How far can I spawn a gap between posts on a load bearing wall?
I have an entry way from the living room to the dining room / kitchen area that I would like to expand. How far can I span across and meet up with double or triple studs on the other side? Also, there is a diagonal board going across the studs (1×6), which I don't understand and would also remove.
Picture from attic, the angled boards shown converge on the wall in question (it is perpendicular to the joints), but they only do that 5 times across the whole length of the house.
Here is a picture of the wall from the kitchen / dining area. Obviously they felt it could span the entry way (which I want to expand). Also that wall is not continuous, when it gets to the stairway it goes 80 inches without any support before another wall shows up.
There is also a diagonal board going across the studs (it is a 1×6). I am not sure what its purpose is, and whether I can remove it.
Best Answer
Substantial changes to a load-bearing wall really an engineer's review. The consequences of getting it wrong are unacceptable.
When it came time to take out a loadbearing wall in my place, I hired a contractor, who brought in an engineer to calculate exactly what size parallam beam would be needed to span the gap and how to provide the necessary support below the remaining stubs of wall which were now taking the additional load.