Calling Support: Pt 1

When we put an offer in at Crest View Terrace, its open concept was a major selling-point. The living space, dining space, and kitchen were all connected and we knew a floor plan like that would be perfect for both family life and entertaining. We wanted that.

Unfortunately, our future house, at Roomerg Road, does not have an open concept as it stands. But as HGTV teaches us, when a house does not have everything a buyer wants, just fast forward through some commercials and “must-haves” magically appear! …and many of the shows’ “must-haves” involve tearing down some sort of wall. This stuff happens all the time. So, why can’t it happen in our house also?

When we took the initial tour, our mindsets focused on, “What can be done to open this thing up?” The connected dining and living rooms both have huge, panoramic windows overlooking the backyard, and if we could, somehow, include the kitchen in this view, we’d be nearing the end credits of our show! But there is a wall between the two blocking our plans…which naturally leads me to my next question, “Can we take it down?”

In order to determine the necessity of the wall, I needed to execute some further research. Let me rephrase that…the wall is most likely load-bearing and structurally necessary…I just needed to determine to what extent. At inspection, I recorded precise measurements of the space so I could replicate a floor plan to play with. I also confirmed the load-bearing-ness of the wall from the ceiling joists in the attic, running perpendicular to and meeting at the wall’s header.

The following Saturday, while working at Laura’s kitchen island and listening to Mat Kearney, I transferred my measurements onto many large sheets of quadrilled-vellum, thus making a poor-man’s blueprint of the house. The exercise was an unintended confirmation that I strongly desire a large island! While working, I could spread my papers out, unobstructed, over the whole space and adjust myself from sitting to standing at a whim. It was glorious! Laura, watching the whole event in real time, further confirmed an island is something she really wants as well! Open floor plan, here we come!

Armed with a new “blueprint” and a moderate knowledge of the inner-makeup of our future house, I stared down at the paper, in confused wonder, at the to-be-removed wall splitting both sides of our house…

…”What the heck is that jog in the mid-wall?”

Traditionally, homes like this have a long I-Beam running the width of the basement to support the center of the house. Going from one side of the basement to the other (or in the case of the picture, top to bottom), it is responsible for holding the home’s center load and transferring it to the earth below. In all my eagerness to examine and measure the wall and attic, I completely forgot to figure out where that wall’s load was getting supported! I just assumed it rested on one beam below…but with the way it is shaped, I may have been wrong.

I knew there was a beam in the basement. I saw it and our inspection turned up a minor issue with it. But if that is true, if the wall is separated like it is, did they not build the wall directly over the one beam? Are there two beams in the basement, staggered and split where that grey box is in the top third? Did I miss one? What is going on here? If we want to tear down that wall to open up the space, we sure need to find out!

This is not something I could put off until March 1st. I needed to know now or else I would lose sleep thinking about all the different possibilities for this house…something that has emerged as a status quo in recent weeks.

My next step, though unorthodox, could potentially ease my mind and confirm the structure before that date. I called our Realtor and asked her if she could petition, on our behalf, for me to get back into the house for a few brief minutes to see what is going on. Let me re-emphasize the word, “unorthodox.” Traditionally, the inspection is the last time a buyer may see a house before the final walk-through, a few days before the closing. But I was definitely willing to throw tradition out the window…both to ease my mind and allow me to sleep! Our Realtor asked and I was granted permission to do another visit, largely because the seller’s agent was such a nice guy! …but our Realtor let me know, in the hundreds of homes she sold, I was only the second person to make this request. Go me?

Before my next visit, I was worried about the “two-I-Beam” scenario. If both walls were, in-fact, each resting on there own separate I-Beam in the basement, we would need to implement not one, but TWO load-bearing beams, incorporated with one of two additional features.

The first feature-option would include keeping the small connecting wall in the middle of the room to hide the two support poles where each beam ends. The beams would only need to be as long as their respective walls, making them easier to manage, but since we want a FULL open floor plan, this option is not an option. Which leads me to the second scenario…two beams that traverse the entire span of the house. Instantly, thoughts of maneuvering 2×30-foot beams into an attic took any element of excitement I had away from this task. Not only would maneuvering the beams be difficult, but we would also need to build additional load-transfers into the basement for each beam. I really hoped this is not how it is!

The visit arrived. After stepping into the basement and not looking immediately at the ceiling, I purposely closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Somehow, I knew doing so would will the structure into submission and make everything the way I wanted it to be. When I opened my eyes and looked up, I was happy to see my magic worked. Staring me in the face was one beam spanning the entire width of the basement [insert sigh-of-relief].

I pulled out my tape measure and began figuring out how the upstairs walls spanned across this one beam.

After exhausting six times my, originally promised, 10 minute visit, I emerged from the basement relieved, yet confused. One of the two walls definitely rested directly over the beam. However, the other one definitely did not. Once home, I transferred my measurements to my blueprint again and came to this conclusion…

I was confused. If this middle wall was, in-fact, a true load-bearing wall, the house’s builders definitely cut corners to make the living room area larger by placing the wall “kinda-over” the basement support beam. At least, this was where my worst-case-scenario mind went at the time. It wouldn’t be the worst thing, but it also wouldn’t be the best.

After further evaluation, I remembered our attic did not contain any trusses and only rafters. As such, I was relieved by the realization there is a good chance both walls are only supporting the weight of the ceiling and not the roof as I originally thought. If this is the case, it is good news since the “kinda-over” part would not really matter at all…which is why it was built this way. Unfortunately, until we get in there and further examine the attic and actual wall, we won’t know with 100% certainty. But for now, 90% is good enough to start planning with.

You may be wondering what exactly that grey box is in the top third of the wall we want to remove. I did also.

When I drew the blueprints, that small area was unaccounted for. Fully enclosed, the only reason I know it exists is because my wall measurements did not perfectly meet at that spot. After further evaluating some pictures, I came to the realization that area encloses “something.” Since there is no second level in this home, I could not imagine what that “something” is. I was concerned.

When I measured the basement beams, I also paid attention to what exactly went up from that spot in the basement. My conclusion is it holds electrical wires for the kitchen (something that is a non-issue), and also a piece of duct work…which could be an issue except for the fact that it does this…

Weird, huh? It just enters the attic and stops. I have no idea why this is like this, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to cut off in the basement and move on!

The conclusion is, our plans for an open concept are good to go! We will tear down both dividing walls and place one 26-foot beam across the entire length of the basement I-Beam. One end’s support pole will rest on a foundation wall while the other end’s will rest directly over a lolly column supporting the basement I-Beam. Magic, right? Not quite. Paper is definitely easier to manipulate than wood and drywall…but when we are finished, our kitchen, living, and dining rooms should go from this…

…to looking really similar to this!

Pretty awesome, huh?! Now we just need to actually implement it! Stay tuned for Part 2!