In this episode of Real 101: The Home Buying and Selling Show, President and Lead Designer of White Willow Design Daniel Ott discusses removing load bearing walls and what is involved in this.
Why do People Remove Load Bearing Walls and What is Involved in This?
While every situation is different, most people decide they want to take out load bearing walls when they are renovating their kitchen. Usually, the only way to make the kitchen bigger is to remove a wall or two. These usually end up being load bearing walls.
Removing load bearing walls more often than not leads to a number of concerns such as:
- The price of the project
- What kind of services are in the wall and
- How to support the structure of the building with the load bearing wall now being removed.
When it comes to pricing, most people decide not to take out load bearing walls because it would be too expensive. Their decision is usually based on estimates given by lower-end contractors without enough experience to work on a project like this.
However, according to Daniel, taking out load bearing walls and putting a beam in their place shouldn’t cost you more than $6-7,000, including the labor, materials and necessary permits. Of course, this is only for the actual beam and its structure, while the finishing could cost a little extra.
What About Structural Support When Removing Load Bearing Walls?
One big mistake people make when they remove a load bearing wall is when they don’t put any support after. The weight of the floor above needs to be evenly distributed when the load bearing wall is out.
If the load bearing wall is removed, it is usually be replaced with a beam which has to sit on posts. As long as these posts directly line up on top of the basement posts, the load is still evenly distributed.
Typically, for a project like this, contractors, including Daniel recommend steel beams as the material spans farther and costs less than using wood.
Watch this episode to learn more about load bearing walls.
For more information on home renovations contact:
Daniel Ott
Website: http://whitewillowdesign.ca/
Phone: 905.220.9419
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Visit: TheCondoSpot.ca
Buy, Sell, & Invest In Condos in the GTA!
Phone: 647.494.0244
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