How Much Distance Do You Leave Between Posts When Removing a Load-Bearing Wall?

General Information

• Load-bearing walls help to support a home; they carry and transfer a load between two points. They often run perpendicular to the floor joists. When removing a load-bearing wall, an alternative support must be provided to support the same load that the wall previously supported. The number of posts, or studs, that need to remain installed and the space between them depends on a number of factors, including the load, the size of the beam or header and the distance between the floor and the ceiling.

Load

• Before taking down a load-bearing wall, you should contact a structural engineer. A structural engineer can determine how much of a load the wall was supporting so that you can use a support beam and keep posts the proper distance from each other. Approximations of live and dead loads for floors and roofs are available in tables that are part of local building codes. Depending on the load, a header or support beam can be installed to run the width of the opening. The vertical studs that are installed to support the header may also run the distance of the header.

Length

• The length of the portion of the wall can also affect the necessary distance between posts. If the distance is wide, you will need more support posts, closer together, so the weight is distributed amongst them equally. As a general rule, if you are adding a temporary wall to support the weight, the measurement between studs should be 2 feet.

Height

• The height of the room can also affect how many studs you can safely remove and how far apart the studs should be. If the distance between the ceiling and the floor in the room is great, more support posts will be required to equitably distribute the weight, and they will need to be spaced closer together since the support posts will bear most of the weight from the bottom 12 or 16 square inches from the support posts.

Considerations

• You can support the load-bearing area with materials other than the existing studs. Use a temporary support wall or make a brace to hold up the weight. These processes allow you to remove all of the studs in the load bearing wall so that you can install a support beam. Supportive columns may be needed to support the beam, depending on the load.