I am renovating my basement apartment in my home to create a more open concept. I have some questions about load bearing walls. There are 2 in my basement. I want to remove a portion of the wall to open up the space. Can you tell me the following?

- What percentage of the load baring wall must remain up? The wall is 15ft 4 inchs long

- If we are using either cinder block or poles what are the spacing required between the poles or columns

- which is better metal support beams or can we just use wood?

- Where would we find beams/supplies for supportive walls?


Cheers,
Tabitha

P.S. Please email me at [email protected]

We would need to see some blueprints on this home to even attempt an answer. Most basements have 4 load bearing wall, the perimeter walls. It is common for a main beam to also run the length of the home near the center. This beam is supported at each end by the exterior walls and probably a beam or two along the length. Steel lally columns can be bought at menards, Home Depot, Lowe's and any other building supply store. Lally Column or Post - Lally Column - Support Post - Install a Lally Column - Support a Sagging Beam - asktooltalk.com (http://www.asktooltalk.com/questions/faq/lally_post/support_post.php)

I wouldn't recommend making any changes in your home's foundations without consulting a structural engineer. These load bearing walls are there for a reason: to support the whole house.

You should not rely on advice from an online forum to make this kind of decisions.
Get a good foundation repair company to take a look at you basement. Explain what you are planning to do and see what they suggest.Some good companies will actually evaluate it for free.

Besides the structural integrity and safety issues, there are also concerns from a legal standpoint. You will most likely need a permit to do that, which means, your plan needs to be sound enough and executed 100% up to code to pass inspection by a city official. Otherwise you may risk huge fines and many problems down the road.