Walls and Ceilings - removal of load bearing wall
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01-13-02, 05:58 AM
I am looking at removing a load bearing wall and I am looking for a good reference on how to do this succesfully. I know that I need to have a support structure in place when I remove the wall but I need ideas on how to build this structure. I also need to find out how big of beam I need to span the wall that I am talking out. If anyone know of a good book or pamphlet on this topic it would be appreciated.
dickh
01-15-02, 11:14 AM
i tried to find the same thing last year. every
article i read said hire an engineer for this. also our building inspector required us to hire an engineer. cost us about $500. he has to calculate the weight that will be supported by your beam. including the weight of snow on the roof in our area. it really isn't a job for diy-er.but to give you some idea what you are looking at here's what he came up with for us.
our room, 32'x 23', needed 4 ganglams 11 3/4" by
1 3/4" nailed together. (a ganglam looks like a
2x12 made of plywood) this had to be supported on each endwall by 5 2x4s, also nailed together, and in the center by a column of 4 2x8s. the column of 2x8s had to be supported by another column in the
basement. luckily he determined that our basement floor was thick enough to support that or we would
have had to break up the concrete and pour a thicker footing for it.
hope this helps
good luck on your project!
article i read said hire an engineer for this. also our building inspector required us to hire an engineer. cost us about $500. he has to calculate the weight that will be supported by your beam. including the weight of snow on the roof in our area. it really isn't a job for diy-er.but to give you some idea what you are looking at here's what he came up with for us.
our room, 32'x 23', needed 4 ganglams 11 3/4" by
1 3/4" nailed together. (a ganglam looks like a
2x12 made of plywood) this had to be supported on each endwall by 5 2x4s, also nailed together, and in the center by a column of 4 2x8s. the column of 2x8s had to be supported by another column in the
basement. luckily he determined that our basement floor was thick enough to support that or we would
have had to break up the concrete and pour a thicker footing for it.
hope this helps
good luck on your project!