Possible Load Bearing Wall removal (drawings and work)

3/10/2016 at 3:29:10 PM

Hi Nelson,

If the wall is not structural, no building permit or engineering is required.

A good contractor will have a reasonably priced engineer that he works with on a regular basis.

The contractor can determine if the wall is structural or not. Opening the ceiling drywall to see which way the joists run above the wall may be necessary.

The engineering fee for preparing a stamped drawing, ready for building permit should be less that $2500.

The cost for replacing the structural wall with a flush beam, inserted into the ceiling (not hanging below) can vary from $5,000 to $15,000, depending on many variables:

What else is there in the wall that needs to be relocated? Electrical? Heating ducts? Intercom? Thermostats?

Temporary walls will need to be put up on the main floor and directly underneath in the basement to hold up the house while the structural wall is replaced with the flush beam. If the basement is finished, or if there are walls, beams, bathrooms etc. in the way, this can be challenging to do.

1st floor finishes may be challenging as well, or not.

The floor where the wall was will now need to be patched, or redo the kitchen floor, or redo the living room floor, one or the other. The costs are in addition to the ones I mentioned above.

Get yourself a good contractor, as this scope of work can be involved, and the structural integrity of your home is at stake.

make sure you have informed your insurance agent, in writing.

Best,

Andrew Parker

Par-Tek Construction

3/10/2016 at 4:55:50 PM

Thanks Andrew for your response.

Does the flow start with the contractor to first determine if the wall is load bearing, and then engage engineering if determined it is and need drawings?

What if replacing the wall did not require a flush beam, and it is perfectly fine hanging below the ceiling (such as having a bulkhead)? Would the cost be lower?

I do not believe there is anything major in the wall that needs to be relocated. If anything it would be electrical. I do not think there is any HVAC or plumbing involved. But to be 100% sure we'd need to open up the wall (which I haven't done yet).

The basement is not finished and no additional walls, beams, bathrooms are in the way.

1st floor finishes would not need to be considered as I am planning on doing that myself.

Once the wall has been removed, the plan is to redo the kitchen. As a result, patching up the floor where the wall once was will be taken care of by new tiles.

So really, I am trying to get a tighter ballpark figure of just removing the wall (assuming it's structural).

Hope that helps narrow down the variables you mentioned.

Cheers,

Nelson

3/10/2016 at 10:15:46 PM

Hi Nilson,

The ball park figure for structural engineer to the required drawings is $1500. If there is any steel beam underneath this wall, the cost for construction will be lesser if there is no wall or steel beam right under the wall that will cost you a bit more. Drop beams definitely will cost you less than the flashed beam as long as you are ok with that. Meanwhile based on the beam span will determine the depth of the beam and it might be you have to make it with bulkhead anyway.

Rough estimate for the structural rough-in work would be about $7000

Check our photo gallery for general contracting and you will find similar work that we already done several times.

Hope that information will help.

Regards,

Mike

3/11/2016 at 9:15:27 AM

Nelson,

At this point, you should be considering having a good contractor in to see the work.

The Doctor needs to see the patient, he cannot diagnose over the phone.

Best,

Andrew