I have a house that was built in 1936, and before anyone asks no I do not have carpet over hardwood floors. I was hoping someone could enlighten me on what my realistic expectations as a homeowner who isn't afraid to knock out walls and ceilings himself. So the house was pretty simple in shape, then was added on to. The face has gone through so many face lifts internally that it resembles something more from the 50's than the 30's. Here is the yuck part, the joists for the original part of the house are all (and this is a rough measurement since the lumber doesn't conform to the usual dimensional lumber standards) about 2x6. I want to say they are spaced about 16-18" apart, but I am at work and can't measure at the moment. No beams show rot, but the subfloor looks like 3/4 thick planks running across the floor. If I were to guess, there is probably a layer of osb hammered down to the top of it to help fight deflection. Now, as for my thoughts and wants. I'd like to either sister up the joists with something considerably larger, or find a way to put in new ones. Once that is done, I would go ahead and replace the sub floor with something more suitable for preventing floor deflection. A great deal of this is motivated by the cracked tiles in my bathroom and the inability to fit 6-1/2" ducts between the main support and the joists (it's a scary octopus). Am I just asking for a nightmare? Is any of this in the realm of a DIY person? I do plan on consulting a professional, but I would rather have a realistic set of expectations so I don't waste their time.

Hi guys, I posted in the walls and ceilings portion of this forum but I think this question might be better asked here. I plan on taking down a portion of a load bearing wall and would like to know the header size that I would need to replace the missing wall. The wall is 20 feet in length and I plan on removing 6 feet of the wall directly in the center of the wall and make a doorway between the two rooms. The wall is above a full basement and supports an upstairs bedroom floor. Would I also need additional supports in the basement (like lollicolumns or jacks) to deflect any weight coming from the upstairs? One other question, is it possible that this wall already has a header above it since it is supporting a large portion of the upstairs and since it is a pretty large wall (20') in length? Thanks in advance for any replies>