[Bret86844]

Fellow DIYers, I'm looking for input/advice/comments on adding an exterior door to my house. Currently there is no access to my back yard, except through the garage. We are renovating our kitchen and it is down to studs. There is a nook with a large window in a non-load bearing exterior wall we would like to replace with a door. Are there any red flags I should look out for?

Below is a picture of the window and wall. The corner you see on the left is the edge of the load bearing wall, and a beam extends across above the ceiling. The couple feet or so that the wall is pushed back extends out from the house.

The window is wider than 3' so we may put a narrow, vertical window section in. The rendering below kinda shows what we are planning for the door.

We would love to do this ourselves but I wanted your take on it before I sawed a hole in my house. :devil3:

 

[mako1]

A door can be put in any wall one way or the other.I am wondering what leads you to believe this is a NON load bearing wall.Is there a footing under it?Do your trusses or rafters sit on it? I can't tell from the pics or info given but if the wall to the left is load bearing and support the joists or trusses then this bump out does too.

 

[Bret86844]

There is no footer underneath. Below is a picture of it from the outside. Ignore the note, it was taken by our home inspector.

Here is a view looking up at the ceiling. The sistered joist appears to be what supports to floor joists above.

 

[mako1]

I see.That does not make it non load bearing. Just hack construction.
The bump out is cantilevered but not done correctly.
At any rate,if it has held up this long without any issues,replacing the window with a door would probably not change things.
If it were my house I would support at least the corner of the bump out with some kind of footing.Door or not.
I'm wonder what is supporting the bottom?What size joists and how they are tied into the original floor joists?

 

[Bret86844]

The joists in the floor of the kitchen are 2x10's, roughly 16" OC. Those are supported from the concrete footer of the house, much like how in the picture above, the second floor joists are supported from the sistered joist, but extend further out. Is this what you are asking?