Opening up walls in a brownstone
We just closed on and 18 foot wide brownstone and would like to open up the hallway wall on the parlor level and on the garden level. Is it likely that we will need to add support column(s)? Or are most 18 footers able to be opened up without additional support? As a side note-…
We just closed on and 18 foot wide brownstone and would like to open up the hallway wall on the parlor level and on the garden level. Is it likely that we will need to add support column(s)? Or are most 18 footers able to be opened up without additional support? As a side note- we are not destroying any detail—that was taken out long ago.
And not all Brownstones were overbuilt. When I opened mine up I found a wealth of sins
I agree that you should consult an engineer. The above posters are correct that in an 18-footer with support columns in the cellar/basement, the walls are load bearing.
There are plenty of fixes if you want to open up the wall though. As they mentioned, full steel I-beam span front to back with no columns, smaller steel I-beam with support columns, etc.
One thing to remember is that even though many walls in old townhouses were not originally load bearing, as the house settles over time, they can become structurally important.
A saggy 15-footer with droopy joists can become unstable if you knock out the “hallway” wall even though the original plan didn’t call for any support other than the party walls.
I know this question should properly be answered by an engineer, but I’m curious. In my (and many other browstones which are 16-18′,) typically there are rooms which span the width (ie no load bearing wall.) In mine, this is true for all 4 bedrooms. So if the joists in 2/3 of the building can span w/o support, why not everywhere?
Daryl–I would love to see a picture. Please feel free to email me at katerobwax@yahoo.com.
Just look in the cellar. If there are a series of posts or brick piers more or less aligned with the wall you want to remove, then you’ve got yourself a load-bearing wall in the parlor, fella.
It depends. Check plans to see it the walls are partitions or weight-supporting. Ask the contractor to open it up to ascertain whether the plans(if available) are correct. I have seen the entire ground floor opened side-to-side(20′), front-to-back(50′), with two floors above, with no effect. Depends on the structure. Brownstones were overbuilt.
We opened up our 20 footer and put in a steel
beam despite the joists spanning the building.
In my case while the joists span the width,
they don’t span it at the staircase necessitating
the beam. No way will the header joists at the staircase
carry the load.
As an aside, I was against taking out the parlor
wall and caved to my wife’s wishes. It’s one of the
best concessions I made — I can send a pic.
I have a 20 footer with hallway wall removed on the second (parlor) floor. Only 1 floor above tho. Me, I love the big living room. A little more of a modern look but c’est la vie.
Well, it basically depends on the number of floors above and the size, species, and grade of the joist. However, the answer is probably no – if your’s is typical it can probably go up to twelve or fourteen feet unsupported, but not eighteen.
There are solutions involving steel that would remove the need for columns, but that’s something you should probably discuss with a real structural engineer.