How to Remove a Non-Load-Bearing Wall

Many houses and apartments, especially in cities where space is money, have non-load-bearing walls. These false walls are used to separate rooms, but do not hold any ceiling weight. Non-load-bearing walls can be removed to make an open plan home or to expand single rooms such as the living room or kitchen. Removing a wall is a lot of physical work and preparation, but does not require a great amount of technical knowledge.

Plastic
Tape
Safety goggles
HEPA mask
Work gloves
Heavy boots
Reciprocating saw
Pry bar
Wire nuts
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the furniture from the room.
- 2
  Turn off the electricity to the room at the circuit breaker.
- 3
  Cover the floors with heavy-duty construction plastic. Cover doorways with the plastic, attaching it with masking tape. This prevents dust from entering the rest of the home. Open the windows to vent the room.
- 4
  Put on safety goggles, a HEPA mask to protect your lungs from dust, work gloves and heavy duty boots.
- 5
  Remove a small section of the wall with a reciprocating saw and look at the joists. If there is a double top plate (two pieces of wood acting as a top plate on the wall frame) it is a load-bearing wall. Overlapping joists at the ceiling also indicate a load-bearing wall. If these are missing, proceed.
- 6
  Slide a pry bar between the wall and the molding at the bottom and pull the molding off.
- 7
  Take the covers off any wall fixtures and disconnect the wires from the fixture. Cover the bare ends of the wires with masking tape or wire nuts.
- 8
  Cut along the corners of the plaster wall using a reciprocating saw. Cut with a metal cutting blade if the corners of the wall are reinforced with wire mesh.
- 9
  Knock a hole into the wall with a hammer. Slide a pry bar into the hole and pry off the plaster. Take a claw hammer and pull off the lathe if you have a lathe wall.
- 10
  Remove any electrical boxes and reroute the wires to a different wall. Install wire nuts over the conductors and cover the electric boxes to keep out dust.
- 11
  Cut along the joint and the plate with a reciprocating saw to cut through any nails. Pry off the top plate and bottom plate with a crow bar.

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