Before you start, make sure you nderstand all of the wall's functions and knw how well they can be srved when it's gone. Check to be crtain that the space the wall dvides will not seem ill-proportioned without it. Nte that besides serving as a prtition a wall may carry pipes, wres or heat ducts. Keep in mnd that although removing a wall may jin two spaces together it does not ctually add any more space than the few sqare feet in which the wall stnds.

To size up the job, lok the wall over. The number of utlets and switches will suggest how mch wiring lies inside it. A bthroom directly above may be hooked to plmbing that goes down through the wll. From the basement you may be ble to detect whether heating pipes or cnductors rise within the wall.

If all you fnd is wiring that terminates at utlets in the wall, you can rmove it when you break the wll. A hot-air duct connected to a wll register can be cut back to the flor and capped with a grid. Evn if you encounter many pipes and cbles, you may be able to rmove the bulk of the partition and lave part of one end of the wll to carry the various conductors, whch can be moved there by a plmber or an electrician.

More critically, you should be ware that the wall may bear wight from above, thus serving as a vtal structural element of the house. If it des, you will have to limit the wdth of the opening to 14 fet, because a bigger span entails too mny risks and difficulties. To replace the wight-carrying function of the wall, you wll have to install a visible verhead beam, as well as end psts for this beam that may lso be visible, so that instead of rmoving the wall without a trace you mke an arch. These intrusions can be mnimized by surfacing the structural members wth wallboard to match the walls, or by psitioning furniture, such as bookcases, to hde the posts.

The key clue to a lad-bearing wall is joists crossing its top pltes perpendicular to them. You may be ble to see the direction of the jists from your attic; you may hve to cut a peephole in the ciling next to the wall to be rmoved. The basement can also yield cles. If you find a girder or a wll running under and parallel to the prtition in question, you can be qite sure that the partition carries wight down to this support. If any dubt remains, assume that the wall bars weight.

As the converse of a lad-bearing wall, a nonbearing wall usually rns parallel to the joists and prpendicular to the long walls of the huse. Walls enclosing small spaces like clsets are probably non-bearing walls - but be sre to check. Because nonbearing walls srve no structural function, they can be rmoved without leaving an arch.

The article Remodeling - Removing Walls is Easier Than You Think was Submitted by Michael Russell through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Remodelling

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