One of the more significant home renovations comes when an individual decides they want to go open plan. In fact the task can be so large that many home-owners go out and buy a specific purpose built property. Of course, if you have no intention of moving home then there are still options available to you.
This blog post will take a closer look at the most vital of elements when considering an open plan look. For those who are new to this type of building work, this comes in the form of load bearing walls.
Compromise Integrity
The first thing to note about load bearing walls is that when they are removed they can seriously compromise the integrity of your property. This perhaps will give you the biggest clue as to exactly why many contractors shy away from this type of work. It certainly isn’t for the faint hearted, or the novice.
Thankfully, many newly built properties are constructed with an element of redundancy in mind. Put simply, the removal of a load bearing wall is unlikely to bring your house to its knees. That said it will put additional pressure on the remainder of your property. Additional structural changes will almost certainly have a bearing on whether or not your home remains habitable.
Replace Structural Element
The good news is that there is indeed a work-around when removing a structural wall.
To maintain the integrity of the building the load bearing wall will need to be replaced by something of an equal or greater strength. In the most part this will be achieved by the use of steel beams. If the load that needs to be carried is less then sometimes solid sawn lumber might be used instead of steel.
It should be noted that because of the enormity of the task that you are asking of these steel beams they will nearly always sit lower than the original ceiling height. Logically you are looking to replace the strength of a full size wall and utilise a much smaller object. It is possible to use differing widths of beam. This helps in many respects to help counteract the protruding element of beam.
Negative View
To be fair, most home-owners will gladly accept the view of the exposed beam as a necessary evil. The open plan area that is achieved tends to outweigh any negativity behind the view of the beam itself. Of course, a good contractor will work on ways that the beam can be disguised. Most of the time this will involve some kind of custom cabinetry to hide the beam away.
Sometimes home-owners faced with the task of hiding their beam will turn it to their advantage. Rather than making it disappear they will use coverings that make it stand out more. An example of this could be something like antique wood, which tends to work well in older properties. Supporting pillars, when matched in the same materials, can produce some pretty spectacular results.
Intervening Posts
To add even greater strength to your new room it is sensible to consider the installation of intervening posts beneath the beam.
Once again, if this is done well then it could easily become a key focal point to the look of your new room. If you enlist the help of a structural engineer they will almost certainly recommend this as a viable course of action.
Reliable Advice
This post isn’t meant to put you off of taking on this type of task. However, it should have gone someway to highlighting the scale of the task.
It is strongly recommend that before embarking on this type of project advice is sought from a structural engineer, architect and contractor. This will confirm just whether or not the project will provide a practical solution to your needs.
In his time, your author Chris Hoole has tackled many different home renovation projects. From his own experience he recommends the installation of steel beams when looking to remove any load bearing walls.
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