Introduction

Open up cramped rooms by replacing a wall with a load-bearing beam. Create an open kitchen/dining area, a larger living room or a huge master bedroom using basic framing techniques and standard materials.

The best way to make small or cramped rooms larger is to remove a wall between adjoining rooms. When you replace a load-bearing wall with a load-bearing beam, you create a larger, more useful floor area and give your home a feeling of spaciousness.

In this story, we’ll show you how to remove nearly any wall and tell you how to add a structural beam if it’s needed. It may be scary to think about tearing walls out of your house, but don’t be intimidated. You can do it if you’ve done any basic carpentry work like framing in a wall or building a shed or deck. In fact, removing the wall and replacing it with a beam will only take a half-day or less.