Asked on Jan 28, 2015

Which walls to take down?

Deborah Dawson
by Deborah Dawson
I want to make family room larger and open up the floor plan. My house is a traditional 9 windows and a door. The house is 5400 sq. ft. including the finished above ground basement apartment. You would think this is a huge house but our den or family room is not very big. It is wainscoted with what people say is beautiful paneling but I think it just makes it darker. There is a living room right off the foyer and a narrow hall taking you into the den on the right. Butting up to it on the far wall is the sun porch which is accessible through either of 2 french doors. The sun porch is high ceiling where the other ceilings are just standard. It would be nice to use this room more but it is cold in winter and hot in summer. The wall with the french doors chop up the room and make it difficult to arrange furniture. We have a full size sofa against and centered between the two french doors with a love see going parallel with the hallway that comes into the family room. There is about 4 feet of wall space with the door to the kitchen. On the left is the entrance to the kitchen which is a big room with a full sized table for 6. I want to redo the kitchen and expand counter space. Question is, which wall or walls do we take down, how do I decide?
Any experience with this sort of renovation would be appreciated. My home is a John Wieland home built in 1987. It was replicated throughout the Atlanta and probably throughout the country. A lot of space under one basic roof.
I would love to see renovations!
Looking from fireplace into the door to the kitchen.
Seeing sunporch behind the sofa.
Looking at mantle over fireplace which is the back wall to your right when you walk into room from entrance hallway.
The sunporch from the deck
  20 answers
  • first things first. Get a reputable contractor out to let you know if the wall is a support wall. They cannot be removed. Then have a hay da y.
  • ...Yes, you have to know if the wall is load bearing first and foremost, and then you can figure out the next step.
  • Donna Byram Donna Byram on Jan 28, 2015
    If the wall you want to remove is load bearing, a qualified contractor can install an I beam that can support the rafters. It is expensive, but it might be worth the money to open it up to the room or rooms that you would want to incorporate into the space.
  • Mandy Brown Mandy Brown on Jan 29, 2015
    Sometimes the best way to tell if a wall is load bearing is to go to your basement and work your way up. If your house was built with jack posts supporting the weight of the floor beams, you should have exposed posts in an unfinished basement or you could have decorative columns in a finished basement. These are usually spaced every 8-10' along the support beams. If you had floor trusses instead of jack posts, you won't have the posts. Floor trusses are built to span longer stretches and support the weight normally supported by jack posts. If you have posts in your basement, the line that these post form across your home is the support line (you may have more than one row of posts if you have a larger home). Follow these lines up to the next floor and the walls above will be supporting walls. They will be supporting the weight of either the roof trusses or the second floor of your home. This doesn't mean you can't remove any of these walls. You could remove a wall or two and be perfectly safe, depending on where and how much of the walls you're removing. You may need to install a jack post to support the upper floor/roof if you remove too much of a supporting wall or you can install a support beam; however, support beams usually hang down below ceiling height and need to be framed in and require supports on either side. If you don't mind having a post instead of a large wall, you can go that route and just frame around it like a column. This is only if the wall(s) you want to remove is load bearing. Other factors to determine load bearing walls is to find convergent points within your house (areas where 3 or 4 main walls come together). Often these areas are where main support beams are located and "hidden" where the walls meet instead of having to frame them in. Not only do you need to consider load bearing when removing walls, but what's within the walls as well. Do you need to relocate electric, heating/ac duct, plumbing? If you have the blue prints to your home, that's the best place to start. Not only will it take the guess work out of everything, it will save you a LOT of headache later.
  • Mary B Mary B on Jan 29, 2015
    If not load bearing, I would start with the wall to the kitchen area, which you said is spacious that will give you the open space you are looking for.
  • Connie Connie on Jan 29, 2015
    The advice you've received is correct concerning load bearing walls. Taking down brick is always harder and therefore more expensive so I'd consider removing the other walls rather than the fireplace wall. If it's affordable, take down all the paneling and replace with drywall. It will update your home enormously. I painted over dark paneling with light blue (Ben Moore Polar Sky) trimmed in white. It was like a breath of fresh air and I've never regretted it. Keep us posted on your choices.
  • Carole Alden Carole Alden on Jan 29, 2015
    I'd draw a scatch and scan it and put it here to get different ideas. I took out a wall to make a living room/dinning room and was happy with it.
  • Carol Stehling Carol Stehling on Jan 29, 2015
    All are correct in saying you need to have a contractor come check for load bearing walls. You can take them out if supported by a beam like was mentioned. I also agree with taking out the wall to the kitchen. I think that would open up things greatly. If it's a load bearing wall, you can open it up more by taking out the pocket door and the space it slides into at least. To save money, paint the paneling. You can water down latex paint to make a wash if you like the wood grain showing. You would need to give it a good sanding first. Just painting the trim a lighter color would lighten things up as well.
  • MagnoliaMama MagnoliaMama on Jan 29, 2015
    If you remove a load-bearing wall, consider using columns under a sturdy laminated beam to support whatever is above. I removed most of a former exterior wall when I added a family room across the back of my kitchen. I chose to use square fiberglass columns, and each one was certified to support up to 11,000 pounds of weight. I also cut one column to a shorter length and used it above a pass-through countertop.These columns were not only functional but beautiful. Notice how decorative moldings are applied to the plain columns, accenting the architectural style.
  • Cindy Hagemann Cindy Hagemann on Jan 29, 2015
    Load-bearing walls are the most important part of this conversation as others have stated. But even if they are load-bearing, beams can be installed to open them up or even do more window-type openings instead of knocking an entire wall out. The photos are hard to tell anything from - a simple drawn floor plan of the house would have given us a better view of your options.
  • Kate Kate on Jan 29, 2015
    Sorry, but where did you get that red leather loveseat?
  • Catherine Dean Catherine Dean on Jan 29, 2015
    If you're not experience at home reno, I would definitely get a contractor involved. In the mean time to figure out which walls could come down without adding additional beams and supports the easiest way to tell if a wall is load bearing is look at which way your ceiling joist are running in relation to the wall. If the wall is running perpendicular to the ceiling joists, good chance the wall is load bearing and additional support will have to be added. If the wall is running parallel to the joists it's not load bearing. Also any exterior walls are load bearing. You can use these guidelines for planning, but then get a contractor involved and use his expertise as well.
  • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Jan 29, 2015
    Would like to see a scale drawing of your layout. Got lost trying to match pics with descriptions. The home is lovely and I would not touch the wainscoting - it is beautiful.
  • Linda 4 Real Linda 4 Real on Jan 29, 2015
    I'm going to have to disagree with most of the other posts! I am not a contractor (but last year did read all of the books to get certified and know codes as not to violate.) and I have removed many walls in all of my last 3 homes. If you have the money and want someone else to run your remodel then get a contractor. If you want to run the job you will need a carpenter and electrician (plumber if you need to re route plumbing). Service Pro is a good site if you do not have a very trustworthy referral. I I think I should probably stay away from this website because I want to help people too much and end up probably embarrassing myself. Linda
    • See 2 previous
    • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Mar 04, 2015
      @4Real Linda You completely misinterpreted my comment. It was intended to be a contradiction to your statement about staying away from this website.
  • DORLIS DORLIS on Jan 29, 2015
    I HAVE LEARNED ONE THING ABOUT CONTRACTORS FROM WATCHING HOLMES MAKES IT RIGHT AND THAT IS GET REFERENCES, CHECK HIM OUT THROUGHLY. AFTER SEEING SOME OF THE MESSES LEFT BY "CONTRACTORS" MAKES ME LEARY
  • Renata Renata on Jan 30, 2015
    From what I see I have no idea how you could possibly know what you could do from what pics were available. I have to personally see the place that I do. So therefore I am no help. lol Cept I would get rid of the dark walls and brighten up the place. Sounds like it would be beautiful if done right.
  • Sharon Doyle Sharon Doyle on Jan 30, 2015
    The paneling appears to be block, so more valuable than sheet paneling, I'd keep that. But I'd lighten it up, like the watered down paint idea so grain can still show through. Lots of good info above, thanks to all contributors for taking the time to share. Oh, I love the red loveseat
  • Liliana Wells Liliana Wells on Jan 31, 2015
    I am assuming this is not a project you will do yourself. Excuse me for saying this, but if you can afford a John Wieland home, you can afford to hire an architect and a contractor to oversee the work. An architect can draw a new plan for you and make suggestions before embarking on this venture. If you want a quick fix, you can do the painting of the paneling and trim yourself. This will give you a more open feeling in the room. Good luck. Let us know what you decide and show us pictures.
  • Linda Possakka Linda Possakka on Mar 03, 2015
    Yikes!! Please do not take walls down yourself... Hire a real home designer who has gone to school, a licensed and insured contractor, an architect or an engineer. Even a certified home decorator like me isn't allowed to make that judgement! You may assume a wall is not load bearing but end up with huge costly problems if you make a mistake!! This is the one thing that I truly believe is not diy.
  • Gary Mustain Gary Mustain on Sep 01, 2015
    Not enough info. Would need to see pictures of the trusses or rafters in the attic, roof line, basement walls or crawlspace footers etc. etc. Hire a structural engineer if you do not know how to tell if a wall is load bearing.