Help me decide on this kitchen doorway


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Old 03-24-15, 12:32 PM
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Help me decide on this kitchen doorway

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I'm working on widening some doorways to open up the space between the kitchen, dining, and living areas. I have them done except for this one. I wanted to widen it a bit as well as get rid of the wood trim and match the newer looking sheetrock corners that i put in other doorways.

One prob is several switches and outlets near the frame, so i'm thinking of just moving the king/jack studs about 8" over...making the new span about 44". It won't give me a bunch of room but this doorway it doesn't need much, and i need to preserve some wall space for furniture etc. I was orig going to move the jack stud out to the next joist, but the light switches would overlap from the two rooms, and also create more wiring relocation from the attic.

The other thing i noticed is the doorway is framed for non-load bearing (2 x 4), but i think it is a bearing wall since the roof joists above are perpendicular to the wall and there is a wall below this floor as well... both walls go the length of the house. So i'm gonna put in a couple of 2 x 8 headers. There was some hairline cracking of the sheetrock above the doorway.

I guess i just like to get other opinions about my work ideas before it happens... I don't always do the best planning.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 01:47 PM
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Looks like a 2x12 header is in there now, not 2x8. A lot of work to go to for 8". You would need to reroute the power coming out of the top plate. Junction boxes/splices can't be buried, they have to remain accessible. Looks like whoever wired it didn't follow the codes for cable staples, unless you've already removed them all.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 02:02 PM
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no, you just can't see the staples... and it's a 2 x 4 header for non-load bearing doorways... i just haven't removed the sheetrock over the doorway.
so you may be right about moving any electric... maybe i'll just cover it up and put in the sheetrock corners and call it good... except for the new header.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 02:11 PM
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mmm, I thought maybe it was a 2x10 with a flat 2x4 under it. Can't see it as well as you can obviously! When you remove the drywall, cut 2" below the ceiling so that you leave the top 2" of drywall on the wall intact... that way it's not as tricky to finish... you can flat tape the repair without getting into the ceiling texture. Might be too late, looking at the drywall that's already been removed.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 02:30 PM
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haha... starting to remove the popcorn ceiling after this is done.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 02:31 PM
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My rental house is the same way, only one story. The wall runs down the center of the entire width of the house. I used to think the wall was load bearing, but I don't believe it is. All of the doorways on that wall have simple 2x4 headers, which to me means they aren't supporting any load. The roof trusses support themselves (at least I think they do).
 
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Old 03-24-15, 02:34 PM
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my wall runs the LENGTH of the house... and the trusses rest on this wall running down the center of the house.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 02:36 PM
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Sorry, that is what I meant. When facing the front of the house, the wall runs left to right. Regardless, that wall is probably not load bearing, but of course the wall below is. Assuming you have a pitched roof, the trusses likely spread the load across the entire length of the truss and do not require center support. Post a photo of the trusses and I'm sure someone will be able to say for sure. You'll be spending quite some time up there re-routing all those electrical wires
 
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Old 03-24-15, 03:36 PM
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yeah, i haven't decided if i'm gonna move them on not, yet.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 05:02 PM
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As mossman mentioned, if you have "trusses", the only load bearing walls on that floor would be your exterior walls. In a stick framed house, that center wall would be load bearing because the ceiling joists on each half of the house would overlap and actually rest on that wall. (which is why there is a wall directly below this one, due to the floor load.) A truss is not truly resting on the wall as far as weight is concerned. The load points of a truss are on the ends, not the middle.
 
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Old 03-24-15, 05:06 PM
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good to know... i always thought the center wall supported the trusses...
 
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Old 03-24-15, 05:17 PM
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Some people don't know what the word truss means... a truss is a structural unit, such as this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48460[/ATTACH]

A truss, as pictured above, would not need a center load bearing wall. Not all roofs are built with trusses... we don't know if yours is, because we can't see it. However, if what you are calling "trusses" is actually a stick built home, with rafters, a ridge beam, and ceiling joists... then the span of the house would probably require a center load bearing wall. The ceiling joists would overlap on that center wall, which would then have a constant structural "dead load" on it, as in the picture below.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48461[/ATTACH]
 
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Old 03-25-15, 11:16 AM
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well, i crawled up into the attic, and took a pic... so it looks like the middle wall is non-load bearing fer sure. If i widen the opening, I'm going to put in a double 2 x 6 header instead of the 2x4.

there's 5 wires I have to move from the exposed area shown in the first pic to the other side of the stud. I have exposed the top plate so i can drill thru it for the wires. I can move the opposing light switch to just above the other one. My only issue is that I was hoping to cut in three elec boxes w ears without opening the stud area, but i suppose i must secure the wires with staples... or is there an exception for adding boxes?

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Old 03-26-15, 05:22 AM
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My only issue is that I was hoping to cut in three elec boxes w ears without opening the stud area, but i suppose i must secure the wires with staples... or is there an exception for adding boxes?
I can't imagine staples are needed when installing an old work box. That would be irrational.
 
 

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