Structural Advice for Removing Load bearing Wall?

03-16-2010, 05:05 PM	#1
sdba Newbie   Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 2	Structural Advice for Removing Load bearing Wall? I would like to enlarge the opening from 5 to 13 feet in a load bearing wall between my kitchen and family room on the first floor of a 2 story house. I would have to leave a short stub wall for the soil stack and HVAC going upstairs. Currently the load under this wall is carried in the basement by a 2x4 wall 12” OC , single 2x4 base plate and double 2x4 top plate. This 2x4 wall is sitting on 4x5x 16” cement blocks. The foundation walls and basement floor are poured concrete. Could the point load created by removing the wall on the first floor be supported in the basement by filling in the stud cavities with 2x4's or would I need to pour new footings and put in steel posts? I have a limited budget and 2x4’s would be a lot cheaper then having to put in new footings. I don't want to waste money calling hiring an engineer until I know if I want to proceed with the project but it is difficult for the GC to quote if we don’t know what all would be required. One GC suggested the 2x4's another told me new footings. What would a structural engineer likely recommend? The first picture is basement, second picture is existing first floor, third picture is what I would like to do, fourth picture is existing second floor. Thank you for any help. Attached Thumbnails         Last edited by sdba; 03-16-2010 at 05:14 PM.

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