Structural Work for Older Houses in Lakewood
Structural work for older Lakewood houses starts in the attic, where ceiling joists show whether a wall you want gone is bearing before any price is set.
The attic is where a visit to an older Lakewood house starts when a wall is meant to come out. From up there we can see whether the ceiling joists rest on that wall or run past it, whether a strongback or splice sits above it, and what wiring is laid across its top plate. That tells us if the wall is bearing before anyone talks about a price, and it costs the rooms nothing.
Reading the framing from above
We follow each ceiling joist from the outside wall toward the middle of the house. Where joists overlap or splice on top of the wall, it is carrying them. Where they run unbroken past it, the wall may only be a partition, though a strongback or a load from the roof framing can still bear on it. Old knob and tube wiring often runs along the tops of walls, so we note it, since moving it belongs in the scope. Then we go under the house to check for a girder or footing on the same line.
Drawings, permit and the rooms
If the wall is bearing, the engineer works out a beam, its posts and their footings, and those drawings go to the building office that serves Lakewood for review. An inspector checks the footings and framing before anything is closed. In the rooms, the plaster is scored and cut on a straight line, and the original casings and baseboard from the removed wall are saved for the new opening. If the wall turns out to be a partition, the job is smaller, though the plaster still needs care at the cut.
About our Structural Work serviceEverything we do in Lakewood
Structural Work in Lakewood: common questions
Doors that drift open on their own, cracks that run at an angle from door corners and a floor that rises toward the middle of a room are signals from inside. Beneath the house, look at whether the sill has anchor bolts and the cripple walls have plywood.
A permit is needed for any structural change, filed with the building office that serves Lakewood. Taking out a bearing wall, or shortening one, requires an engineer's design. A bolting and bracing retrofit on a raised floor may follow the prescriptive plan, and we tell you which case fits after the visit.
A seismic retrofit is carried out under the floor, so the rooms keep their plaster and trim. For a wall opening, the cut is limited to the wall itself, trim is pried off by hand and stored, and the plaster beside the opening is patched in layers to match.
Other work we do in Lakewood
Talk to us about your house in Lakewood
Send the details and we will set up a walk-through and a written scope.