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In a typical small house of approx 750-900 SqFt, 2-3 bedrms, 1-bath, is it possible to demolish and remove an interior wall that separates two rooms, to allow for a single large space?
I'm assuming that such walls are not "load-bearing"--is this correct? Is removing such a wall a huge expense?
So it might be possible to do so, depending on the specifics of the house's construction and interior configuration.
Next question: what specialist would be best qualified to assess and inspect this situation? I assume this is beyond the expertise of the typical house inspector; would a general contractor be the best choice?
If there are 3 bedrooms in a 750 sq ft house, are the beds placed vertical ?
I lived in a house like that until I was 8. It was a little bigger but not much. There were six of us living there. later, my Dad builts a small bedroom in the basement for my older brother. My room shared with my brother, we had a bunk bed. All of the dresser drawers had to be closed for either of us to be able to get in or our of bed. The dresser drawers also had to be shut to get the door open. The door would not open all the way, but enough to get in and out. When we moved, I was amazed. Our new living room had space for a couch and two chairs as well as a TV and stereo. Wow were were rolling in it. Our shared bedroom was ridiculously huge. Two dressers, a desk and th door still opened. We even each had our own closet!
I lived in a house like that until I was 8. It was a little bigger but not much. There were six of us living there. later, my Dad builts a small bedroom in the basement for my older brother. My room shared with my brother, we had a bunk bed. All of the dresser drawers had to be closed for either of us to be able to get in or our of bed. The dresser drawers also had to be shut to get the door open. The door would not open all the way, but enough to get in and out. When we moved, I was amazed. Our new living room had space for a couch and two chairs as well as a TV and stereo. Wow were were rolling in it. Our shared bedroom was ridiculously huge. Two dressers, a desk and th door still opened. We even each had our own closet!
Yeah, I was surprised to see such a small house [a little over 750-SqFt] sectioned into three bedrooms. For a single person, a 750-800 SqFt space can be very comfortable with a reasonably spacious feel depending on interior configuration, esp if living room, dining space, and kitchen are more-or-less continuous; but with three bedrooms, the interior would feel very cramped. Other 750-850 SqFt houses I've seen are 2-bed, 1-bath, as one would expect.
So it might be possible to do so, depending on the specifics of the house's construction and interior configuration.
Next question: what specialist would be best qualified to assess and inspect this situation? I assume this is beyond the expertise of the typical house inspector; would a general contractor be the best choice?
Depending on the actual construction details of a specific property and local permit process it might require a fully licensed Professional Engineer or Architect to sign off on these sorts of changes.
As stated before changes like this might actually be far more involved and potentially not really return as much value in an extremely small house compared to similar changes in even a slightly bigger home. If you are still in the "shopping" phase of home selection I would strongly suggest that you spend some time talking to the kinds of local experts that have done such work and determine if it really makes sense to instead focus on homes that are better able to meet your desires without extensive changes.
In a typical small house of approx 750-900 SqFt, 2-3 bedrms, 1-bath, is it possible to demolish and remove an interior wall that separates two rooms, to allow for a single large space?
I'm assuming that such walls are not "load-bearing"--is this correct? Is removing such a wall a huge expense?
As long as it is not load bearing. Of course you would have to reroute any electrical and or plumbing so expense would be dependent on what is in the wall. If load bearing you would have to have a header to carry the load and possibly posts if the opening is too wide.
Contact a contractor with experience in such work for cost, get several, then check references very carefully.
In a typical small house of approx 750-900 SqFt, 2-3 bedrms, 1-bath, is it possible to demolish and remove an interior wall that separates two rooms, to allow for a single large space?
I'm assuming that such walls are not "load-bearing"--is this correct? Is removing such a wall a huge expense?
If you don't know the answers to these questions, please hire professionals.
You might save yourself lots of grief by calling your City inspection and have a city engineer come look at your home. We did that once, because we were considering finishing off our attic (in a previous home) The city inspector explained our structure would not accommodate a finished attic. Start there.
Yeah, I was surprised to see such a small house [a little over 750-SqFt] sectioned into three bedrooms. For a single person, a 750-800 SqFt space can be very comfortable with a reasonably spacious feel depending on interior configuration, esp if living room, dining space, and kitchen are more-or-less continuous; but with three bedrooms, the interior would feel very cramped. Other 750-850 SqFt houses I've seen are 2-bed, 1-bath, as one would expect.
Our house was also 3 bedrooms. I should have said that. We had one bathroom and there may have been on in my parent's room, I do not remember. It did not seem horrible to me. There was a living room and a kitchen. My sisters room was a little bigger than the "boy's room" and my parents room seemed huge to me although it probably was not. All the houses in our neighborhood were about the same. It was a middle - upper middle class neighborhood, most of the people were engineers and other kinda middle people for the auto companies. There were a few line workers. Only one family had a mom working outside the house that I knew of. It was a different world. Small houses, but less demands on the parents.
It is not really that difficult to determine if a wall is load bearing. If it is a one story ranch style house with roof trusses, the weight generally rests on the outer walls where the trusses meet the outer walls. You can look in the attic and examine the roof construction, that will usually tell.
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Good grief...
