If you’re imagining your home with more light, more space, and an open floor plan, and the removal of a wall or two is all you need to achieve that, you’re in good company.
You can reinvent your indoor living space by removing one or more walls while maintaining the structural integrity of your home. Sounds easy, right? Grab a sledgehammer and get to work.
But wait, what if that wall you want to remove is a load-bearing wall?
What Is a Load-Bearing Wall?
A load-bearing wall is vital to your home’s structure and support. While some walls are there to simply divide a space into two rooms, a load-bearing wall helps to transfer the weight of the roof trusses, floors, or other parts of the house to a sturdy concrete foundation.
Removing a load bearing or structural wall means that the weight that the wall supported must be moved elsewhere, such as to steel or timber beams or other means of support.
Failure to redirect the weight that a load-bearing wall supports means that your entire home could collapse!
Is There an Easy Way to Tell If a Wall Is Load-Bearing?
You should always determine if a wall is load bearing before you even think about tearing it down.
While exterior walls are almost always load-bearing, interior walls can be one or the other.
Some interior walls are simply partition walls meant to divide two spaces, but even these types of walls can hide other components inside, such as electrical wiring or plumbing.
How Do You Tell the Difference Between a Load-Bearing Wall and a Normal Wall?
How can you quickly tell if what you are looking at is a load-bearing wall or one that is not load bearing?
Here’s Our Quick Check Guide:
- Check the attic or ceiling. If the wall runs perpendicular to the joists in the attic, there is a really good chance that the wall is load-bearing.
- Check the basement or crawl space. The same is true here. If the wall runs parallel (not perpendicular) to the floor joists, it’s probably NOT a load-bearing wall.
- If you have a multi-storey house and you spot a load-bearing wall on the lower floor, it’s good to remember that load-bearing walls often sit on top of one another.
- Your home’s exterior walls are almost always load-bearing ones.
Keep in mind that nothing is absolute. You might automatically assume that a masonry wall is load bearing because it looks sturdy, but that’s not always true. It’s also possible that what you assume as an internal wall used to be an external wall before a new room was added to the house.
This is where the expertise of an architect or a structural engineer can be a life-saver, literally.
Remember that failure to use support beams or somehow redistribute the weight of a wall can cause your roof or other walls in the house to collapse!
How Can You Tell What Is Inside a Wall?
Even non-load-bearing walls can contain surprises inside, such as electrical wiring, plumbing, vents and air ducts, or gas lines.
Here are some easy ways to tell if something is inside a partition wall:
- Listen. Put your ear on the wall and ask someone to run a couple of faucets in the kitchen and bath, as well as flushing the toilets. You often can hear water rushing inside the wall.
- If there is a light switch or electrical outlet on the wall, you can bet that there is electrical wiring inside.
- If you use propane or natural gas, turn on the stove burners and oven. Listen for sounds of gas rushing through the wall.
- Is there a vent on or near the ceiling? Is there a vent on the floor close to the wall? This could mean that the ducting runs through that wall. While some ducting runs through the ceiling or under the floor, many contractors use a non-load-bearing wall for duct work.
Of course, if any of the above items are inside the wall you want to remove during your renovation project, they will need to be rerouted elsewhere.
Most DIYers don’t have the knowledge to reroute these items and find it better to rely on a professional builder for this job.
How Do You Know If You Can Knock Down a Wall on Your Own?
Can you tear down a wall on your own? Technically, yes, after you get the required permits and if you are certain that the wall is not-load bearing and you have the know-how to remove a wall, by all means you can.
Remember, however, that this is a very dirty, extremely dusty job. Care should be taken that you don’t damage furniture or other rooms with the dust and flying debris!
Details, Details, Details!
Last, many people don’t consider what they will do about the ceiling and floors after the wall has been removed.
The ceiling will need to be repaired or replastered so that it looks continuous.
The same is true of the floor. If you have carpet in one room and tile in the other, a decision will need to be made about how to make the floor look like a single room once more.
Also, when removing a wall, at least one section of the room will most likely have damage to the gyprock. This will also need to be repaired or replaced.
Hire a Professional: Hire Wall Removal Experts Perth
We get several calls each month from homeowners who become overwhelmed by what they believed would be an easy weekend task.
The truth is that few homeowners have the experience, tools, and know-how when it comes to removing a wall in their home or removing part of an exterior wall to add a door or window.
Before you consider to DIY, call the professional team at Wall Removal Experts Perth.
Our name says it all, and we are happy to give you a free, onsite quote about what it would take to remove the wall(s) in your home.
Perth’s Premier Wall Removal Specialists
With more than 15 years in business, we are proudly Perth’s premier wall removal specialists.
We have structural engineers that can tell if a wall is load-bearing or not. They are experts in redistributing the weight safely, so you can rest easy about the structural integrity of your home!
Our professional team will get the proper permits, protect the other rooms in your home, reroute any items necessary, support the weight of the structure properly, and make the required repairs to the ceilings and floors.
And did we say we clean up the mess after all that demolition job? We certainly do, so all you have to do is sit back and enjoy your new living space!
We work hard so you don’t have to!
Don’t wait! Call us today for a free, accurate quote!
Other Services We Offer
While we are the experts when it comes to removing walls, our talented team of professionals can also provide the following services:
- Custom steel structures
- Lintel replacement
- Door or window openings
- Concrete work
- Bricklaying
- Plastering
- Roofing
- Carpentry
And much, much more!
Our Name Says It All! Call Wall Removal Experts Perth Today!
Don’t risk the structural integrity of your home!
Call Wall Removal Experts Perth today for a free quote!
