Structural Work for Older Altadena Homes
An older Altadena house can hide a bearing wall cut for a doorway with no header. We check from the attic and plan the header, posts and footing it needs.
Plaster can hide a bearing wall in an older Altadena house that was cut for a wider doorway, with no header put in to carry what sat above. From the room it looks finished. In the attic, the ceiling joists over the gap have dropped. That discovery turns a simple trim job into an engineered header, new posts at each side and, often, a footing beneath them.
Checking the attic over every opening
Any doorway whose casing looks newer than the trim in the rest of the house earns a look from above. In the attic we check for a header made from one flat board, ceiling joists that dip toward the opening and posts resting on the subfloor with no blocking under them. In the crawlspace, we look for whatever carries that load down to a footing, if anything does. Knob and tube wiring running through bored holes nearby is marked so the electrician can replace it before new framing goes in.
From a cut wall to a carried load
The engineer sizes a new header and the posts that carry it, and each post lands on blocking and a pier or footing below. Shoring holds the ceiling while the old framing comes out. Altadena is unincorporated, so Los Angeles County reviews the permit and sends the inspector. Because the community has land in mapped fire hazard zones, opening the eaves or attic vents may add ember resistant parts to the job. Plaster and the original casings return after inspection, with the doorway keeping its trim profile.
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A ceiling that dips over a wide doorway, a crack running straight up from a door corner, or a floor sloping toward a spot where a wall once stood are worth a look. In the crawlspace, posts on loose blocks and sills without anchors complete the picture.
Altadena is unincorporated, so permits come from Los Angeles County. Changes to a bearing wall, a new beam or new footings need an engineer's stamped drawings. A simple anchor and plywood retrofit may follow the county's standard plan with no engineer.
Often it can. Work reached through the attic or the crawlspace leaves the rooms alone. Replacing a cut header does open the wall around the doorway, so casings are removed by hand and kept, and the new plaster is finished flush with the old.
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