Concrete walls in a concrete house
4/16/2016 at 11:24:54 AM
Hello,
May be a silly question but...
We have a concrete house - everything is concrete, floors, interior walls, closets etc - no drywall at all - in the winter the walls weep due to condensation etc...
We want to open up the kitchen some removing about 2 feet on either side of the kitchen door. I have no idea if this is a load bearing wall but given that all the walls are concrete and we're only looking at removing a small amount. Do we still need to start with an engineer and permits and such or do you start with a contractor?
It is difficult finding people in the area familiar with concrete houses - everyone we've had over is always a bit amazed by it's construction.
Thanks!
4/16/2016 at 6:12:13 PM
Is this a 2 story home? Can you get into the attic to view what way the rafters run and see if taking that wall out is going to change anything?
4/16/2016 at 7:53:06 PM
It's one story with a basement - I found a picture of the "attic" from the inspection we had done when we bought it, I'm afraid it doesn't tell me much - the whole wall is 16 feet - we are hoping to take out 2.5 feet from the current doorway to the exterior wall and another coupe feet from the other side of the doorway to open up the kitchen.
Thanks again!
4/18/2016 at 8:18:57 AM
It would absolutely be in your best interest to hire an engineer.
4/20/2016 at 12:40:49 AM
The building code does not cover buildings of this sort so only a professional engineer is qualified. Wood trussed typically span an entire house and use exterior walls as bearing. A general contractor can handle the process or you may wish to self contract, in that case hire a design firm first
4/20/2016 at 12:42:02 AM
If the ceiling is concrete all walls are bearing and must have a professional engineer
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