Load-Bearing Wall Removal

The most requested change in this metro is opening a kitchen to a living room. The wall in the middle is usually the whole project — what it carries determines the beam, the beam determines the posts, the posts determine whether a footing has to go in below the slab, and all of that determines the number.

That is why an estimate given before the bearing condition is known is not an estimate. We identify what the wall carries at the walk-through, and we bring in a structural engineer where the load path is not obvious, before anyone commits to a price or a schedule.

Is the Wall Load-Bearing?

In the 1970s to 1990s stock across Douglas County, south Arapahoe and west Jefferson County, the wall between the kitchen and the living room is very often load-bearing. In older bungalow and ranch stock closer to central Denver it varies more, and the mid-century tract houses have their own patterns.

Four things tell us, and none of them is the wall’s thickness:

Framing direction above. Joists or trusses running perpendicular to the wall and landing on or near it is the strongest indicator that it carries load. Running parallel above it usually means it does not — usually, not always.
What is below it. A wall with a beam, a post line or a thickened footing directly beneath it in the basement or crawlspace is carrying something down to the foundation. A wall sitting on unsupported slab generally is not.
What is above it on the next floor. Bearing stacks. A wall directly under another wall, or under a point load from a beam upstairs, is in the load path even where the joist direction looks reassuring.
Roof structure. A stick-framed roof loads interior walls differently from an engineered truss roof, which is generally designed to clear-span and bear on the exterior walls. Truss roofs are common in the newer suburban stock, and they are the reason some interior walls in those houses come out easily.

We open a small inspection point rather than guess. Guessing is how a wall gets removed on a Friday and temporarily shored on a Monday.

Removing It: Beam, Posts and the Load Path to the Ground

Taking a bearing wall out means replacing it with a beam that spans the opening and posts that carry the beam’s load down to something that can take it. The chain has to be continuous all the way to the footing. A beam landing on a post that lands on a floor joist that lands on nothing in particular is the failure people do not see until the floor above starts to slope.

Practical consequences to expect:

The engineer sizes the beam for the actual tributary load, not the span alone. A wide opening under a roof load and a wide opening under a floor load are different beams.
Posts have to land somewhere. In a basement that often means a new footing poured through the slab, which means saw-cutting concrete, excavating, pouring and letting it cure before the beam goes in.
Temporary shoring carries the structure while the wall is out. On a two-storey removal that shoring is itself an engineered condition, not a couple of 2×4 props.
The beam has to fit. This is where most of the design argument happens — see below.

Flush Beam or Dropped Beam

A dropped beam sits below the ceiling line. It is cheaper, faster and structurally straightforward, and it leaves a visible header across the opening. A flush beam is set up inside the floor structure so the ceiling runs through unbroken. It costs more, because the joists have to be cut and hung off the beam with hangers, and because the beam usually has to be a stronger and more expensive engineered member to fit within the available depth.

This is the single decision that most affects how the finished room feels, and it is worth having explicitly rather than by default. Many clients who came in wanting flush accept dropped once they see the cost difference; many who assumed dropped was fine change their mind when they see the ceiling line. We price both.

Engineered material is what usually makes flush possible: an LVL or a glulam carries more in less depth than dimensional lumber, and steel goes in where even engineered timber will not fit the depth available. Engineered material costs more per foot and frequently saves money overall, because a beam that fits inside the ceiling depth avoids a soffit that would otherwise redesign the room.

What Else Lives Inside the Wall

The framing is often not the expensive part. Before we quote we establish what is running through the wall, because relocating it can exceed the structural work:

Plumbing waste stack — the most expensive thing to find. A vent or a main stack in a kitchen wall has to be rerouted with fall, and there is not always a route.
HVAC trunk or branch runs — reroutable, but it may cost ceiling height elsewhere.
Electrical panel or a main feed — relocating a panel is its own permit and its own inspection.
Gas line — reroute by a licensed trade, pressure tested.

We look for all four before pricing, not after demolition. Selective demolition is done in a sequence that exposes these conditions before anything is committed.

New Openings, Headers and Structural Repair

The same logic applies at a smaller scale to a new window, a wider door or a pass-through. Every opening in a bearing wall needs a header sized for what it carries, with jack and king studs supporting each end. Undersized headers are common in unpermitted past work, and they show as a sagging line above the opening and doors that stop closing.

We also do:

Sistering joists and mid-span beams for floors that sag or bounce. This is usually a cheaper fix than homeowners expect and makes the difference between a floor that feels solid and one that does not.
Framing repair from water, rot or settlement — rim joists behind failed deck ledgers, sill plate rot, and framing that moved with a foundation problem.
Pop-top and second-storey framing over an existing structure, where the existing foundation and walls have to be verified to carry the new load before anything goes up.
Addition and bump-out framing, including cantilevered floor framing. See home additions.

Basement partition framing and the slab float detail are covered on the basement finishing page; deck and covered patio structure is on the deck building page.

Colorado-Specific Structural Factors

Snow load. In the Jefferson County mountain areas the ground snow load runs 50 to 80 psf, and any design above 70 psf requires a licensed professional. Roof and structural framing in the foothills is heavier than the metro equivalent, and the drawings are stamped.

Expansive soil. The Colorado Geological Survey has documented heaving bedrock and highly swelling clays through this region, notably in north-central Douglas County. This is why a new post and footing under a beam is a soil question as well as a structural one, and why an existing settlement pattern is inspected before new load is added to a foundation.

Wildfire code. Since July 1, 2026, structural work inside the Jefferson County Wildland-Urban Interface overlay carries material requirements: noncombustible deck framing and surfaces, ignition-resistant siding and ember-resistant vents on exterior alterations, not only new construction.

Permits, Stamped Plans and Inspection

Removing or altering a bearing wall requires a permit everywhere we work, and a framing inspection before anything is covered. Most jurisdictions want an engineer’s letter or stamped detail for the beam and its bearing.

Additions in unincorporated Arapahoe County require foundation and framing plans stamped by a Colorado registered architect or engineer. Douglas County and Adams County work under the 2021 IRC and IBC, with Adams moving to the updated codes effective July 1, 2026. Jurisdiction follows the property address rather than the mailing city, and we confirm which authority applies before the schedule is set.

Covering framing before its inspection means opening it again, so the schedule is built around the inspector’s calendar rather than ours.

Common Questions

Can any wall be removed?

Structurally, almost always — with a beam designed for what the wall carries and a load path that reaches the foundation. The real question is never whether, it is what it costs, and that is set by the beam size, whether a new footing is needed under the posts, and what plumbing or electrical is running inside the wall.

Do I need a structural engineer?

For any bearing wall removal, yes, and most jurisdictions here require the stamped design as part of the permit. It is a small line item relative to the work, and it is the document that makes the opening insurable and saleable later. Where the load path is genuinely obvious and the wall is non-bearing, no engineer is needed — but that determination is made by inspection, not by looking at the wall.

How much of the ceiling will I lose?

That depends on whether the beam is flush or dropped. A dropped beam leaves a visible header across the opening; a flush beam keeps the ceiling line unbroken but costs more, because the joists are cut and hung and the beam usually has to be engineered material to fit the depth. We price both so the decision is made on numbers rather than on a default.

How long does a wall removal take?

The carpentry itself is a matter of days. The schedule is set by the engineer’s design, the permit review, and — where a new footing is required under the posts — the concrete cure. We confirm the plan review timeline for your specific jurisdiction before committing to a start date.

My floors bounce and there are cracks above the doors. Is that structural?

Sometimes, and the two symptoms usually have different causes. Bouncing floors are typically a joist span or bearing issue that sistering or a mid-span beam resolves. Cracks above door heads in a basement are more often a missing slab float detail than a structural failure — that one is covered on our basement finishing page. Either way, an inspection is cheap relative to guessing.

Where We Work

Across the Denver metro and the Front Range: Denver, Jefferson County, Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Adams County, Broomfield, Boulder County and Elbert County.

Framing is often one part of a larger scope. The trades we run alongside it: