weight of the new wall we removed our temporary walls to allow the new header to take the weight of the 2nd story.
If you’re considering opening up your home and removing walls, always be sure to consult a professional on load bearing walls and structural columns. Contact [email protected] or (816) 361-9669 to learn more about opening up your home!