Should I remove a wall during a kitchen remodel? [2023]

Should I remove a wall during a kitchen remodel? Is it worth it? Well removing a structural wall is not an easy task. Perhaps you want to remodel your kitchen to be bigger and brighter. You might want to look into the effect of taking down a wall.

Wall removal reveals more space. That also enhances the value of your kitchen with sleek style, and it makes it look neat and spacious at all times. Anyone who visits your home will not hesitate to give the kitchen their eyes.

If you feel the same way about your kitchen remodel, then good news! Today’s piece helps you figure out why or why not to remove the wall installed in your kitchen, dining area, or mess halls.

Key takeaways for Removing a Wall During a Kitchen Remodel

1. Removing a wall during a kitchen remodel can create an open kitchen, increase your home’s value, allow more natural lighting, and maximize space.
2. It’s important to determine if the wall is load-bearing or non-load-bearing. Load-bearing walls support the structure of the house and require more careful handling.
3. Removing a load-bearing wall is more expensive and may require a permit. It can cost around $1,000 for a single-level home and about $3,000 or higher for a multi-level home.
4. Removing a wall can affect ceilings and flooring, especially if it’s a load-bearing wall. Proper support is needed to prevent sagging or collapse.
5. Combining the kitchen and dining room can provide benefits like no barriers for better communication and a seamless flow of movement.
6. Safety concerns when removing an interior wall include checking for wires or pipes inside the wall.
7. If you’re unsure whether a wall is load-bearing or not, you can review the original architectural drawings, inspect the attic and basement joists, or see if the wall stacks up on another

Steps to Determine if a Wall is Load-Bearing

Why do you want to remove the wall between the kitchen and the dining room?

There are many reasons you would want to knock off that wall. You can even list around ten to convince yourself. In fact, one reason is enough. But, we are here to give you some simple yet reasonable ideas as to why you should get rid of the barrier between your kitchen and dining room.

You want an open kitchen

Who doesn’t want to have an open kitchen? You get to smell what’s cooking. Besides that, you can see what’s cooking from the dining room. It adds beauty to your kitchen when no walls separate your kitchen and your dining room and there is enough crawl space to see. It’s simple and makes you proud and confident in your cooking because you appreciate the beauty of a big kitchen.

A divided kitchen and dining room also increase the possibility of injuries and accidents. Why? Doors can get in the way once you’re passing through. Having an open kitchen also brings the kitchen and the dining room closer, and it gives you more potential for some great time of interaction between you and the people around you.

You want to increase your home’s value

Removing that wall between your kitchen and dining room adds up to the value of your home. It makes your kitchen look more modern and open to a lot of possibilities if you ever plan on selling your home in the near future.

A kitchen and dining room put together look more expensive than a separate one, and it also lessens the number of future repairs because now there are minimal surfaces to fix. Plus, an open kitchen looks more inviting since you can see the kitchen utilities in it.

You want more natural lighting in your home

The absence of walls allows more space to invite more natural light into your kitchen and dining room. You get to save up on electricity during the day because the windows are enough to light the whole room up.

Not to mention, the beauty of the appliances and cabinets even comes out more when there is more natural light in your kitchen.

You want to maximize the space you have

Have problems if you should put the display in the dining room or the kitchen? Probably you can get two and place them at both places? You can do that, but it would make your kitchen and dining room smaller than it already is. You don’t need to keep cutting some space around your house because it will only make it look crowded.

You can put everything together by removing the wall between your kitchen and dining room. Instead of having an option for two displays, you can get one, and you even get to save up some space in the process. Your appliances, cabinets, and decor can now be displayed on one wall.

Load bearing wall vs. non-load bearing wall

You might hear about these two types of walls from your remodeling contractors, and perhaps they’ve asked you about them. They are walls, and you’re not sure if the kitchen wall you would like to put down is one of them. Well, let’s get to the basics.

A load-bearing wall is a type of wall that carries the weight of your house. This type of wall has all the weight from the floors up to the roof. It supports other structural parts of your house like the beams, the stairs, and the walls around and above it. These connect the outer walls of your home and its interior.

A non-load bearing wall is a type of wall that only carries its weight, and no other part of the house relies on it for support. These serve as a sole divider or as interior walls. Their job is to define the spaces in your home to become rooms for specific purposes. Between the two types, the non-load bearing wall is lighter. Often, these are the ones that divide the kitchen and the dining room.

Cost Factors of Removing a Bearing Wall

Removing a load-bearing wall will cost you a lot more than removing a non-load-bearing wall, which does not make it cost-effective. Firstly, you will need to invest in a temporary supporting wall to replace the surrounding wall you’re about to remove.

Doing so maintains the overall strength of your house, and you wouldn’t want your whole home crashing on you just because of a missing wall. Secondly, you will need a professional to do the entire job. In that way, you are sure that there will be no structural failures happen in the future, and this might only occur when a wall is improperly removed or re-installed.

Is moving a heavy wall worth it?

Removing a heavy wall would not be cost-effective because it may even compromise the overall strength of the whole house. Not only is it not cost-effective, but it would also cost you a lot of your precious time to remove the heavy wall.

How can I tell if a wall is loading or not?

You can’t simply tell if a wall is loading or not by looking at it. There are plenty of ways to check it yourself before calling a professional to inspect your walls.

Review the original architectural drawings

Checking on your house’s blueprints will allow you to see which walls are load-bearing or not. Your house’s architectural drawings usually have details that tell the differences between the walls in your house. By reviewing it, you can also check the whole floor plan of your home and think of other remodeling plans in the future.

Inspect the Attic Joists

By again using the original blueprints of your house, you may also check your attic to see if there are beams connected to your house’s walls. Doing so will allow you to pinpoint which walls are load-bearing or not accurately.

Inspect the Basement Joists

It’s also the same thing with checking your attic joists. You may go to your basement and look for posts or beams going up towards the wall you are trying to pinpoint. If beams and floor joists are heading toward that wall, it means that they are load-bearing walls.

Inspect if the wall stack up on each other

You can also check if the partition wall is a load-bearing wall by checking if there’s another wall on top. If there is another wall stacked on top of it, it means that the wall is a load-bearing wall.

The safety concerns when removing an interior wall

When removing an interior wall, you must always check if the wall is a load-bearing wall or a non-load-bearing wall. Load-bearing walls are the ones that help support the whole house, and that is why precautions must be followed when removing these walls. Failure to do so may affect the overall integrity of the entire structure.

Are there wires or pipes inside the wall?

Not all wires and pipes go inside the wall, but it’s also a good idea to check if there are. Checking for wires and pipes allows you to plan ahead of time in relocating them once the construction begins. Checking for wires and pipes can also prevent future accidents like internet cables getting cut or water pipes bursting from the wall.

Is removing load-bearing walls expensive?

Removing a load-bearing wall can be costly. They could cost you around $1000 for a single-level home and about $3000 or higher for a multi-level home. Of course, prices would still depend on the size and level of the remodeling project. You should also secure a permit when removing a load-bearing wall. Removing a load-bearing wall is costly but worth it when done right.

How do I obtain a kitchen remodel permit if I want to remove a bearing wall?

Acquiring a kitchen remodel permit would depend on the requirements and ordinances of the place where you live. But you can usually get it from your local municipal offices and ask for help from your professional contractor or engineer when obtaining one.

Do you need a permit to remove the wall?

If you plan on removing a wall, you should first check if the wall is load-bearing or non-load bearing. If the wall is a non-load bearing wall, it is okay for you not to secure a permit to remove that wall. If the wall is a load-bearing wall, you should first secure a permit before getting started on removing that wall from your kitchen.

Usually, your professional contractor will be willing to help you secure a permit before they can start working on the wall. Besides a license, you will also need replacement supports to replace the load-bearing wall temporarily. Doing so ensures the safety of the workers working on your wall and the safety of the rest of your house.

Combining kitchen and dining room

Combining the kitchen and the dining room is always beneficial to the homeowner and the house. Like what we’ve mentioned earlier, a lot of good reasons come from combining these two rooms.

Benefits of an Open-Concept Kitchen

It’s modern, and everyone loves a spacious kitchen where you can see your friends, family, and guests in the nearby dining room as you prepare a good meal for them. Here are two great benefits as to why you should have an open-concept kitchen.

No barriers

Combining the kitchen and the dining room eliminates the barrier between the two rooms. Instead of separating your kitchen and dining room, they can now be brought together as one.

Having no barriers between your kitchen and dining room also allows a better sense of communication and connection between you and the people you are with. Also, you no longer have to think about opening doors between the kitchen and dining room.

Seamless flow

Combining the two rooms grants you more crawl space when moving in and around the kitchen and dining room. You no longer have to think of going around corners to get to the kitchen or the dining room, giving a seamless flow as it is.

How do removing walls affect ceilings?

When done improperly, removing a load-bearing wall is risky, especially to your ceiling. The top or trusses may sag when a wall holding up any joists or beams is removed without replacement support. Worse, the whole roof may collapse.

As for non-load-bearing walls, since they only carry their weight, they do not affect ceilings when they are removed.

How does removing walls affect flooring?

Like the ceiling, the flooring may sink when a load bearing is removed with no proper replacement support. Worse yet, the whole floor may collapse on each other. On a high note, taking down non-load-bearing walls does not adversely affect the form of a property.