How hard is it to move (and remove) an interior wall?

Either for a [very inexperienced] DIYer or a contractor? Long story short, the upstairs of the house we’re buying is a very odd layout. We’re wondering how hard it is to move a wall about 8 feet, remove some unnecessary hallway walls (they’d be unnecessary after moving the wall), and removing a closet—which would become part of the room, and a new closet added in a different spot.

Assume non-load bearing, and no air-ducts going through any of the walls in question. We're wondering this now because the carpet is one of the first things we'll be doing in the house, but if it is relatively inexpensive to move a wall or two we might put the carpet off for a few years until we can re-do the entire upstairs.

moving non-load bearing, non-ducted walls is cheap and easy. You need 2x4s and new drywall. Might need new trim too, and you will need to replace the carpet (since carpet doesnt go under the wall).

Check your codes though, and look for electrical wires. If you have to keep all wires in metal conduit (like I do), that will add some time and frustration to the project but nothing you can't handle. If you can use romex it will be much easier.

Also check for baseboard (or electric) heat on the wall you're looking to move.

Maybe look to see where any vent pipes are. Easy if you have access to the attic. Other than that, assuming non-load bearing walls, then doing the framing, electrical and drywalling would seem to he the hardest parts. I'm guessing SVreX may have more info based on experience.

This is all good news. There are no baseboards here. Don't know about the vent pipes.

I think the only big worry is if they are indeed load bearing walls--that would likely put any renovations out of our budget for long enough that we'd just go ahead and recarpet the floors now.

I've found the closer a wall is to the center line of a house, the more likely it is to be a load bearing one. Where is this wall located?

There is one that we'd be considering moving or removing that is close to the centerline. I don't think it is on the centerline though, I think that is the opposite wall parallel from it (the two make up a hallway).

I also need to play around with a tape measure to see if it is even necessary. We might be able to fit a king sized bed as the rooms are situated now

I think it's determining if a wall is load bearing or not that is the most difficult aspect.

Rent an Equanox, take a nap and Voy-La the wall is gone.

Appleseed wrote: I've found the closer a wall is to the center line of a house, the more likely it is to be a load bearing one. Where is this wall located?

Also, if it is perpendicular to the joists above it, or has a load bearing wall below it, it is highly likely to be load bearing.

If the wall is load bearing and cannot be completely removed, you may still be able to "open it up" by removing a large section of the wall and leaving small parts on each end and a header. It may achieve most of your desired look/feel of no wall at all. You'd have to install a beam to span the opening, and the necessary support on each end though.

We opened a wall up like that and it took less than $1000 and less than 8 hours.

STM317 wrote: If the wall is load bearing and cannot be completely removed, you may still be able to "open it up" by removing a large section of the wall and leaving small parts on each end and a header. It may achieve most of your desired look/feel of no wall at all. You'd have to install a beam to span the opening, and the necessary support on each end though. We opened a wall up like that and it took less than $1000 and less than 8 hours.

Contracted out?

Do you have an attic? Go up there and check the orientation of the attic floor joists. Are they parallel to the wall of interest? Then almost definitely not load-bearing. You can also check the floor joists below the wall of interest, same criteria.

I took out a wall in my awkward half-bath / laundry room. Scroll down about halfway to see:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/bought-a-garage-it-came-with-an-old-house/108396/page6/

mtn wrote:

STM317 wrote: If the wall is load bearing and cannot be completely removed, you may still be able to "open it up" by removing a large section of the wall and leaving small parts on each end and a header. It may achieve most of your desired look/feel of no wall at all. You'd have to install a beam to span the opening, and the necessary support on each end though. We opened a wall up like that and it took less than $1000 and less than 8 hours.

Contracted out?

I replaced a 20 foot load bearing wall on our main family room floor with a beam for less than that in materials. But I also paid an architect/engineer $500 to come look at my house and draw up a specific plan for materials and methods. So about $1500 or a little less to DIY.

I would imagine you could probably do a small wall like that on your own. at 8 ft, you can just imagine it is like installing an 8 ft wide sliding glass door. There are tables out there for the size of the header, and how many "king and jack" 2x4s you need to support each end of the header. (buy me beer and pizza and I can come help too).

Robbie wrote:

mtn wrote:

STM317 wrote: If the wall is load bearing and cannot be completely removed, you may still be able to "open it up" by removing a large section of the wall and leaving small parts on each end and a header. It may achieve most of your desired look/feel of no wall at all. You'd have to install a beam to span the opening, and the necessary support on each end though. We opened a wall up like that and it took less than $1000 and less than 8 hours.

Contracted out?

I replaced a 20 foot load bearing wall on our main family room floor with a beam for less than that in materials. But I also paid an architect/engineer $500 to come look at my house and draw up a specific plan for materials and methods. So about $1500 or a little less to DIY. I would imagine you could probably do a small wall like that on your own. at 8 ft, you can just imagine it is like installing an 8 ft wide sliding glass door. There are tables out there for the size of the header, and how many "king and jack" 2x4s you need to support each end of the header. (buy me beer and pizza and I can come help too).

If this deal ends up going through (knock on wood), I may take you up on that. And at least get your architect/engineer--did he provide design ideas as well? Because we're still trying to figure out what we even want to do. Right now we have 3 rooms upstairs, and an oddly shaped bathroom. The bedrooms are 10x8 (with a 4x5 closet), 16x8 (with a 3x8 closet), and the master is 12x11 (with a 3x3 closet). Yeah, the master has the smallest closet. And none of the bedrooms fit a king. I don't care if the 2 other rooms end up being 9x8 each (or whatever the smallest allowable code is), I want to fit a king sized bed, and have a decent closet. The bathroom location though really might make it impossible.

mtn wrote:

STM317 wrote: If the wall is load bearing and cannot be completely removed, you may still be able to "open it up" by removing a large section of the wall and leaving small parts on each end and a header. It may achieve most of your desired look/feel of no wall at all. You'd have to install a beam to span the opening, and the necessary support on each end though. We opened a wall up like that and it took less than $1000 and less than 8 hours.

Contracted out?

DIY. My B.I.L. is a contractor/finish carpenter. He supplied the Glulam, I supplied the 2X4s (temporary ceiling support before the beam was installed), the wood used for support blocks under the floor, and labor. I don't know what he paid for the Glulam, but I've seen prices around $25/ft and the lumber I provided was under $100. So for our 12ft span we probably had less than $500 in materials plus 5-6 hours of labor for 2 of us. This was done on a lower level that sits above a crawl space. Your situation may require additional work on the floor below to support things properly.

Be ready to pay for the finishing of your choice on top of that. Could be anything from drywall to fancy wood trim.

Wife just had a good idea that may make all of this unnecessary: Remove the closet that is there (THAT wouldn't be too bad, even on my own), install built in wardrobes, and get a bed with storage underneath. That would likely make everything work well--fit a king bed and all. And be a lot easier--the only thing we might have to do with that is move a door.

If it is a load bearing wall, it will have a similar wall supporting it on the first floor and yet another support structure in the basement (if applicable) supporting that.

In reply to mtn:

in some areas a room without a closet cannot be considered a "bedroom" any more. Not great for resale.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: In reply to mtn: in some areas a room without a closet cannot be considered a "bedroom" any more. Not great for resale.

If that is the case, and if we get the house (knock on wood), and if we go that route, I'll be sure to desing something that is indisputably a closet.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: In reply to mtn: in some areas a room without a closet cannot be considered a "bedroom" any more. Not great for resale.

It's common to require a window big enough to fit through as well.

The good thing about 2nd floor walls is there isn't much to support, aside from the roof. So, if you can see ceiling joists and rafters, and the top plate of the wall in question.. it's real easy to determine what is carrying the load.

Even if it's load bearing, a beam won't be very big for a moderate span. Tucking a beam up between ceiling joists is a little more involved than a dropped beam, but both are straight forward one day affairs.

The planning and drywall repair, however, in my house took 26 months.