So I have these two ugly columns I would like to remove, plus the soffit above it.
I've been thinking for a while that I wanted to remove them and open up the room, but I wasn't sure if they were structural. Today I finally drilled a hole on top of the soffet and opened it up. The walls of the soffet appear to be 2x12s and the top and bottom are just drywall. Above the columns is a 2×8 straddling the 2x12s and below the columns is nothing.
I drilled into one of columns and determined they are plaster so those columns cant be structural.
As far as the 2x12s, I did my best to get a photo of the inside. The first photo where you can see the insulation is an exterior wall and the photo looking down the soffet to the other side is the left side of the column. Also, there is nothing on the exterior of the wall that the 2x12s would connect to.
So the big question, do you think can I safely remove this?
Best Answer
There's no obvious reason to think that those would be structural from where I'm sitting. Neither end connects to anything that would require lateral bracing under normal circumstances. Were it my house I'd feel comfortable removing them.
Those pillars are probably fiberglass, not "plaster". I'd try to salvage them and put them up for local sale. You might get a couple hundred bucks for them.