How many stories is the house? Is it on a slab, crawlspace, or basement foundation? How big of an opening do you want? Are you okay with a cased opening or do you want the wall removed all the way to the ceiling?
As you may have guessed it, the cost to remove a load bearing wall depends on several factors.
Let’s look at the most basic scenario:
A single story house on a slab where you want to open up the kitchen to the living room with a 6’ wide x 6’8” tall opening.
Cost analysis:
Structural Engineering: $500
Materials: $300
Labor: $1,800
Total = $2,600
This is the starting price for load bearing wall removals.
Other Scenarios:
If you wanted to take the opening all the way to the ceiling, we would need to install a beam in the attic. Depending on the situation, that would increase the labor costs in these scenarios by 50-75%.
What if you want an opening larger than 6’? Generally, this doesn’t increase the cost too much (we are just talking about the increase in material costs for the longer beam) unless the new opening is so long that it would require a steel beam. More than likely if your opening is less than 15’ wide that shouldn't be an issue. The size and type of beam required would depend upon what kind of loads exist above the wall and what the engineer specifies.
What if your house is on a crawl space or a basement? Depending on the scenario, we may need to pour new footings (pier pads) in the basement or crawlspace to support the loads created by removing the wall. Again, these aren’t things that we personally decide are necessary or not, that is up to the structural engineer and his specifications. If new piers are required, you are probably looking at a 100% increase in labor costs as well as increases in material costs for concrete piers and jack posts.
In conclusion, most wall removals will vary in costs from $2,600 to $5,200 depending on the size of the opening, the home's foundation type, and the engineers specifications.
Comments