Room expansion to join two rooms together or add space to a smaller area is a good reason for wall removal. However, it’s important to demolish the correct wall. Decide which wall is best by thinking about the following considerations.
The material used to create the wall is important. Once demolished, dust particle remains will fill the home’s air, and the material may be hazardous to your health. Older homes constructed before 1980 may contain asbestos, lead paint, and other harmful toxins. The contractor should not only analyze the wall before removal, the contractor should remove the wall carefully and clean the air of harmful dust.
A non-load-bearing wall is a secondary wall that exists to create privacy, reduce noise, and/or hide mechanics. Removing non-load-bearing walls provides the open space you crave, yet there are gaps to replace. A load-bearing wall is a primary wall holding the home’s downstairs and upstairs’ home frame structure along with the ceiling and roof. Without it, the home is unsafe to live in. The roof will collapse, the walls will weaken, and the floors will cave. A load-bearing wall is removable, but it requires something equally strong to keep walls and the ceiling intact (i.e., joists and beams), meaning it may not be an eye-pleasing result. This conundrum is on top of gaps the wall leaves behind. Wall repositioning may be necessary too. A contractor knows the difference between load and non-load walls.
Be careful punching a hammer into the wall. It may contain construction inside it that will affect how the home operates. Electrical wires, plumbing, insulation, and HVAC ducts are crucial to homes, and tearing down the wall without considering those functions is dangerous. Expert plumbers, electricians, and HVAC specialists can reroute all services to work without the wall present or move services to another wall.
A wall removal reveals gaping holes in flooring, the ceiling, and walls. All areas need filling, and it would be best to use the same material, finish, and design/color as the nearby flooring, walls, and ceiling to fill it. Flooring and ceiling types require seamless rearrangement to cover gaps. Furthermore, most materials used to build the home are unlikely to exist today, so matching flooring and ceiling materials to existing material will be tricky.
Do not treat wall removal like a DIY project. There are too many risky “what ifs” that can go wrong to attempt this project alone. Rely on an experienced, licensed, and insured company specializing in wall removal to start and finish the project for you.
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