Open Concept Wall Removal

The Wall Is Usually Doing More Than It Looks

Most of the two-story homes in Woodbridge, Northwood, Westpark and University Park were framed with the kitchen closed off from the family room. On the ground floor the wall looks ordinary: studs, drywall, a doorway, maybe a pass through with a ledge. The question that decides the whole job is what is above it.

In a single-story house that wall often carries only the ceiling. In a two-story house it frequently sits under an upstairs bedroom wall or a hallway, and the second floor joists may rest on its top plate. When that is the case, pulling the studs without first installing a beam is how ceilings sag and doors upstairs stop closing.

What We Check Before Quoting

A number on this work is meaningless until the framing has been looked at. On the first visit we look for:

• Joist direction. Joists that run across the wall and lap or splice over it usually mean it is bearing. Joists running parallel to it usually mean it is not, though not always.
• What stands above it. A wall stacked directly overhead, a post, or a concentrated load from a roof beam changes the design.
• What runs inside it. Upstairs bathroom drain and vent lines, return air ducts, gas lines to a range, and outlet and switch circuits for both rooms.
• What it lands on. Irvine tract homes of this era are mostly slab on grade, so new posts often need a new footing cut into the slab beneath them.

Where we cannot see enough from the attic or an access panel, we open a small section of ceiling. It is a cheap hole to patch and far cheaper than guessing.

When an Engineer Is Involved

If the wall is bearing, a structural engineer calculates the beam size, the posts and the footings, and specifies the connections. The beam might be an LVL, a glulam or, over a long span, steel. Those calculations become part of the plan set submitted to the City of Irvine. We handle the submittal and schedule inspections, which generally happen with the framing exposed so the inspector can see the beam, posts, hangers and footings before anything is covered.

Flush Beam or Dropped Beam

This is the decision homeowners care about most, because it is the one they will look at every day.

A flush beam is installed up into the ceiling so the finished ceiling is flat across both rooms. The upstairs joists are cut and hung from the beam with metal hangers. It is the cleaner look and it takes more labor, more temporary shoring and sometimes rerouting of whatever was running through those joist bays.

A dropped beam sits below the ceiling and reads as a soffit crossing the room. It is less expensive and less invasive. When a duct trunk or a drain line runs across the ceiling above, it may be the practical choice. Wrapped in drywall, or clad in wood to match the flooring or cabinets, it can look deliberate rather than like a compromise.

How the Removal Actually Goes

1. Protection of the rest of the house, including plastic dust walls and floor covering.
2. Temporary shoring walls built on both sides to carry the load while the wall is out.
3. Utilities rerouted: plumbing, ductwork and circuits moved into the ceiling or neighboring walls.
4. Demolition of the wall, then footings, posts and the new beam installed per the engineering.
5. Framing and rough-in inspection with everything still exposed.
6. Ceiling closed, taped and textured to match, and the floor gap filled or the flooring replaced.

What It Costs

A non-bearing wall with a little electrical to move tends to run $4,000 to $9,500. A bearing wall with engineering, permit, shoring and a new beam is more often $14,000 to $38,000, with the upper end reserved for long spans, flush beams, steel and heavy rerouting. Flooring and full ceiling refinishing across both rooms are usually priced separately, since the right answer depends on what you already have.

If the opening is part of a new kitchen, see our kitchen layout redesign service. Call (949) 693-0496 to arrange a look at the wall.