A Load-Bearing Wall – Open concepts seem to be sweeping across the globe and more and more homeowners are preferring great rooms, open kitchens, and rooms that seem to just flow into the next over compartmentalized floorplans. Unfortunately, not all homes are built with this open concept craze, but you can create one by knocking down a few falls to help open up the space.
Best Aesthetics for Opening up a Load-Bearing Wall
While it may seem as easy as grabbing a sledgehammer, some safety glasses, and busting through the drywall, there are a few things that could put a kink into your plans, especially load-bearing walls. Load-bearing walls cannot simply be knocked down as they need to have some sort of support to keep the structure of the home intact. There are a few different ways you can do this, however, there are some that are most common as well as the most visually appealing, providing aesthetics that both homeowners and buyers love.
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Exposed beams are one of the most common and visually appealing ways to take down a load-bearing wall. By constructing a horizontal beam, with proper installation, you are providing the support that the home needs, while also adding a new element of design. You can choose to either drywall the beam, leave it exposed and rustic, stain the beam, paint, etc. Many homeowners will even add additional beams throughout the rest of the home that run parallel to the load-bearing beam to help the home look more cohesive.
The second option that is popular among homeowners is to make a pocket wall vs. opening up the whole wall. To do this, you will leave vertical beams to help support the structure and open up doorways making them larger than they were previously. This doesn’t require as much work as opening up a full wall as many of the load-bearing beams will already be in place behind the drywall. Reinforcements may be needed, however, generally by creating a pocket door, it is not only less work but still allows for a more open floorplan and room to room flow.
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Load-bearing walls are extremely important when it comes to the structure of you home, if you are not comfortable removing the walls on your own, or can’t identify which walls are load-bearing, it is always best to ask for professional help.
To set up a consultation with one of our experts, for any questions regarding load-bearing walls, as well as other home improvement projects, please feel free to contact our office at any time and we would be more than happy to assist you. We are your Galveston TX Construction Experts.
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