hi all,
i just recently purchased a home that has a long kitchen parallel with a family room with a wall that runs about 15 ft dividing the rooms. i would love to cut out about an 8 ft X 5 ft rectangle from the middle of the wall to make a breakfast bar.
i know this wall is load-bearing, so ill need to install a header. im an average do-it-yourselfer, How do i go about accomplishing this??? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm thinking you may find some info in the how-to section of this site. This can definitely be done, but must be done correctly to avoid costly damage to the home. When you say you are an average d-i-yer, well that would make me a tad nervous about advising you plow into such a project without on site professional advice. When I was a mod here my first rule was like a doc's; first, do no harm. What sort of diy projects have you done in the past, other related experience. Post back and let us know how experienced you are.

 

awesomedell,
i suppose "average do-it-yourselfer" is a tad vague. so ill be a little more specific. ive gutted my old shower stall of fiberglass and sheetrock and installed hardiebacker and new tile. installed and refinished woodfloors. basic plumbing and repairs on toilet and sinks.
i definitely agree in that i want to "do no harm," and would never jeopardize the structure of my home. but this project would really spice up the kitchen of this home. any adivice, "how-tos" and such would be greatly appreciated.

 

You need to have somebody (with more knowledge than I have) to calculate what size of header you need. You also have to consider where the jack studs set since that is where all of the weight the header carries will be.

This is not for the weak of heart. Find somebody with some very specific knowledge (of your building) to assist you.

 

If it is truly load bearing, standard building practices would come into play for the same thing as when framing outside load bearing walls of houses with say a front picture window.

Find out what that would be from your lumber supply store where you buy the materials. They should be able to help you.

To give you a general idea, if you pop in again on your thread here - What you would most liklely be looking at is that you would wind up with a divider between the room whos finished height (opening = from floor to underside of the top of the finished opening) would be like any other door/window opening at the top - finished off to 6' -8". That would be finished height from the floor. And more precisely you could measure what the distance is between the top of your doors and the inside ceiling, to find out what that distance is exactly. Then you simply fill in that entire amount with 3 1/2 inches of wood header (which is maybe approx. 2 -2 x 10's, let's say, with 1/2 inch plywood sandwiched inbetween to = 3 1/2" stud thickness. Then, when you cover both sides with say 1/2 inch sheetrock it should come out flush with the finished walls in each room.

The look I am describing is that same look you have when you walk say from a livng area into a formal dining room, and walk through the wide arched opening. That is the finished look you would have. The 'arched' opening would have a full header inside above that 'arch', in essence.

For even wider openings under load bearing walls, sometimes a "flitch plate beam" is constructed on the site, so that no center post has to be installed. These beams use plate steel in the place of the 1/2 inch plywood sandwich. I'm sure you can read about them on the web. I have built and used them in home building.