Taking Out a Wall Between a Living and Dining Room

Verify with an architect, engineer or builder that the wall you wish to remove is not a load-bearing wall. If you accidentally remove an essential support wall, you could make your house structurally unstable and unsafe to live in, so be absolutely sure about this. If it is a load-bearing wall and you still wish to remove it, consult a professional. This is not a do-it-yourself project.

Cover all your furniture with drop sheets to catch the dust. Knock some exploratory holes in the wall to make sure there are no electric wires or plumbing concealed in it. If there are, consult an electrician or plumber before continuing.

Remove all the wall material down to the studs (vertical wooden beams). If the wall is made of sheet rock, a hammer should be sufficient for knocking it down, and the job should be quite simple. If the wall is made of plaster, you may encounter a wood lathe or wire support structure inside it, which will make the job a little more difficult.

Remove the studs. These are probably screwed or nailed into header and footer beams along the floor and ceiling. You can unscrew them or cut them. Remove the header and footer by unscrewing or prying them off the floor and ceiling.

Fill in the gaps left in the floor and ceiling by the header and footer. This may be the most expensive and difficult part of the entire process. If the footer was laid in a cut in the flooring material, you will need to cover the cut with new wooden floorboards, laminate or tile. Where you have removed the header from the ceiling, you may need to replaster or insert a new strip of sheetrock and then repaint.