Suggestions for Basement remodel

tigershoops31 · 06-17-2008, 12:08 AM

Right now we have a couple of mostly finished (everything but the flooring) rooms that are about 10X12 in our basement that share a wall with a few studs and a couple sheets of drywall with no insulation. We would like to knock out this wall and make one big family/game room. Because it is a basement wall I am hesitant to just go crazy on it before I know for sure it isn't supporting anything major even though it isn't a cement wall.

I would also like to do as much as possible by myself and at least do the flooring part of it and the destruction for the wall (and possibly putting in support poles if necessary). Any suggestions for a plan of attack here?

cytech · 06-17-2008, 12:13 AM

you just need to look directly above the wall, and you should be able to see if it is load bearing.

If you don't know how to tell, I would recommend hiring a contractor to take car of that part for you.

tigershoops31 · 06-17-2008, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by cytech

you just need to look directly above the wall, and you should be able to see if it is load bearing.

If you don't know how to tell, I would recommend hiring a contractor to take car of that part for you.

You mean after I knock the drywall out? Right now everything is drywalled so I can't tell whether it is load bearing or not...or did you mean on the first floor?

sngorman · 06-17-2008, 12:28 AM

I'd like to suggest some flooring ideas:

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bhoodjer · 06-17-2008, 01:51 AM

Yeah take all of the drywall off first to see what you are up against. If the wall you want to remove is running parallel with the floor joist above you should be fine. If the wall you want to remove is running perpendicular with the floor joist above and it is located in the middle of the span then you need to procede with caution. What type of floor joist are they (I-joist, regular lumber, engineered floor trusses)?

tigershoops31 · 06-17-2008, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by bhoodjer

Yeah take all of the drywall off first to see what you are up against. If the wall you want to remove is running parallel with the floor joist above you should be fine. If the wall you want to remove is running perpendicular with the floor joist above and it is located in the middle of the span then you need to procede with caution. What type of floor joist are they (I-joist, regular lumber, engineered floor trusses)?

Gotcha...I don't know what type of joist they are...it's an old home (1910) so at some point the basement was updated. Our laundry room doesn't have drywall on the ceiling...would you assume that all the floor joists in the basement go the same direction?

guitarchitect7 · 06-17-2008, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by tigershoops31

You mean after I knock the drywall out? Right now everything is drywalled so I can't tell whether it is load bearing or not...or did you mean on the first floor?

If you can't see your ceiling / floor joists that are supporting your first floor, then you will need to remove some drywall to check if it's bearing or not.

Under good practice, any member that is being supported by a bearing wall should be fastened to that wall with nails. As I said, this is good practice. So a good clear sign that your wall is bearing is if as stated before, the joists run perpendicular to the wall, and that they are attached to the wall with nails. There may be the case that the walls acts as bearing and the the joists only rest on that wall. In that case it's the matter of making a judgement call. If the wall is about 12'-0" from any other supporting wall, and the joists run perpendicular to that wall, the chances are that it's bearing due to the clear span that the joists are having to cover.

Hope that answers your question.

guitarchitect7 · 06-17-2008, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by tigershoops31

Gotcha...I don't know what type of joist they are...it's an old home (1910) so at some point the basement was updated. Our laundry room doesn't have drywall on the ceiling...would you assume that all the floor joists in the basement go the same direction?

Just saw this.

The orientation of the floor joists is base on the shape of your house. Do you have a fireplace or any cantilevers that are unsupported by a foundation wall that you can tell from the outside of your house? If the answer is yes, find the direction that your joists are running, and if they are not spanning the direction that your cantilever runs, then chances are your joists change direction. Thats the best and easiest indication. There could be a case of others, but best framing practices are to keep everything running the same direction as much as possible.

You joists are probably typical 2x10's if your home was built in 1910. Any additions may have something different.

cytech · 06-17-2008, 09:41 AM

With a home that old I would almost assume that it is load bearing. Are there any of structures, walls or pillars? That you know are load bearing and you are not sure about that one?

tigershoops31 · 06-17-2008, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by cytech

With a home that old I would almost assume that it is load bearing. Are there any of structures, walls or pillars? That you know are load bearing and you are not sure about that one?

Well the thing is all of the other walls are concrete while this one is just a couple sheets of drywall hung on a few studs as far as I can tell. Since this one is different I thought maybe it was just added later to separate it into two rooms.

ISUFan22 · 06-17-2008, 12:05 PM

DIY projects can be a great way to save money and have even more "ownership" over your home. In some cases, DIY projects can leave you in a world of hurt.

This could be one of them. As noted, have a licensed contractor come out, inspect the wall and even handle the demo. That way it's their fault if something goes wrong.

RyCy04 · 06-17-2008, 12:58 PM

My suggestion is to make as many friends as possible in the construction/contractor/electrician/plumbing/heating industries. I have done this over the years and have even had my sisters marry into knowledgeable people. While this may not benefit you in this particular situation, it pays off exponentially in the long run.

All I have to do is offer some beer and a good dinner to fix problems like this.

tigershoops31 · 06-17-2008, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by RyCy04

My suggestion is to make as many friends as possible in the construction/contractor/electrician/plumbing/heating industries. I have done this over the years and have even had my sisters marry into knowledgeable people. While this may not benefit you in this particular situation, it pays off exponentially in the long run.

All I have to do is offer some beer and a good dinner to fix problems like this.

Yeah that's not a bad policy...my brother and I both worked some construction back in the college days and my wife's brothers and dad are pretty handy so I usually have plenty of help

After talking to my brother though we were thinking we should get some extra information on this one so my living room doesn't fall into my basement.

On a sidenote, I'm assuming by "had my sisters marry into some knowledgeable people" you meant you were lucky that they married some guys that knew their stuff and not that you arranged the marriages

RyCy04 · 06-17-2008, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by tigershoops31

On a sidenote, I'm assuming by "had my sisters marry into some knowledgeable people" you meant you were lucky that they married some guys that knew their stuff and not that you arranged the marriages

A little from column A, a little from column B.