Removing the Load Bearing Wall

Today has been a great work day for Michael and Joshua. They started early and made great progress. First, the day started with making the other temporary wall that would be used to hold our ceiling. After the temporary walls were in place, it was time to put the beam in place.

In the upper picture, you can see the beam at the top. The temporary walls are still in place, but Josh would be removing them soon.

Here he is removing the walls.

Missy has learned to sleep just about anywhere. She likes to be in the middle of the work site. I am amazed that she can sleep with hammering all around her.

Here is Michael with his newly installed beam. At this point, we were still hoping that it would hold the weight of the ceiling without any issues. Again, he is a nuclear engineer not a structural engineer and we were holding our breath just a little.

I took this picture from the corner of our kitchen. I can see the fireplace and living room from my kitchen, but I still have a small amount of wall to hide the kitchen dishes. I have to say we all LOVE the new house design. It makes our house feel so much more open and light!

This picture was taken from our front door. I know things are still a huge mess, but we have made great head way. Our next step will be to be remove the tile floor in preparation for our hardwood. Then we will be ready to put up dry wall. We also need to purchase new french doors before the dry wall goes up on the walls. Oh, yea baby!!!! I have been waiting for new doors for the last 3 years!!! Thus far we have spent a total of $130 for the beam, and around $100 for 2x4's to make the temporary walls. Michael will be able to use the 2x4's on another project now that we no longer need them to hold up our ceiling. Not bad for making a dream of a great room come into reality.

grace and peace,

julie