Archive for month: August, 2022

Looking to open up your interior space to create a more spacious and functional layout? If so, you might be considering tearing down a wall or two to achieve your goal.

Sounds simple enough, but removing a wall requires some careful consideration before demolition starts. Before you grab that sledgehammer, make sure you’ve had a few crucial questions answered first.

Is it a Load Bearing Wall?

Perhaps the most important question you should ask first is whether or not the wall you intend to knock down is load bearing. If so, ripping that wall down is probably not possible.

Load bearing walls run perpendicular to the floor joists and usually are placed somewhere around the center of the home. They’re structural elements, and if you remove them, the structural integrity of your home can be seriously compromised. Your house can literally cave in if you remove a load bearing wall that was originally installed to support the structure of your home.

For this reason, you absolutely need to have a structural engineer or another professional who is well versed in the area of load bearing structures assess the situation before you decide to rip that wall down. It should also be noted that removing a wall in a single-story home is a lot different than a two-story home because of the additional stress placed on the wall from the second level. This situation certainly warrants the advice of a structural engineer.

Are There Any Wires or Pipes Inside the Wall?

Your wall is not just a couple of pieces of drywall held up with some 2x4s. There could very well be some important components inside the wall cavities that could become damaged if you’re not careful. Electrical wiring and plumbing pipes typically run through walls to get to where they need to go. There are also HVAC vents that may be lurking behind the walls that you may not be aware of.

If you start smashing into the drywall without taking the necessary precautions, you could cause some major damage to these systems that will end up costing you a lot more than you initially intended. Before you knock down a wall, verify whether or not any of these components are present, and if they are, use great care when taking the wall down. 

Are There Any Toxic Materials On Or Inside the Wall?

Depending on when your home was built, it’s possible that there may be certain toxic materials on or inside your walls that warrant further inspection before the wall comes down. In particular, be on the lookout for lead paint, which is a potential problem for homes built before 1978.

If your home is older, you should consider having the surfaces tested for the presence of lead paint. If this material is present, you will have to follow specific guidelines about how to discard the old drywall and other debris that comes along with it.

Another hazardous material to look out for is asbestos, which was used in homes constructed before 1980. If there is any asbestos on your drywall, it can easily become airborne when tearing down a wall. Again, the wall should be tested for this substance, and if it is detected, it should only be removed by professionals in the business of handling asbestos.

How Will the Floors and Ceilings Be Affected?

If it’s safe to remove the wall, you’ve got a few other things to think about. Once that wall comes down, there will be an obvious blemish on the ceiling and floor where the wall was once attached. Not only will this need to be repaired, you will also have to make considerations about how to blend the two areas together so that it is not obvious that there was once a wall there.

Sometimes it can be easy to match the material and color for a seamless finish, while other times it may be necessary to completely reface the entire surface. Speak with your contractor about how to finish the area after the wall has been demolished.

The Bottom Line

Tearing a wall down offers plenty of possibilities for creating a whole new layout for your home, especially if it’s currently tight and compartmentalized. But before you start swinging that sledgehammer, there are a number of considerations that need to be made first. Get some expert advice from professionals in the industry to ensure a safe and effective job.

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Homeowners who are trying to cut costs frequently attempt to handle their home renovation projects on their own. While that might work just fine for simpler tasks, it might go horribly wrong for more challenging ones. DIYers need to be skilled with these tasks as well as knowledgeable about construction codes.

In addition to potentially costing you more in the long run, breaking these codes could put your family in danger. Here are a few of the most frequent code infractions committed by DIY house renovators.

Not Getting a Building Permit

One of the biggest and most common mistakes homeowners make when renovating their homes is failure to apply for a permit. Why? Well, they cost money, and they require a trip to city hall. Many homeowners simply want to bypass these little annoyances. They think, who’s going to know?

Sure, there’s a good chance that no one will find out that you worked without a permit. However, if you ever sell in the future, you’ll probably be asked if you got one when you remodeled. If not, it could affect the salability of your home.

You might be asked to fix any issues (that will cost you extra cash) before buyers are willing to put in an offer on your home. And if the buyers finds out about the lack of permit after they move into your home without being notified up front, you could be slapped with a lawsuit.

Besides that, a permit is important because it’ll help ensure that any improvements you make on your home are safe. Permits also help you remain compliant with the most up-to-date regulations like energy-saving measures.

Do yourself a favor and check with your local building authority to find out if a permit is needed for the job you plan on doing in your home.

Not Venting Bathroom Fans to the Outside

If you’re planning on renovating your bathroom – or adding a new one – adding a vent fan is a must, considering all the moisture that can quickly and easily build up in these small spaces. Although, a lot of homeowners fall short by venting directly into the attic, and stopping there.

If you don’t vent the fan all the way to the outside of the home, all you’re doing is transferring the moisture from your bathroom into the attic, causing rot and mold to develop. To avoid this ugly scenario, you’ll need to vent the air to the outdoors via a vent pipe that’s 4 inches in diameter.

Adding a Basement Apartment Without Necessary Egress Windows

Whether the in-laws are moving in, your kids want their own space, or you want to rent out the basement for extra income, revamping the basement into a self-sufficient quarters is a great idea. How you finish it, is what’s important.

Creating a basement apartment isn’t just about throwing up a couple of walls, adding a bathroom and kitchen, and finishing the flooring. There’s also the issue of egress windows that must be addressed.

According to code, any room that’s considered a bedroom needs to have an egress window that’s a minimum of 20 inches wide by 24 inches high. The opening needs to be at least 5.7 square feet so that it’s large enough to allow an adult to climb out of should a fire or other emergency occur where it’s impossible to escape from any other exit.

Not only that, but you’ll need to take steps to make sure that water isn’t able to seep into the basement through the window, which is why you’ll need a water well on the outside of the window.

Without an adequate egress window, you can’t call the room a bedroom, which could throw a wrench into your plans to market your home as one with a “separate basement apartment.”

Placing Smoke Alarms in the Wrong Places

Just about every homeowner understands how critical it is to have smoke alarms installed in the home. But did you know that there are exact spots that they need to be placed in according to code?

That’s right. You can’t just randomly plop a smoke alarm wherever you feel like. Considering their lifesaving roles, smoke alarms need to be given enough space, and should be placed far enough away from air ducts so they’re not affected by any circulating air. If not, they might not be triggered in time should a fire ensue.

Smoke alarms also need to be placed on each floor of the home; and in newer homes, they must be hard-wired with a back-up battery.

Insufficient Electrical Work

Electrical wiring that’s not installed properly can really pose a hazard. That’s why you might be better off calling in a licensed electrician to do the job for you if you haven’t got a ton of experience in this department.

One of the more common wiring mistakes is not using the correct size circuits. According to code, 15-amp circuits are needed for light fixtures, and 20-amp circuits are needed for receptacles.

Splicing wires without the presence of a junction box is another common faux pas. You can’t just splice wires together with some wire nuts and electrical tape – every wire connection needs to be inside a proper junction box, which should be visible and accessible.

The lack of ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) is another no-no. GFCIs are necessary for any circuit that serves a space where there’s water, like the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room.

Code violations typically happen when homeowners are trying to save a buck. While this might be OK for smaller jobs, tasks that are much bigger and in-depth definitely need to follow proper code regulations. If not, you could wind up spending a lot more down the road to rectify the scenario if things go awry.

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