So how hard is it to take down a wall in a house?

[Bouncy Ball]

The wall we're thinking of removing is between the third and fourth bedrooms. It's not load-bearing, we did find that out. There is one electrical outlet.

How hard is it? And what about the section of wall and ceiling where the wall used to be? Won't we have to drywall that area? Or something?

[Speck Tater]

1. I did it wonce. It wasn't bad.

Instead of trying to patch up the ceiling between the two rooms I put up a fake (hollow) beam to cover up the gap. It looked just fine. Dry-walling the gaps in the walls isn't too bad. Just texture the patch and paint the whole wall. Or you could disguise that with a fake beam too.

[Bouncy Ball]

3. We're planning on painting the walls, anyway.

And I've textured before. I was hoping that was all that was involved.

The beam idea is a good one! Thanks!

[No Mandate Here.]

2. How do you know it is not bearing?

I am a design build remodeler, and load paths are a specialty.

There is one outlet. What is above and below the wall? Is there a kitchen or bath or any other water above or below?

I can't think of any time I removed a wall without at least one surprise.

[Bouncy Ball]

6. There is no plumbing, as it is between two bedrooms.

We had an architect look at it to determine if it was load-bearing or not. We asked her about 800 times. Then asked her in writing. The wall's not holding anything up.

[No Mandate Here.]

11. Didn't doubt you about the bearing ...

The outlet is likely to be fed through from one to another... How many wires are there? Can you tell which way they come from? ... and go?

There are NEC approved ways to remove outlets, but if the wiring goes from here to there, it may be interesting.

[Worst Username Ever]

4. The hardest part

is blending the ceiling/surrounding walls/floor between the two rooms without it looking like a hack-job.

[Bouncy Ball]

7. That's what I suspected. Thanks!

[LARED]

5. Taking it down is easy

Think big hammer. The hard part is making it look like there never was a wall there. Really it's not that hard.

Be carefull with the electrical outlet. It might connect to other outlets that you want to keep.

[HEyHEY]

8. Call up Run DMC

[RetroLounge]

12. "Walk This Way..."

:hi:

RL

[TreasonousBastard]

9. The electrical outlet is tricky...

and there are lots of possibilities,a few of which are dangerous. Theoretically, an elctrician should be called but some things can be done without one.

Removing the wall is easy, if a bit messy, and your town probably has rules about how to get rid of construction waste. One guy I know actually broke up the pieces of walls to fit into garbge bags, and slowly put them out over a year or so.

The town may also have rules about construction permits, too, but interior walls are often ignored. Could be a problem when selling. Or not.

What you do with the gaping scars depends on what you want the new room to look like. Drywalling makes it look like the room was always that way, and is fairly easy.

The new room will have two doors, though, won't it? That's another fun project, eh?

[Bouncy Ball]

10. Yeah, it'll have two doors, but that's really no big deal, they will be

very far apart. I want the "scars" to be invisible, so we'll put a lot of work in on that.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. watch Fried Green Tomatoes, and Kathy Bates will show you

how ..

[orleans]

14. that's a great scene! TWANDA! (or something)

good luck to bouncy ball--sounds like a bit of an undertaking