Page 293 - 2018 National Home Improvement

2018 National Home Improvement Estimator, All Rights Reserved Page 239

Removing Partitions
Modern taste favors more open space in homes. For example, new homes often have the family room
and kitchen combined as one open area. Many older homes have a formal dining room or kitchen dining
area enclosed by four walls and with a door that can be closed. Removing a nonbearing wall (partition)
can add livability to an older home.

Nonbearing partitions support neither the roof nor a floor above. Breaking out a partition is only a
cosmetic change. If wall cover is plaster or drywall, there’s no salvage value in the partition. But save the
trim, if possible. You may need it later.

Many partition walls include plumbing, electric or HVAC lines. Plan how those will be handled before
you begin demolition.

When the partition is gone, there will be a strip of exposed floor, ceiling and wall where bottom, top and
side edges of the partition had been. Finish the ceiling and walls with strips of drywall, tape, joint
compound and paint. Filling the strip in the floor isn’t as easy. Usually the best you can do is level the
surface and cover the area with carpet or vinyl. With oak strip floors, it’s possible to patch holes by
weaving in new oak strips. However, this is a tricky job, and the entire floor may have to be refinished to
get a perfect match of colors.

Removing a loadbearing partition requires the same patching of walls, ceiling, and floor. But you also
have to add support for ceiling joists. If it’s a loadbearing wall on the first floor of a two-story house, it's
holding up the second floor. If you remove it, the upstairs rooms can collapse onto the first floor. You’ll
need a large beam and posts to carry the weight that the wall was carrying. In this case, the beam will
have to be below the ceiling joists, since the ceiling joists of the first floor are also the floor joists of the
second floor. If there’s attic space above the partition, install a support beam above the ceiling joists. Be
sure both ends of the beam are well supported on a bearing wall or post that is supported by the
foundation. Support joists with metal framing anchors or wood brackets, as illustrated in Figure 10-14.
To eliminate the need for temporary support, install the new beam before demolition begins.