Removing Load-Bearing Walls
My wife and I are considering purchasing a 20 foot wide brick house. It is currently configured as a 3 family. It’s obvious to us that we will have to renovate it and ideally we would like to take out the wall that currently runs the length of the house next to the stairs on…
My wife and I are considering purchasing a 20 foot wide brick house. It is currently configured as a 3 family. It’s obvious to us that we will have to renovate it and ideally we would like to take out the wall that currently runs the length of the house next to the stairs on all three levels. I suspect that this wall is load bearing and that this will require some structural supports to do. Has anyone had experience with doing this? Is this even possible? Does anyone have any idea how many pesos we would need for this kind of an adventure (On all three floors). I know we would need an architect and a structural engineer for all this, I just want to have a ballbark sense of what’s involved.
Thank you.
Same here… I have a 21 foot wide, 100 year old house where all the joists span the entire width of the house. I had an engineer look at the buiding and he said there was no problem taking out the hallway wall. In fact we had twice as many supporting joists as would be used in a new condtruction.
Same here…I have a 19′ wide 100 yr old brick row house where the roof joists spanned the entire space without interuption. We raised the ceiling in one room 10”. We have a pitched flat roof. The engineer calculated for loads such as snow and was more than enough
Not True Tom.
I had an architect have a look b/4 taking it down. The Joists are holding up the roof and the Wall was actually holding up the Ceiling which was a “drop Ceiling” So obviously, I took out the ceiling as well and raised it about a foot and a half. Makes the space Airy, well lit (sky lights) and a higher ceiling. All structures are different.
Definately get an Engineer (P.E.). It is an important part of the structure of the house. BTW taking out this wall on the top floor also needs a support to be replaced. That loadbearing wall on the top floor is holding up your roof. You may develope a sag on the top floor in the roof and get leaks over time.
The architect/engineer will cost a couple of thousand, plus permits and the contractor you choose should be able to do this in a couple of weeks if you are only taking out the walls and adding the beams and columns. 15K per floor sounds right.
All this talk about how taking down walls will reduce the value of your property is completely rediculous. If taking down the wall architecturally makes sense in terms of your new configuration then you should do it. If it is a well executed and thought out design that respects the original detailing of the building then people will, in fact, pay more for your building. God forbid anybody change anything from the original plan of a brownstone! Get a grip people! Brownstones were built like they were because it made sense to do it that way 100-200 years ago. And they are renovated and reconfigured because it makes sense to do so today. Good renovation architecture is about finding creative ways to reuse old buildings in ways that pay homage to the original plan.
I removed that wall on the top floor rental and it is NOT a Load-bearing wall. But maybe that’s just on the top floor. But when done, it makes the space amazing. I wouldn’t do it on the garden level as it takes away from the original detail.
When I was looking around, it seemed the more modern/unusual places tended to stay on the market longer and had more trouble selling. Basically, the pool of potential buyers is smaller. Seems people go this route if the place is just not salvagable (in such bad shape that it just makes sense to do a gut renovation).
Wouldn’t necessarily agree that opening up will reduce value. I think a lot of people appreciate the hybrid of some charm and old details and a more modern, open floor plan. (Then again don’t see why you would do this on all floors.)
consider the fact that removing the walls will make the place very “modern”, and may in fact greatly reduce it’s resale value, since most people looking for a brownstone like the detail/etc. cost could be around 15k a floor, but that’s somewhat irrelivent, since making such a change implies changes to plumbing, electrical, kitchens, baths, which will be a lot more anyway.