# removing load-bearing walls and moving the kitchen



## WannaReno (Apr 1, 2010)

We just bought a 22 y.o. home with a fabulous view, and we want to remove the two walls that divide the kitchen from the dining room and from the family room to capture the 180 degree view from any point on the first floor. WE are pretty sure that both walls are load bearing (unfortunately!). We want to completely remove the 14-ft wall between the living room and the kitchen. On the wall between the kitchen and the family room, we just want to open the top half of the wall to enable a kitchen sink/island combo by extending the existing wetbar

Question 1: What is the cost of removing these two walls? The house is a two-story with a day light basement. The walls to be removed are on the first floor. I figure we have to use professionals for this work because it involves structural changes. 

Question 2: The existing kitchen is quite dimensionally challenged (14' x 5'). I am thinking of merging it into the existing living room, and moving the kitchen to the existing family room. The family room has a gas fireplace and a wetbar. 

2(a) Would it be cost effective to convert the gas fireplace to an oven range with cooktop (as the gas line is already there) and the wetbar to a kitchen sink (as the plumbing is already there)? 

2((b): Is there any part of the kitchen remodeling that we could do ourselves to save money? 

We may have paid the house at least 25K over its market value because we were initially so blinded by the view that we overlooked the dysfunctional and outdated kitchen. So we would like to save in renovation to recoup some of the money loss by that boneheaded mistake. However, we want to do it safely.

Thank you so much for your help.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Costs depends upon the beam, support needed, which will need to be sized & how much you DIY
Plus any electric plumbing etc that may need to be moved


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

The place to start is with a structural engineer to determine how to go about doing what you propose. With enough money, almost any remodel can be accomplished. Whether it is feasible AND cost effective depends on HOW it can be done and still be code compliant. It will be a few hundred dollars well spent....


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