[marieker]

I have a kitchen divided with a living area on the other side. At the end is the dining area. At the end of the kitchen/living area was a structural wall. This has been removed and a post has been placed at the end of the kitchen 2.7m in (kitchen 2.3m wide). I wish to open up this whole area and extend the room another .8m. (Presently 6.2m to 7m)The length would then be 7m long by 5m wide. If the support beam that is in place at the end of the kitchen above the support post is removed, what would need to be done to keep this area structurally sound? (He is looking at removing the support post from the kitchen wall side, which would need to come in a little where it is not so wide; this was the old house). My builder just feels that you can remove this structural beam. I do not feel that this is the case. We have not talked about this with the architect yet, but I feel most uneasy about the whole thing. My dad was a structural engineer and architect (deceased), but I feel he would advise doing something to support this area properly before anything was removed, and that something would need to stay there permanently.

[creahands]

I agree with u, u need some kind of support.
Don't know where u are located, if in USA any changes in structure should have an architectural drawing made that u can submit to the building dept for approval and getting permit.

Chuck

[ma0641]

We can only guess at how this house and wall was constructed and what it supports. Are you sure this is a bearing wall? Removing any bearing wall, beam or post, requires some support back to the foundation. Why does the builder think he can remove the wall?