Opening up your floor plan safely
Taking out a wall between the kitchen and living room is one of the most popular ways to modernize an older Tucson home. When the wall is load bearing, it's also one of the jobs where shortcuts cause real damage: sagging ceilings, cracked drywall and stucco, doors that stop closing, or worse.
AZ Atlas Builder Group is a family-owned, licensed general contractor in Tucson (AZ ROC #344537). Our own crew does framing and structural work in house, so the same team that plans the beam installs it.
Is the wall load bearing?
There are clues. Walls running perpendicular to the ceiling joists, walls near the middle of the house, walls with a wall directly above or below them, and walls that support the ends of joists or the bottom of a beam are all candidates. In homes with roof trusses, many interior walls carry little or no roof load, but some still do, and girder trusses can put concentrated loads on a single wall.
Clues aren't proof. We look in the attic, at the framing and at the original plans if you have them. If there is any doubt, an engineer decides.
What removing a load-bearing wall involves
Engineering and beam sizing
The load the wall carried has to go somewhere. A new beam spans the opening and hands the load to posts at each end, and those posts need solid support all the way down to a footing. The beam size, post size and footing depend on the span and the load, which is why many of these jobs need an engineer's design.
Flush or dropped beam
A dropped beam hangs below the ceiling and is usually simpler. A flush beam sits up in the ceiling plane for a clean look, but means cutting into the framing above and hanging joists or trusses from the beam, which takes more work.
Temporary shoring
Before the wall comes out, temporary supports carry the ceiling and roof on both sides. The wall is removed, the beam and posts go in, and only then does the shoring come out.
Footings at the posts
On a slab floor, the posts may need new footings cut into the slab so the concentrated load doesn't crack it. Caliche can slow that digging.
What's inside the wall
Walls often carry plumbing, electrical circuits, or HVAC ducts and returns. Each has to be rerouted, and that can affect cost and permits as much as the beam.
Permits in Tucson
The City of Tucson's permit exemptions page says interior demolition requires a permit if it affects structural elements, load-bearing walls or fire-rated assemblies. Unincorporated Pima County and the towns of Oro Valley, Marana and Sahuarita have their own permit offices. A permitted job gets an inspection of the beam, posts and connections before the ceiling is closed up, which protects you now and when you sell. We prepare and submit the permit and don't promise outcomes or review times, because those are up to the permit office.
Living in the house during the work
Most homeowners stay put while a wall comes out. Removing a wall creates dust, and the shoring takes up space on both sides for a while, so we plan the work area, protect floors and furniture, and seal off the rest of the house as well as we can. We talk through the schedule with you before we start, including the days when the kitchen or living room won't be usable.
What drives the cost
- The length of the opening and the load above it
- Flush versus dropped beam, and the beam material
- New footings at the posts
- Rerouting plumbing, electrical and ductwork
- Engineering and permit fees
- Patching the ceiling, floor and walls where the wall stood
How it works with us
- Site walk. We look at the wall, the attic and the framing, and talk about the space you want.
- Engineering if needed. We coordinate the beam design when the job calls for it.
- Written estimate and permit. A clear scope, then the permit submission.
- Build. Shoring, removal, beam, posts, footings, reroutes, inspection and finishes.
Often this is part of a bigger project. See our kitchen remodel and home remodeling pages.